Claudia’s Chapter

A List of Thanks November 26, 2006

Another day of gluttonous Thanksgiving has come and gone, leaving us all a few pounds heavier and preparing for the holiday season ahead..

I always like a good list, to-do or not. So I’m happy to have a reason to compose one.

Celebrating the time-honored tradition of looking at the glass half-full, that probably started when a pilgrim said “I’m thankful for just making it through a season” here goes:

This Thanksgiving season, I’m wildly thankful to God for……..

1. My vision: both physically and metaphorically. I’ve definately been offered a glimpse of how valuable the seemingly smallest things are, and promise to view more dearly all that I have and those that I know in the coming year.

2. The most challenging moments I have as a mom. I’m realizing that these are really the ones that shape each of us the most, depending upon how we tackle them.

3. The gifts of thoughtfulness expressed by T and C when they suggest I might like something from the pink section of the catalogue.
4. My Mom, for making my world cozier and safer each year. (and for managing to send pre-washed underwear and socks UPS.)
5. My Dad, for showing me how big the world really can be and making sure I never feel unworthy of any of it.

6. My mother-in-law for giving me a phone call to look forward to every day and showing me how to not sweat the small stuff.

7. My father-in-law, for demonstrating regularly how generousity and kindness of spirit often go hand-in-hand with hard work.
8. My friends, siblings and sibling-in-laws for their consummate presence, friendships, laughter and support.
9. And Alex, for going on this adventure called Life with me and making it more filled with possibility every day.

Santa Terror and Mall Rats November 16, 2006

It’s happened once again. The pre-Thanksgiving Christmas extravaganza in every retail establishment from StopnShop to Nordstrom’s . And once again I was totally unprepared for it. (I always assume that Christmas just doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving. I mean we’re still eating Halloween candy)

Well, today it was an unseasonably warm, yet rainy November day, with no school. So as I realized the boys needed to run, and i couldn’t handle having to say “Please don’t jump off the arm of the coach headfirst again”, I loaded them into the car and we headed to the mall. It’s actually a pretty safe place to go during the morning to let them run. Usually only the other moms and Seniors are there at 11AM on a Thursday.

Imagine their (and I’ll admit my own) delight in the realization that the mall was already decorated with wreaths, ribbons and glittering lights. The boys were wide-eyed. They were walking, then running, screaming “Mommy look at the Christmas things” when suddenly they both froze. I followed their gazes. There he was…SANTA CLAUS. And at his feet, not an elf, but a screaming, absolutely terrified toddler. Santa remained eerily calm though, waiting for the little boy to come to his senses. T and C looked on uncertain as to what was happening. Santa made eye contact with T and C and waved to them. C managed a half-hearted wave back, but T just shook his head mumbling “no”.

It’s a little early in the season to make predictions, but right now I’m thinking we’re going to have another “drive-by Santa run.” (pre-blog: last year we had the boys shout their requests to a Santa from the comfort of the car, after which Alex quickly hit the gas)

Getting up at 5:45 AM and still late November 12, 2006

We continue to sleep very little as we’re tweaking LittleChapters before we do any advertising or press.
But we took a break on Saturday to go to Thomas the Tank Engine in Essex. Great fun was had by all, despite a rocky start.

We had 11:15 tickets and the Train Station is no more than 25 minutes from our house. Christopher woke us up promptly at 5:45AM, so it seemed that we should have no trouble making our ride.

Alex let me sleep in for a bit and we planned a 10:15 departure.

But things happen. T was jumping off the couch and couldn’t put on his shoes. C wanted to play Thomas the train, not go see him, so he would not cooperate. I kept remembering things that I had forgotten:keys, wallets, the TICKETS(!) etc.
Anyway, we finally had everyone buckled in by 10:37AM and we were off. We were making it… we were there….it was 11:03. We were going to make it! Then…it happened. We realized that there were hundreds of other people who were going to Thomas the train. We couldn’t park at the station…We had to park in the Percy lot which was a bus ride away.

Alex dropped us off and I managed to get on the train with Meena, Grandpa, T & C. Alex called us on the cell as we were pulling away to say he was on the bus! Unbelievable. T did not speak the entire 25 minute ride and looked truly frightened to be in the belly of thomas the train. When the ride was over, we met Alex and went to the front to see Thomas himself. T was so scared he started crying.

All was not lost though. There were plenty of toddler rides, temporary tattoos and a gift shop to turn things around.

By 12:30 T and C were in paradise.

Though were convinced for a brief moment that we had lost the munchkins. We were waiting on line for tattoos, when i looked down and realized C was missing. Then T ran off to look for him! So in less than 30 seconds, I lost C and T.

C was standing on a nearby Lego train, so all was as well. Then I started screaming for T, when a woman said “What is he wearing?” I replied, “A Red jacket” He was nowhere to be seen. My heart was  beginning to tighten, when  I realized I was holding the red jacket and when I looked again, there was T in his gray sweatshirt right in front of me.

So I panicked. Oh well.

Why T would be wearing sandals in Nov. November 3, 2006

Ask me why my 3 year old had to go outside with socks and Teva’s on in 40 degree weather? Let’s see.

It all started yesterday when we noticed our neighbors across the street had an excavator on their property. To the boys this was an amazing..wonderous…we must cross the street moment. So we walked over to take a quick peek before dinner.

I underestimated them though. I didn’t think through the amount of DIRT that an excavator is frankly designed to well, excavate…First they noticed a, in the words of T, “HUUUUUUUUGE rock” to climb up. I let them start climbing as I chatted with my neighbor totally unprepared for what lay ahead.

They started jumping off the rock. This was fine. Then…they decided to start jumping off the rock and landing in a roll.

This, was not ok. The ground underneath the rock was fresh mud from the excavator. But one jump in, it was too late to make a difference. They were covered. Even C’s tummy was a blackened slate of dirt.

I started winding down my conversation with the neighbor when they both began jumping and literally splashing their hands and faces into puddles on her driveway.

Judging by the look of horror on my neighbor’s face and the fear I sensed that her own daughter would start to employ similar tactics, I steered them back home.

After a stripdown and a bath I thought we were in the clear. Then today as we were about to leave for a toddler party, i realized T’s sneakers were sopping wet with dirty water. We haven’t gone for boots yet,so all that was left were the sandals.

So when we got to the toddler party and his playmate, M said “Why is T wearing sandals?” to me, I turned to T and said tell him.

When they say “trick or treat”….. November 1, 2006

Well it was a blissful Halloween! Thomas and Christopher were Buzz Lightyear and Woody. charging about in costume bellowing “To Infinity and Beyond.” What I learned today though was that the “Beyond” should always contain candy on Halloween.

I’ll admit it, I have a pretty decently sized sweet tooth, and I’m not innocent in the creation of an affinity for sweets in the boys. There are many days of the year to feel bad about too many sweets…to embrace healthy eating…to find joy in a dessert of only yogurt and fruit. But that day is not Halloween.

Sure Halloween is about dressing up, costume parties, getting scared etc. But really…at the heart of it is candy–more candy than anyone should ever eat. But therein lies the fun, and so I already prepared Thomas and Christopher that, while they can’t usually have candy, on Halloween they would get plenty of it.

We started the day with a trip to our local library for a toddler costumer parade. After songs, we lined up for a walk up Main Street. When we reached the top of the hill, the person in charge said “Now let’s walk back and there will be goody-bags for everyone”.

Now, nothing puts a spring in the step of an otherwise traffic-bound toddler than the thought of a goody bag. So with that message we all began to hustle back and wait on line for our bags.

The kids were handed lovely Halloween plastic bags brimming with surprise. I had the boys say their “thank you’s” and we piled into the car, ready for more Halloween fun.

Then it happened. Thomas began rifling through the bag and realized there were no goodies.This was no goodie bag! Instead there was a very nice assortment of construction paper and craft ideas for Halloween “fun”.

Well, the reactions of both boys were tantamount to finding out that the bags were filled with kiddie poison. Tears..and screams of “why wouldn’t they put candy in our bags?’ began.

Honestly I just said, maybe they are trying to set a good example. But really it seemed silly on Halloween. So with that they prepared for a true trick or treat about the neighborhood, where they were greeted with candy, not paper. And all was well on Halloween.

Though after downing 3 lollipops in about 3 minutes, Thomas looked pretty green. I think he’ll appreciate the paper today afterall.