Summertime and the living is ... different

Peter in the Pack 'n Play is on the summer agenda, and I am happy to have captured this on video -- his latest choreography, I first noticed him dancing two weeks ago on our way home after haircuts, and this is the first chance I got to record him in action. Now that the trees have FINALLY been cut down, the new fence is up, and the new "addition" to our yard is seeded and fenced in, we can finally take the kids outside, which we did this weekend. I am delighted that we can enjoy the outdoors, since this time last year that was not the case. Going outside with your 4 year-old, your 2 1/2 year old and your 1 year-old is SO much more do-able than it is with a 3 year-old, a 1 1/2 year-old and a newborn. I like to refer to last summer as the whitest summer of my life.

By no means am I saying that I am lounging out in the back yard with a book. There is still much to be patrolled. Like making sure that nobody throws dirt on anything or anyone. Because when you have three little boys and a yard full of toys, everyone heads right for the dirt pile in the far corner of the yard or digs up the rocks by the gutter pipe. Some bubble blowing does happen, as does riding the tricycle and the scooter. But for the most part, it's Dirtville. Which means that every night, it's Bathville. Both of these are rather pleasant alternatives to our winter lifestyle of Boogerville.

I have a list the length of my arm about what I can't stand about the winter months, but the summertime list is pretty short. Aside from dirt play and additional bath times, there is only one other factor that both Jason and I do not like about the summer. Buffets. That's right. This is the time of year that families can make the most of backyard living and laid-back BBQ get-togethers. What's not to enjoy, right?

Well, Jason and I are weighing in with what we don't enjoy after our 2 year-old eats half a bag of Cheese Doodles, 3 hot dogs, 5 cookies, 4 juice boxes and a half a vat of fruit salad. If you see us attending your event with cinder blocks in hand, it will be to elevate the buffet table so that it cannot be within reach of our children. By the way, Owen is no better, it's just that he knows after he has eaten 3 bowls of Doritos and snagged the bowl from the back of the buffet that it's time to call it quits. His appetite is spoiled and he knows it. He swaps out the snacks for a meal and chalks it up. Oh, and Owen is potty trained. So it doesn't really affect us nearly so much. Nicholas is another story. It has gotten to the point that we are seriously considering keeping him home for events like these, since he can't really control himself and unless we LITERALLY keep him penned up, we LITERALLY can't stop him from eating.

I know there are parents out there who wish they could get their kids to eat anything at all, and I know that we are blessed to have relatively healthy kids who are growing. They are also very active, so I don't worry about obesity. I do, however, worry about poor eating habits. At events like these, where my children graze, I feel totally out of control. We are creatures of a regular schedule, and when it gets broken or diverted from, nothing good happens. I also said to Jason today, "We need to start eating dinner as a family, all at the same time." The kids usually eat first, and then us, but the problem is that when they see us up and moving around during their meal time, that is also what they want to be doing. It occurs to me that a lot of the eating my kids do, and a lot of the eating I do, is not at the table. Rather, it is on the go. This, of course, makes me reflect on to what extent my children are becoming a product of my own crazy lifestyle. Which makes me glad that summer is coming and we can slow it down a bit.