Excuses? Hmmm....

There are always excuses for long blog hiatuses. I won't bore you. It's just life. It's been happening to me in the most unexpected ways and at the most unexpected times. It has just been full. Full of laughter and tears. Beginnings and endings. Planning and executing. Laundry and dishes.

Most importantly, I can't get enough of that baby. Sound asleep in my arms, yet I can't bring myself to lay him down. The time is slipping away too quickly and my last baby can get up and walk away. I'm not ready.

Freeze this moment for me? Please?

A Warped Sense of Reality

I found an old post that I never published. I guess it never felt complete, but here it is...

This is a difficult post to write. I have to find that delicate place between honesty and conceit. The fact is, our kids have always done well at things - excelled in certain areas. Don't get me wrong - we've had our fair share of "constructive criticism" at parent-teacher conferences, too. They are human. Partly, at least. We think the other part may be North American Hairless Monkey.

So, unfortunately for each subsequent Hickey child, the bar has been set pretty high. For example, after three years in a Waldorf preschool, having no exposure to letters before his first day of first grade, Liam learned to read in about four weeks. Not to be outdone, Maddie learned in the first three weeks of first grade.

Often, Maddie and Bella will be working on a drawing at the kitchen table. Bella will be blissfully drawing and after a while, look over at Maddie's work. Maddie has a level of intensity when drawing that cannot be matched. We just have to protect her space and let her work. Bella looks at Maddie's drawing, then at hers, then back at Maddie's. "I'm not a good artist," Bella inevitably replies. What do I say? No, Bella, you are an extraordinary artist. Your drawings, for age four, are quite advanced. Bella's teachers are impressed by how fully formed and fleshed out her drawings are. However, Maddie is almost three years older. Oh, and she's a freak of nature. How do you explain that to a four year-old who just wants her drawings to look as good as her sister's?

And then there's that baby. We have very athletic children. The kids have all spent most of their lives outside, so they learned to climb trees and build snowmen and generally are pretty coordinated. As babies, they all were ahead of the "typical" curve of baby development. Everyone sat up, crawled and walked before a year. Jackson will be 8 months in a few days and he's not walking yet. Ever since that Maddie walked at 7 months, the bar is high. It's sad to be a tiny bit disappointed in a baby that's just not walking yet.

The Very Last Day

Maddie and Liam on the first day of school

Maddie and Liam on the last day of school

Today is the last day of school. I loved having them in the same class together this year. Not something I want for them every year, but for this year, I liked it. They barely noticed that they were in the same class: they found their own way and carved out their own niche. I just liked hearing tales of their day - the same experiences - from two different perspectives. Maddie was always first to report who was cranky at Liam or what he got yelled at about. Liam was more likely to tell a slightly exaggerated story about how fantastic something that he did was. Occasionally, we did get the odd story about Maddie and how she *loves* Georgie.

As I look at the pictures, there is something intangible gained in the last nine months. They have aged and matured. They look more confident, more secure with their own styles. It was hard for us to decide to change schools, but they are so ready for bigger and better things. The mind swims with the possibilities.

Quote of the Day

Maddie and Bella are home today with low-grade fevers. Maddie has a cough and snot and general gross-ness. Bella's just cranky and tired. We decided to sit out on the front lawn to eat our lunch. A large landscaping truck with a trailer drives by, turns around in the cul-de-sac and drives away.

Bella: "Mom, am I allowed to say 'what the hell'?"

Kat: "Um... no."

[long pause]

Bella: "What in the world was that truck doing in the middle of the road?"

Highlights

We spent Easter night on the beach at Siesta Key in Sarasota. The ultimate Jack Sparrow imitator showed up halfway through and the kids got a huge kick out of it.

Easter at Grandpa Ken's place

I wish I could represent the brunch buffet at the Renaissance. It was incredibly delicious and I may never be able to eat normal brunch again. The kids had a great time - they loved the Easter egg hunt. We are completely spoiled for future Easters.

The Good News and The Bad News

Good news: Bella looked like she was going to come down with what Maddie has, but she managed to fight it off.

Bad news: Liam's got it. Which means I had all four kids at home all day today.



Good news: After four days of being in the house with sick kids, I finally got out of the house alone to run to the convenience store.

Bad news: I was wearing my pajamas.

Really bad news: They were last night's pajamas.

As if the hats weren't enough...

It's not nice. Really. The things we do to our children for our amusement. Not nice at all.

Jackson, February 2007

Here's the thing. His head got wet and we smoothed his hair over to one side and it sort of looked like the Hitler comb-over. A little. So we grabbed an eyeliner and penciled in a little Hitler-stache. Wait. That's what any parent would do, right? Except. Um. Well, when you do something repeatedly... when it's a pattern... is it pathological? We've had the Children's Services Board called on us before. I guess it's your call.

Liam and Maddie, January 2001

A little bit of a suckfest

Friday, I took Bella and Jackson to the gym to join. I took them into the babysitting and worked out for a bit. I waffled on whether or not to shower before collecting the children. I decided not to shower and went to retrieve my kids. As we got ready to leave, my cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was the kids' teacher. When your children's teacher's personal cell phone number comes up on the caller ID, you answer. I answered.

"Kat? I think you've got a sick kid."

"I do?"

"Maddie keeps complaining of being hot, then cold, then that her legs feel prickly."

"Ok. I'm on my way."

When I get to school, both Bella and Jackson are sound asleep in the car. I pause. How do I get one sick one out while carrying two sleeping ones in? I park in the front drive of the school and quickly run in. I grab Maddie's stuff out of the classroom and quickly convince the teachers that I don't need to take Liam right then too. I grab Maddie out of the sick room. She looks pathetic. I grab her lunch and head out to the car with her, her bag, her coat, her lunch, the mittens she left in her cubby a few weeks ago and her homework. When we get to the car, I can hear the crying as we approach. I open the sliding door to the van to let Maddie in and Bella is standing at the door crying. She's standing in the classic "I peed myself" postition - arms and legs spread apart. She woke up, decided she really had to pee and couldn't figure out what to do.

I sigh. I get Maddie settled in to the car. She's freezing, so I wrap her in a fleece blanket I had in the car. She leans against the side of the car, holding up her head as if it would fall off if she didn't. She immediately closes her eyes. Bella has stopped crying, but she is soaking wet. Oh. And cold. Very cold. There's one other blanket in the car. It's on Jackson, who is still sleeping. So I take Bella's car seat off, get a fleece jacket, lay it on the leather seat, sit Bella up on it and buckle her in. And off we go...

Then we get home. Reverse the entire process: carry urine-soaked kid out of car at arm's length away from body, deposit in bathtub; carry sleeping baby out of car and carefully lay on bed without waking him; carry sick child in to couch without having her cry about any number of things I am doing wrong. And it's not even noon yet. Rock and roll.

In case you were wondering what was wrong, here are Maddie's list of complaints:

• it feels like someone is poking my leg
• I feel cold
  
• my throat hurts when I cough
• Bella's singing is bothering me
  
• I feel hot
  
• my eyes are stinging and watering
• Bella's talking is bothering me
  
• I feel cold
• my throat is sore
• I feel hot
• Bella's singing is bothering me

Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday, Godfather!