Idle Conversation- a Lesson for Noah

Tonight, at the dinner table, Zoe was full of conversation and information. She rambled in detail about how her usual best friends were not her best friends today and she had a new one and shared her name with us. She mentioned several kids that got their busy bees (classroom jobs) taken away from them for bad behavior and the ones that made sad choices. She also went into details about the kids that made good choices. The babble continued for a good five minutes straight without letting us get a word in edgewise.

I stole a sideways glance at Noah and he caught my eye too. He rolled his eyes, sighed and said, "Three-year-olds!!".

I didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't as much "three-year-olds" as it was "women". And that he would be listening to this sort of idle conversation,perhaps, for the rest of his life.

Husband

Husband:

lover, friend

father, teacher

playmate, protector;

always taking care of us,

possessing a child-like spirit,

gentle and sweet, tough and firm;

knows when I seriously need a laugh;

he understands me better than anyone else

yet he loves me because of and in spite of myself;

has been to hell & back with me-never dropping my hand,

always able to focus my attention toward the good,

is smart, hilarious, talented, and strong,

has chosen to leave all things familiar

so that he can serve his country

and has continued to serve

for a good part of his life;

half of me is missing,

but duty calls my

lover, friend

husband

soldier

hero

This post is inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop. Prompt#3: Husbands

Letter from Zoe

Tonight as I was putting Zoe to bed, I kissed her goodnight and she told me she loved me. I heard a crack in her voice and I turned around to look at her and she had big crocodile tears in her eyes and her bottom lip was trembling.

I sat down on the side of her bed and asked what was wrong. "I miss Daddy." she replied. I hugged her and told her I missed him too. She started crying- really crying like she was heartbroken. I was heartbroken having to witness it. I told her we could go and send Daddy an email and tell him how she feels.

I typed while she dictated.

Daddy, I miss you. I want you to come home and play with my tree house (Little People Fairy) with me. I want to hug you. I don't want you to go to work no more. Good night.

I miss him too, sweetheart.

I Have a Dream....

Okay, so I know this is a little late. But... well.. I don't need to give you an excuse. My husband is gone, I am single parenting, my little hellfire was sick last week and home with me, I have a cold this week and just want to sleep and my older child got off the bus puking today. So.. LAY OFF, alright?

Ahem... okay... off-topic much?

Alrighty, then. I went to Noah's school last week to have lunch with him and then I walked him back to class to have a little chat with his teacher (he got in trouble for the first time ever the day before). I stopped to admire the classwork his teacher had hanging in the hallway. In honor of Martin Luther King, they were given the following prompt: "I have a dream that..." and were instructed to complete the sentence. Noah wrote, "I have a dream that people will stop shooting people and all the gun stores will close down so no one can kill anyone else anymore." Wow... profound.

And also... we can never move back to Texas.

The next day, I was picking Zoe up from school and I saw that her teacher had posted some classwork outside in the hallway too. They had also prompted the children with "I have a dream" and asked them to draw what their dream was and then the teachers wrote on the picture what the child said. Zoe's said, "I have a dream..... of monsters and princess castles."

Equally profound.

And perhaps she should see a therapist?

The Party

Yesterday marked one month since DJ left. We marked it on the calendar weeks ago as a day to look forward to. The first milestone reached. The first hurdle cleared. When we marked the date on the calendar, we wrote, " one month party" and planned on having a little party to celebrate one month behind us.

Last night, after having our once-a-week Skype session with DJ that lasted only a few minutes because of the poor connection, we ordered Domino's pizza (Noah's favorite), watched Where the Wild Things Are and then baked cookies and decorated them. Earlier in the day, Noah's class made homemade ice cream at school and then got to eat it. Zoe's class celebrated her teacher's birthday with cupcakes. Both kids claimed it the best day ever. Sweets at school, pizza and cookies at home and a movie.

I took some pictures of us on the couch watching the movie with the webcam on my laptop. I love this one because look how crazy Noah looks!

I like to call this one, "We just heard there was more snow in the forecast."

One month down. Three to go.

My Big Girl

My baby is growing up. Part of me is so happy for her and part of me wants to hang on and scream, " Nooooooooooo!" but that is the same part of me that sometimes thinks newborns are cute and we ("we" being me and my multiple personalities) generally ignore her.

On Sunday, Zoe came to me and said, "Mommy, I want a big girl bed. I don't want to be a baby anymore." She had a toddler bed that I was pretty sure she could fit in until next year, but she had other ideas.

The problem is, back when we only had one child, Noah was in the small room (which is now Zoe's room). The spare bedroom was bigger and contained the computer and other office equipment and a treadmill. We wanted a place for visitor's to be able to sleep, but the room was not big enough to fit all of those items, so DJ built a Murphy Bed. Do you know what that is? It is one of those beds that folds up into the wall. It was genius.

Then, when I got pregnant with Zoe, we sold the treadmill, moved the filing cabinets into our room and the computer into the kitchen and then moved Noah into the bigger room and gave it a fabulous "big boy" makeover. Then, I painted the little room and decorated it to be Zoe's nursery. We put the Murphy bed in her room reasoning that when she was a newborn, I could sleep in the same room with her while she still slept in her crib. We could also keep the option of a guest bed.

As Zoe grew, and acquired more toys, when we needed the Murphy Bed, I would have to move things out of Zoe's room in order to pull it down. It became clear to me that eventually the Murphy Bed would have to go. I assumed we would get rid of it when the time came to buy her a twin bed. There is no way a twin bed will fit in her room now, not even with the Murphy Bed folded up.

So, this past weekend, while my husband is gone and won't be home for another three months, Zoe decided she didn't want to be a baby anymore. I didn't know what to do. I told her I would need to think about it for a bit and she accepted that answer.

I finally decided that for now, we could pull down the Murphy Bed and it can be her "Big Girl Bed" and when DJ gets back, we can buy her a new twin bed. She's content with the results and slept very well in it last night. The only problem is there isn't much room for her to play and I can't just fold it up without entirely unmaking the bed. So.. for the next few months- here is Zoe's Big Girl Room. She loves it and is so proud! You can see it in her face!