Monday we made brownies for family night and used up the old bananas in some banana bread. I had the best helpers. Sarah was napping, getting over the last bit of our sickness from last week.
Family night was in interactive photo display of the messes they'd left behind and forgot to clean up that I had been taking throughout that day. After the "evidence" we cheered "Rah rah rah rah rah Go Palmers!" and fixed it all. (Brownies were good incentive.) I got everyone on board to help clean up after themselves more as they go along in their day, hopefully it lasts...ha. This was one of the good moments, Adam playing sweetly by himself not bothering the girls while they do school work.
This was the fixing all the messes portion of the lesson. Everyone was all jazzed up to get to work.
Adam was a little too jazzed up from all the rah rah rahs, but we did get him calmed down and helping soon, like I said...brownies are good incentive.
Tuesday we went swimming and did laundry and baths. Adam "went down down down" and kept his mouth closed this time. Progress! He didn't gag and choke or breathe in the water.
Wednesday we scrubbed the toilets and showers. Adam is great at scrubbing toilets and absolutely loves it as his chore. I guess anything with me is fun. He also helps do the windows (he loves the "spray spray") and he enjoys mopping the floor with a rag and bucket of water, but makes a swamp because he doesn't get how to ring out the water yet.
He gets paid 5 to 10 cents a week depending on how "helpful" he's been. He has been so happy to have tithing to pay the past two weeks with his special little pennies he gives to Heavenly Father. I'm impressed how old and full of understanding and capable of real help age 3 is, and yet how little and still capable of so much disaster. I have to remind myself the bad comes with the good. Look at this sweet moment. Rachel playing her violin to Adam as he snuggles in her bed with all his cars around him, precious.
Sarah and Rachel got sunburned shoulders swimming on Tuesday and have been wearing nightgowns all day. Adam has been enjoying learning to play card games with Mom while the girls do their studies. We have learned Go Fish and Memory so far. We also play with his cars. Lots. And lots. Today Sarah wanted to go to activity days, but it was too painful to wear normal clothes instead of the silky nightgown. She decided it wasn't worth the pain and stayed home, which meant we had finished all the school things we needed to do and I had a free hour...so of course I laid down on my bed for just a cat nap surrounded by Adam and all his cars. Adam loves "Yellow Thing" aka my memory foam pillow. He loves special time with my pillow if I allow hime to unzip the pillow case and let him play with it. Yellow thing is starting to have chunks missing, but Adam was being soft with it and putting his McQueen cars to sleep all over it. Then I felt him laying his cheek gently on my face and kissing my cheek and enjoyed his expressions of love for me as I drifted off to sleep. What bliss.
I woke up to find banana bread crumbs strewn about the family room, my bed, Sarah's bed and the upstairs hallway. I asked Adam what he'd been doing. His reply, "Making crumbs." After a time out and discussion of why that wasn't a good thing to do he had to help me vacuum them all up. It took us an hour and a half. They were really into the couch and we used all the different attachments. I realized Adam was having a great time, I thought where is the punishment in this? Yet, the punishment was the time out and the talk, the work after didn't have to be dreary, he'd already been forgiven, so I decided to make the most of enjoying the work together and let it go. I want him to like working with me, and he did get the point of how much work it was to clean the crumbs...though I have a feeling I'll have to remind him again...and again. "Food belongs in the kitchen," I hear myself say over and over and over.
After all the vacuuming I found he'd dumped a container of his special rocks out in between my sheets.(which I keep depositing outside and he keeps bringing back inside) Rocks are dirty and I just washed the sheets Monday. I hate crumbs or any specks in my sheets!!! Dirt and crumbs in the same day. You really pay for a little nap I tell you.
Adam has learned the phrase, "Don't encourage me." It really is funny to hear him telling the girls not to encourage him as he makes them crack up as he runs around doing any number of his crazy dance moves or other comic relief stunts. It makes them laugh all the harder.
During dinner the sunburns were acting up and we had a squirt bottle on hand to cool down the effect. Adam likes to help spray, as I mentioned, and not only sprays his sister's shoulders, but deeply enjoys spraying his own face. I've never seen a kid enjoy squirting himself in the face with water so much.
spray...flinch...spray...flinch...
But things can get out of hand very quickly and the suddenly the whole family room will be damp (I know from recent experience), so I redirect Adam's spraying to the plants in the backyard which he thouroughly sprays in a one for the plant, one for me manner as we finish dinner.
After dinner dishes were done, all the plants (and Adam) well sprayed, toys picked up and teeth brushed we had our family prayer and the time to sing Adam his song arrived. As I pick him up in his blanket to do so I always wrap it around him in what we call "hot dog boy" style because he is all wrapped up like a hot dog. Tonight he wanted his arms out and struggled to free them when I picked him up to sing. When his arms were finally free from the blanket I found why he wanted them, he wrapped them sweetly around my neck in the sweetest little hug. He always "goes boneless" and hangs limp over our shoulder at this time of night, but tonight he gave me the most tender hugs and snuzzled in with such love that I couldn't help but think, "I'm the luckiest of all women in the world."
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