That is cause for celebration. And bad parenting. I got totally distracted by the internet today, only to discover that Gilbert was sitting behind me calmly eating incense. Oops. Lesson not learned. A few minutes later, I was still distracted, and I discovered that the boys are going to start ganging up on me. It’s inevitable. They had taken apart a pen and were chewing on small choke-able pieces (Gilbert) and doing body art/modification (Seamus). Mischief is easier when there are two. It did allow Seamus to start in on his favorite phrase of the moment, which is, “Oh good God, Gilbert!” He yells it. Loudly. In public. And private. Luckily it sounds more like, “Oh Dood Dod Dilbert” because Seamus’s Gs aren’t really in yet.
Why all the bad parenting you ask? It’s 97 degrees here, Patrick is on his way to Grand Rapids, and I have low tolerance/motivation for wrangling two boys outside in the heat and bugginess. And ahh, bliss, they are both sleeping now, for their simultaneous naptime.
Our house is doing the trick for us. We have two largish (very relative term) bedrooms, so Patrick and I share one and the boys share the other. I think they like sharing as I catch them talking to each other sometimes when they wake up. Seamus has serious friend deprivation going on. After a long conversation about where all his friends were, he told me very seriously, “Seamus doesn’t have any friends. I need new friends. Have to buy them at the store.” The upside is that he’s enjoying Gilbert’s company more and recruits him to play games. Today, after using the big potty (as opposed to his little potty) Seamus went into their bedroom, where I had stashed Gil in his crib to thwart his toilet-touching aplomb, climbed up in G’s crib and announced, “I pee peed in the big potty, Gilbert.” I guess sometimes you just have to tell someone.
The best thing that’s happened to us is that we have all this time to just be a family, with the exception of P’s departure this week.
Casualties of the move:
1. All of our plastic bowls. Can’t find em.
2. All of our nice glassware. Not broken or lost, but totally impractical for this small house and small hands.
3. The two Netflix discs I had. I found them!!! In my pump bag.
4. Our bank accounts.
5. Some sanity, but that’s returning.
6. And S is right. It’s hard going somewhere without all your friends.
However, we are lucky that many of our friends live in this area. I’ve learned to play lawn golf thanks to Liz and Ramon. I went to baby’s baptism, thanks to my friends Dan and Kathy and their cutie baby Finn.
Oh yeah, and we have a super small kitchen. But that doesn’t stop us! We made fresh pasta last night, cobblers, bread, and more!
Academic Leigh Speaking 