Wooden Ears

Carter is four. To anyone who knows any four year olds, that statement says quite a lot! I absolutely love this age, but with it comes new challenges. Right now, the biggest challenge is his newfound selective hearing abilities.

Carter, do you want some ice cream? Yes!!! Gimme gimme gimme!

Carter, can you please pick up the cereal you spilled on the floor? (chirp, chirp) Carter....did you hear me? (silence) Carter??? CARTER??? PICK UP THE CEREAL!! (defeaning silence) IF YOU DON'T PICK UP THAT CEREAL BY THE TIME I COUNT TO THREE, YOU WILL BE IN BIG TROUBLE MISTER!!! (and perhaps maybe now he complies...)

I don't like to yell. Nor do I enjoy repeating myself umpteen times. Of course he hears me, he just thinks that if he ignores me, then he doesn't have to comply with my requests.

Not cool, kiddo!

This weekend, I'd had enough (see a recurring theme??). I implemented a new Wooden Ears Policy. After I ask him once to do something (or cease and desist), I will give him one "free" reminder. If I have to ask a third time, then he loses a privilege (television, computer, playroom, bedtime snack, bedtime story, etc.). If he loses more than two privileges in a day, then he goes to bed early and forfits all of his "Chore Chart" stars for the day. I mean business!!!

So far, so good....I'm really hoping that eventually we can get to a point where he does what I ask the first time he's told. Alas, he is a male, so I won't set my expectations too too high ;)

(Don't) Picture This

It was a beautiful weekend. The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze, but it wasn't nearly as hot or muggy as it has been here on the East Coast of late. My sweet darling one year old decided both Saturday and Sunday that it would be lovely to rise early to enjoy the brillance of the morning. (Translation: Bennett woke me up at the butt crack of dawn). I spend Saturday diligently cleaning and organizing and laundering. We take a brief break in the afternoon to go buy a fun kiddie pool for the boys and get some dinner. We put the kids to bed and I return to my endless piles of laundry to fold. I read my book (which is turning out to be very good, by the way -->) for a while, watch a movie with Ace (Marley and Me), and crawl into bed at 1:30 a.m. Smart, Elle.

Sunday, again up with the rooster (aka Bennitto), I return to the usual tasks of cleaning house and corralling children. We have to leave for church at 11:30, so at 10:30, I wake Ace up (must be nice, huh?) and ask him to watch the kids, make the bed and make sure Carter gets dressed while I shower and dress. I come out of the shower to the sound of children crying in my bedroom. Carter and Bennett were there alone, and Bennett just got a head bump and was wailing. I scoop Bennett up to console him and yell for Ace.

Ace informs me that he just cannot take it (the screaming) anymore and he's going to take a shower. Bennett decides he wants to nurse (I am, afterall, topless) and just latches on to me without warning. Nice. My hair is sopping wet, I have a kid hanging off my chest, and Carter is bouncing off the walls. Meanwhile, Ace proceeds to shower and dress, and I'm STILL NAKED. Because a girl can't get 20 minutes of peace I 'spose. I snap. Hell hath no fury like an overly-stressed woman. I'm SCREAMING at Ace - "You never help me around the house," "You have no regard for our routines," yada, yada, yada, only slightly exaggerating or over-generalizing. All the while...still naked (please, don't picture it, it ain't pretty).

I look back at how comical it was at the time, but an important realization was reached by both of us yesterday morning ... The stress of work (which, by the way, I got an email from my boss this morning saying to prepare myself, we're about to get even busier...), the stress of my futile attempts to keep my house clean and orderly, and the severe lack of free time to enjoy my children or (gasp!) some time to myself - well, lets just say I've had enough. Now, don't beat up Ace (because he reads this) - he does contribute, its just not enough and his standards aren't quite as high as mine. But if want to save our sanity (and our marriage, apparently, lol), something has GOT to give.

So...we decided to hire back our cleaning service. They come twice a month and do all the deep cleaning. We'll still have the basic every day stuff (which is more than enough, believe you me) to do, but this will at least ensure that twice a month, my house is clean, and I don't have to do it! Maybe now I can get to some of the other projects (like writing thank you notes for Bennett's birthday...) that get strewn to the wayside. Screw being frugal - I'd rather be sane!!

So, don't picture me naked and screaming with a kid hanging off my chest...but do picture my house clean and tidy and me calm and relaxed :) That's the hope at least!!!!

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me hear that collective sigh! Its Friday night people!! No better way to enjoy the end of a well-worked week than with a nice glass of wine! It smooths the edges and softens you up!

Tonight, I'm getting a head start on laundry and housecleaning so that (hopefully) I can spend the rest of the weekend kicking back and relaxing with my boys! (A girl can dream, right???)

Today, I attended my Firm's annual Summer Outing at a crab shack just outside of Annapolis, Maryland. I had a great time kicking back with my co-workers and relaxing and just being ME - not lawyer-Elle, just Elle! I guess it sort of made me realize that I spend way too much of my time in the office on edge and afraid to be myself. And I've worked here over 4 years people! Once you peel back the layers of these hardened and ruthless litigators, there are just normal people underneath, lol! Needless to say, it felt really good :) I guess I'm just too afraid sometimes of coming across as "soft" or a pushover. I'm going to have to make it a point not to be so jittery at work from now on! Anyone else like this?

The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 by Ace

I saw this movie tonight with high hopes and high expectations, but there was something else I witnessed that caught me completely off-guard...

Here's the quick synopsis of the movie:

A gang of armed thugs hopped on a train to take its passengers hostage. The main character development plot is between the leader thug Ryder (John Travolta) and transit traffic controller, Garber (Denzel Washington). It's a high-budget terror movie, designed to arouse the Die Hard fans out there. I would hate to be the one to ruin the movie for you, so more info can be found here: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810003158/info

In my opinion, the movie deserves a 3.5 out of 5.0 stars.

Here's what I liked:

• Character development is pretty solid. The characters are authentic.
• The action sequences are visually smooth. Unlike movies made from the 70s, bullets hitting solid objects looked authentic.
• The Stock Market-related details were accurate, except for the part where the Dow and other major averages dropped over 7% in one session from a terrorist threat. In real life, trading on all exchanges would have been halted. Trading resumes after all threats are eliminated, that's when a gap down of over 7% can occur - only after the market reopens, not while the terrorism is in progress.

Here's what I disliked:

• Excessive use of profanity. I can understand it's for realism, but there were KIDS in the audience! By kids, I mean kids 10 and under. Why were there kids at a rated-R movie? (See below).
• It's a straight movie, meaning, no twisted plot, no role reversals, no backward endings or hidden endings. Nothing that would cause a Ph.D or J.D to think.
• It's overly simple and too many annoying characters.

The future of our children's moral functions remain in the guidance of their parents!

I was appalled (for a lack of a stronger word) by the amount of children under the age of 10 who came to see this movie tonight! I hate making generalizations, but from my observations, all of the kids I saw come from low income households. I even saw a baby nursing in the movie theater!

Come on people!

Don't you think about consequences? Stop the spending on campaigns against drugs, guns, and drunk driving and arrest these "parents" who subject their young ones to disturbingly violent movies this late at night. You'll be doing society a great service for generations to come, trust me! How appalling!

By the way, it's really sad that the people who will read this rant are already privileged while those who need to realize this message could barely afford the electricity in their homes, let alone a computer with internet access.

Hell on Earth, it's what I witnessed tonight. And quite frankly, it was more entertaining than the movie...

H2O Tip

I can't believe I just took a picture of my water bottle. Redefining still life art...

Anyway, I wanted to share a tip with you that I recently came up with to help me make sure I drink my allotment of water. I try to drink upwards of 100 oz since I'm breastfeeding.

I carry around a 20 oz Rubbermaid water bottle. In the morning, I put 5 hair bands (you could use rubberbands too) on it and take one off every time I finish off the bottle and refill it. When there are no bands left, I've hit my 100!

I know, I know... that's pretty elementary. I won't be copyrighting the idea any time soon :) Just thought I'd share!

What a no good, low down, dirty, rotten day!!!

I should have stayed in bed this morning! Here is the saga...

I was supposed to be in D.C. this morning at 9 o'clock for a mandatory professionalism course (yawn) for my D.C. license. I left my house at 7 o'clock, giving myself plenty of time to get there - ha! What would normally be a 20 minute drive to the Metro took an HOUR AND A HALF!!!! Apparently, people can't drive in rain. My blood pressure rose with each passing (or non-passing) mile.

I jump on the Metro, and in my rush and panic, I end up taking the long route on accident. Nice. I finally do arrive, a mere 5 minutes late, and am told that I will not be allowed in. Groan!!!! Are you kidding me??? What could they possibly have covered in those first 5 minutes that is so important?? I should be thankful, however, that I just came from Maryland...the gentlemen who arrived behind me flew in from California for it! However, as a nice consolation prize, they did waive the rescheduling fee. How considerate. Now, I have to drag butt all the way back there on July 11th, which is a Saturday!!! to take this stupid course. Otherwise, my license will expire and that would be no good. At least, my boss wouldn't like it.

So, I mosey on down to the U.S. District Court to get two summons signed (that's another frustrating story, but I'll spare you...). The Rule is rather ambiguous, so I prepared the summons in two different ways just in case. I get that done and hop back on the Metro to come into the office and make this day productive. I am at the last stop before the station where I am parked when my secretary calls to tell me that the Court called and said I put the wrong name on the summons. Lovely. It really was a silly stupid mistake.

So, I'm back in the office now, and I reallllly don't want to walk down to my boss' office and tell him about my adventures this morning.

Sigh.

Well, here's to hoping that the little black rain cloud decided to stop following me today!

Taking Responsibility

Sometimes its just easier to clean up the toys yourself and dress your child, huh? In the long run, however, that discourages independence and responsibility. When Carter turned 3, we decided it was time for us to stop being his butler, maid and waiter, and for him to start taking on responsibility. Our philosophy is that as a family we are a team - everyone contributes and pitches in a hand!

So, to remind us to keep on top of this, and to encourage Carter, I developed a Chore Chart of age-appropriate chores. Little did I know when I started what a great teaching tool this would become! If there is a new skill we want Carter to learn, or a behavior we want modified, we put it on the Chore Chart!


I tape the chart up on the closet door in his bedroom. Every night before bed, I review the chart with him and put stars in each box that was completed. If he gets stars in all of his boxes for the day - he gets a quarter! If he doesn't, then we talk about what he missed and how to do better tomorrow. Plus, I reserve the right to withhold stars for bad behavior. The threat of losing stars is enough to compel his little tush into action! I love it :) Plus, he really looks forward to cashing out his quarters every once in a while and taking a trip to the toy store. This also helps teach him about saving and the value of money.

Now that he is 4, I need to think of some new chores for the chart. Any ideas?

Also, email me - elle134@gmail.com - if you want me to email you the Chore Chart file to customize for your child.