random thoughts

Tomorrow is the last day of preschool and as I think about the summer break, I'm waffling between excitement and complete terror. One the one hand, I'm trying not to schedule a bunch of stuff so that we can just relax and go to playgrounds and parks and the pool whenever we want and not go crazy having to run all over the place. One the other hand, I'm afraid the days will get excruciatingly long and we'll get bored and boys will just fight all summer long and I'll desperately be craving some quiet "me" time.

The six hours a week of "me" time that I get during preschool are quickly eaten up with running errands, exercising, volunteering once a week and the small bit of house cleaning I can fit into the remaining time. I've found that the best time for me to get some housework done is during the weekly rotating playdate with Coulson and two of his friends while Charlie is napping. Since Charlie is napping, I'm stuck in the house and since Coulson has friends to play with, it frees me up to get some work done. (Coulson is a highly social child and does NOT play by himself, so if he's home, it's very hard for me to get anything done. Well, I guess I could resort to the TV per my husband's example and suggestion...My personal theory is that all those researchers who say children shouldn't get more than 2 hours of screen time, well, they are all working parents, and they don't really know how long the day lasts; but I also don't think a lot of TV is good for the kids, so I try to restrict it as much as my sanity will allow)

This afternoon one of Coulson's friends came over for a few hours, so I started a project that I've been wanting to do for a couple months now, but it turned to a necessity after my trip to the grocery store this morning: cleaning out the pantry. It was so disorganized, I couldn't even unpack my grocery bags. So I took everything out of the pantry and spread it out on the table (and benches and counter... wow, the pantry holds a lot of stuff!) Coulson's friend walks into the kitchen and asks,
"What are you doing?"
"Cleaning out the pantry."
He looks at the huge mess all over my kitchen and shakes his head "That's not how you're supposed to do it."
"Then, I'm re-organizing my pantry? Is that better?"
"This is going to make me hungry (long pause) I'm hungry (long pause) Can I have a snack?"

And later, while the boys are playing Star Wars (what else would they play?) his friend remarks, "I like to be slave Princess Leia." (you know, the one in that bikini, tethered to Jabba the Hutt.)
Casey responds, "Do your parents know this?"
He answers, "Yeah, my mom knows that I want to be Slave Princess Leia all the time."
"Okay" we say, and just leave it at that. Maybe he likes to cuddle up with Jabba the Hutt?