Facebook Archive - July 2019

July 2 - I just boiled Buitoni pre-packaged ravioli and covered it with store brand tomato sauce (straight from the fridge) for Ian to eat and he declared, “This is really good. You should be a chef!” So I got that going for me.

July 7 - Coconut-lime salmon with asparagus. Ian made this with my assistance.

July 10 - Ian's small victory was that he got an assist in his hockey game last night. He's getting markedly better each week and that's fun to witness.

July 30 - Resting his eyes on the way to hockey

Facebook Archive - June 2019

Jne 1 - Ian mispronounced Citgo as “KitGo” which led to a whole lesson on soft and hard vowels. We then used the signs we passed on the road as examples:
“It’s car center and not sar kenter.”
“Because A is a hard vowel and E is a soft vowel.”
“Yeah, and it’s gate not jate.”
“This is fun!”
#AlwaysLearning #115months

June 5 -I pulled Ian out of school for a few hours so we could support Shrop’s (and Freddy’s) open house. As we got in the car to leave he said, “That was cool. I’m gonna tell everyone at school I had to go talk robots with the mayor of Chesapeake.”

June 6 - Ian and I play a gamed called "Yellow Car" where you call them out when you see them. It's like "punch buggy" but less violent. There are some parameters like school buses count but not if there is a fleet parked at a school. Construction equipment counts but only if it's actually using public roads. Tractor trailers are double points if the cab and the trailer are both yellow.

Yesterday, we were driving home and I called out "YELLOW HELICOPTER!" which is probably like 1000 points and I'm the winner for the rest of the month.

June 13 - This kid. ❤️ He got a B in reading but he knows what respite means, so I’m not worried.

June 18 - Whoever said summer days are lazy can suck it. 

Instead of Ian getting himself to school, I have to drive him to camp, park, escort him inside, and sign him into camp. Then I get back to my car and drive to work. It adds 15-20 min to my morning commute.

On Tuesdays, I pick Ian up at 5:15pm (parking, walking in, signing him out, waiting for them to call for him over the walkie talkie), drive him home, put some sort of instant food in his face, then wait for him to dress for hockey (which takes 20-25 min). I feed the pets. Then we drive to the rink so he can be on the ice by 7pm for his first set of hockey games (full ice with a goalie and everything).

He gets off the ice at 8pm, utterly wiped. He has to change out of his soaked gear and he’s starving. We stop at a drive-thru on the way home. If we’re efficient, we’re home by 8:35pm. Then Ian has to unload all his gear and I start a load of laundry while he goes upstairs to shower the sweat off. 

He’s asleep by 9pm and I’m not far behind him. 

I feel like this little girl from the rink today is all our moods. She wanted so badly to be involved in the adult conversation (and maybe parlay a snack out of them) that she was clinging to the counter by sheer force of will.

June 28 - Couldn’t find my keys this AM then almost got to work before I realized my kid was still in the car. 🙄

Facebook Archive - May 2019

May 2 - Ian: “Mom! Someone took bird poop and drew a heart on this car!”

May 4 - Ian starts hockey initiation today. He is beyond excited.

May 5 - The dog makes a good iPad stand. She’s much more tolerant of the annoying videos Ian loves to watch than I am.

May 11 - I think they said the score was 24-25. All the equipment those kids are using (other than the girl’s roller skates) was gifted to them by Ian. We’re hockey people.

May 12 - My Mother’s Day was a little rough. Ian woke me up at 2am and 6am because he developed a cold and had a very sore throat. (Cough. Cry in pain. Cough. Cry.) 

He then argued that he desperately waaaaaanted to go home to play hockey outside (in the rain) with the kids (while coughing and sniffling and stumbling around). 

We had an important talk that as my child, his needs are more important than mine. For example, his need for warm liquids, settling, and medicine at 2 and 6am is more important than my need for sleep. 

However, as my child, his wants are lower than my wants. His want to go play at our house (even if he weren’t sick) is lower than my want to lounge on my boyfriend’s couch and have my kid rest near me or in the adjacent room. 

Ian had everything he needed (food, medicine, shelter, clean clothes, head petting). And he had a lot of the things he wanted (roller blades, iPad, big TV playing hockey, pizza). And he can want for this one thing all damn day and survive just fine. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all y’all out there putting others’ needs first. Here’s hoping you got some of your wants met today.

May 16 - I know some things look bleak right now, but my son did his homework and chores without being reminded (nagged) and requested Beyoncé’s Homecoming at top volume while he vacuumed.

May 24 - Ian’s friend has to be home by 7pm after school but he doesn’t have any time piece. He just asks me or Ian every five minutes what time it is. It’s not a great system. 

Wednesday he was a few minutes late getting home and got in trouble. So tonight, after we all went ice skating, I took the kids to Target to pick out watches. The Friend kept saying, “as long as it has an alarm ...” 

We also got Nutty Buddy cones cause it’s Friday.