Intercom

Mikayla was stricken with a yucky stomach bug. In an effort to not pass any more germs on to her younger siblings, she decided to hang out in her room for most of yesterday. We recently purchased a phone with 4 handsets with the intention of keeping one on each floor (3) plus one in Jordan & Mikayla's room. This way I'm not sprinting up/down stairs when the phone rings and also to decrease the amount of yelling by using them as an intercom system. Yes, we yell to communicate sometimes.

So, I decided to implement the system yesterday. Mikayla couldn't yell very well since she was feeling icky and she had little energy to be running downstairs to get me when she needed something. So...I showed her the steps she needed to follow to call me on the intercom. The next set of instructions were, "Mikayla, don't abuse this system. Use it when you really need me or really need something or I won't respond as quickly."

"I know mom! I'll only use it when I need you."

I gave her a drink, a puck basin, a paper towel, her favorite blanket, and an entire season of Full House on DVD. She should be set for awhile.

5 Minutes later, Mikayla made her first call. It went something like this:

"Mom?"

"Yes, Mikayla."

"I just wanted to make sure I knew what to do."

"Ok. You did it right. Is everything ok?"

"Yep. Bye, Mom"

"Bye"

Trial run went great.

5 minutes later:
"Mom?"

"Yes, Mikayla."

"I don't want to come down there and get the babies sick. I spit up a little. Can you come clean my bowl for me."

"Sure, I'll be up in a minute."

I went up. She did spit - a little =) I cleaned her bowl, made sure she was comfortable, and went back downstairs to tend to the little ones.

10 minutes later:

"Mom, I love you."

"I love you too Mikayla."

"OK. Bye."

10 minutes later:

"Mom?"

"Yes Mikayla."

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to take a nap now. So could you please not interrupt me?"

"Sure Mikayla. Enjoy your nap."

At this point I'm laughing inside. She's liking this intercom thing. And she's asking me not to interrupt her. Now that's funny.

About 45 minutes had passed and I was preparing lunch for the little ones. The intercom beeps.

"Yes Mikayla"

"I just wanted to let you know I'm up from my nap."

"Ok. Do you think you can eat lunch?"

"No. My belly still doesn't feel well. Bye, Mom."

2 minutes later
"I need more to drink, please, Mom."

"Ok, I'll be right up."

I took a refill up to her right away.

2 minutes later
"Mom? I spit a little again, can you come up here and clean it."

"Yes Mikayla, but it will be a minute. I'm setting the babies up for lunch."

"Ok."

1 minute later
"Mom, when are you coming?"

"Mikayla, I told you that I was getting the babies set up for lunch. Please be patient."

1 minute later
"Mom, I thought you said you were coming"

I didn't even bother responding. The cuteness of her infatuation was wearing worn off. I got the babies in their seats with lunch placed in front of them. (I know...they aren't babies anymore...I need to come up with a new collective name for the youngest three children! But for now they will remain "the babies") Then I headed upstairs.

I took care of the one teaspoon of clear spit in Mikayla's bowl. Then sternly explained to her that she needs to call me for important things. She listened for a little bit.

The babies finished lunch, played for 30 minutes, then were ready for nap. I took them up to bed. After tucking them in and pressing play on their CD player, I peeked in on Mikayla and asked how she was. She was fine, smiling, playing, and watching Full House. I told her I was going to be all the way downstairs doing laundry. She asked me to be sure to take my phone. I told her I would and explained that I was going to be on a different number phone. She got it.

I no sooner got downstairs and the phone rang. It was Darin. About 2 minutes into our conversation, I hear Mikayla trying to call me on the intercom. I sigh and tell Darin to hang on. We can't use the intercom and phone at the same time. So I run upstairs to check on Mikayla. She is sitting on the bed, holding the phone, laughing. She said, "I was trying to call you".

I told her I was on the phone and that we couldn't use the intercom while I was talking to Daddy. She said she understood. I asked what she needed. She couldn't remember!!! I gave her a stern look.

I then explained to Darin that I created a monster by teaching Mikayla the intercom system and how she called me very frequently. Darin of course thought this was funny. As he was laughing, he was interrupted by another attempted call from Mikayla. That got an even heartier laugh out of Darin.

"Oh, I didn't know you were still on the phone" she said when I walked in her room.

I had to give the crying wolf speech to her, once again. She hears this one frequently as she is an overly dramatic little girl.

Of course, once Jordan got home from school, Mikayla couldn't contain herself. She knew how to do something that JT didn't know how to do. Right away she called for me and showed big brother how to do it. She was so proud.

I just hope the newness and novelty will wear off sooner than later!

Trademarks - not to be understood by a 5 year old.

Now that Jordan is trying to spell and read everything and Mikayla is following in his footsteps, the questions are non-stop. What's this spell? What does that spell? How do you spell _(fill in the blank)__? What does that mean? and on and on and on...

They ask about things they see on TV and around the house like HD - high definition or DVR - digital video recorder. Well they asked about the trademark symbol. I tried to explain that a trademark meant that a product or idea was owned by a company. And if you want to use that item for something that would make you money (like in a movie) you would have to pay money to the company to use that item.

A couple of days later she was going through some toys to throw away or give away. She came across a doll that had the tm right on the tag. She said, "Mom, we can't give this one away, we have to sell it cause it has a trademark." I tried to re-explain the concept to her. Next thing I know Mikayla is walking around with her beloved Strawberry Shortcake blanket. I noticed that it had an M with a circle around it written in marker. I asked her why she wrote on her blanket. She said, "Oh, that's my trademark so if anyone else wants to use it they have to pay me money!"

Too cute!

I think it may be a few more years until this concept sinks in =)

I'm Itchy

A conversation with Mikayla:

Mikayla: I'm itchy!
Me: You're itchy? Maybe it's from the new PJ's. (Mikayla got new PJ's and demanded to wear them before I washed them.)
Mikayla: I don't think so. I'm itchy all over. I think I have the ticks.
Me: Ticks?
Mikayla: Yeah the ticks.
Me: What are ticks?
Mikayla: You know...the ticks...bugs. I don't remember what exactly they're called. (pause) Oh yeah, they're called ticks. That's all. I forgot.
Me: How did you get ticks?
Mikayla: From Keisha. Mommy!! You know they only get on animals that have fur. Keisha has fur so Keisha must have gotten ticks and gave them to me. I saw her scratching earlier.
Me: Where did you learn about ticks?
Mikayla: A long time ago, on an episode of Spongebob, Sandy the squirrel went to Texas and when she came back she had the ticks. Then Patrick and Spongebob got the ticks too, even though they don't have fur. They were really itchy just like I am. And the only way to get rid of ticks is lots and lots of water. They had to use all the water in Bikini Bottom.
Me: Well then I guess it's time to get a bath. But I really don't think you have ticks.
Mikayla: Alright!! I really wanted a bath.

I looked her over really well - no ticks =) My theory is staying with the unwashed PJ's. The funny thing is, she did have a tick, a couple years ago. Guess she doesn't remember. It's fun to see kids' perspectives. And who says you don't learn anything from television.

Feeling Thankful - a serious post

I belong to a Mothers of Multiples group. Among the many hats I wear for the club, 'Philanthropy Chair' is the one I have recently donned the most. I LOVE this responsibility. Over the years, I have found that there is a fine line between selflessness and selfishness. And that line is beginning to blur for me right now; because while I'm helping others, it makes me feel really good! If you are a philosopher, I believe act utilitarianism is at work here. It's all for the greater good, right?

For Thanksgiving, our club donated all of the perishable items to a transitional home that houses 12 women and their young children whom are trying to pick themselves up out of their varied difficult situations to make a better life for their family. I received the wishlist, did the grocery shopping, stored and delivered the food just before Thanksgiving. Jordan and Mikayla knew what I was doing and Mikayla (and the 3 little ones) were with me when I delivered the food. Three big turkeys and three big hams. 20 lbs of potatoes, gallons and gallons of milk, etc. There was a lot of food. I got to meet several of the women while I was there. One thing stood out. These women don't have many things. They arrived with literally the clothes on their backs. One woman requested a particular veggie. Another woman saw it and said how she would love to have that same veggie but she didn't request it. Without hesitation, the first woman handed over her veggies to the second woman. I had a moment of pause. Now that was selfless!

It just so happens that the woman whom handed over her food is also the woman that our club is sponsoring for Christmas. Her actions spoke volumes to me that day. And I have been working hard to try to get everything on her wishlist and make this a wonderful Christmas for her and her family. Our club and it's members have been extremely generous. I am thankful for that.

I'm also thankful for this dose of reality. It's so easy to get wrapped up with material things. We live in a townhome and have constantly been talking about how we have outgrown it. How we need a bigger single family home. We have been frustrated that we are stuck where we are because of the lull in the housing market, among other things. But you know what...we have a nice, warm home. We are comfortable. We are healthy and our bellies are full. It would be nice to have a larger home...but it certainly is far from a NEED. It was nice to step back and be thankful for all that I have instead of mourning the things that I don't have.

Censoring Toys for the Needy - a post within a post
I have tried to teach Jordan and Mikayla the concept of giving. They are starting to get it. They will both be picking out a toy and giving it to Toys for Tots. Jordan knows exactly what he is going to get. Mikayla on the other hand had to go shopping to scout out the possibilities. She pointed at everything we saw and said "...that would be good for a little girl..." "...I bet she would like that..." Then we came to the Bratz dolls. Mikayla said "Mom, I'm definitely not going to get her a Bratz doll. 'Cause what if her mom doesn't let her have Bratz? Then she wouldn't get a toy at all, and that wouldn't be good!"

I don't let Mikayla have Bratz =)

Another example of Mikayla's rudimentary understanding of giving goes back to when we were talking about what was on her Christmas list. She said she wanted a Barbie dollhouse. I pointed out that she already had 3 different doll houses and she didn't need another one. Mikayla said, "Well how about I give my Dora Castle away to a kid that doesn't have anything." I said, "That would be nice Mikayla." Then she said, "And then I could get the new dollhouse." I laughed and then explained to her that giving things away was really nice and thoughtful but that didn't mean she would get an upgrade on the item she gave away. She gave her typical "Oh" response. She's learning.

Future Nurse Perhaps

Have you seen the My Twinn Dolls? They are really cute dolls that you can have made to look like your child. Then you can buy matching outfits for your child and the doll. Did I mention they are really cute? I think they charge extra for the cuteness factor. Here's an example:

Well I had been hiding a catalog because I was considering purchasing one for Mikayla for her birthday or Christmas. Mikayla happened upon the magazine and proceeded to say how these were really beautiful dolls. As she paged through, she said she would like one that looked like her and one of the baby dolls. Then when she got to the Doll Hospital page, she saw this picture:

Mikayla gasped and said, “Oh Mom, that’s the one I want! You know I like taking care of people!”

Largish Family Discrimination

The local train has a Santa train every year on one day in December. It's fun. You get to ride on the train. Get a coloring book and candy cane. And Santa pays a visit to each car.

In order to get tickets you must find out ahead of time when tickets go on sale, be at the sale location early to get in line, and purchase the tickets. Hopefully you noted on their website where it says “cash and checks only”. Because someone like myself – the person that NEVER has cash and is lucky to remember where the checkbook is because you NEVER EVER use the checkbook – could get stuck waiting for nothing. You would think that these were Hannah Montana tickets as quickly as they sell out. Ok. Not quite. And they’re only $5 per person instead of like $13,000 for 4.

But anyway, this year we have one more hurdle to jump. You can only purchase 6 tickets per person. So I called the train station and explained that I have 5 children so for our whole family to go on the train I need to purchase 7 tickets.

“I’m sorry ma’am, we cannot sell more than 6 tickets to anybody except for the 1:30 train” was her response.

So why don’t I want the 1:30 train you may ask. Because it’s right in the middle of the day where all the kids are more likely to melt down. I might as well spend $35 to stab myself in the eye. So I nicely said to the woman that the policy wasn’t really fair to large families and hung up.

I started thinking about this. I will have all the kids with me in line (minus Jordan). Mikayla can talk. Mikayla can purchase her own ticket. So I told Mikayla that I would give her money but she would have to ask for a ticket on the 10:30 train and give the woman the money. She said “Sure mom, just write me a note so I remember what to say.”

Did I mention she can’t read?

Halloween Pics

Our version of Venom (the black spiderman), Batgirl, Roo, Piglet & Eeyore.

All the excitement got to the twins =0)

Thank goodness for the wagon.

Eeyore's hitchin' a ride with Daddy.

Proud Soccer Mom

We just wrapped up soccer for the fall season. Here are the kids' pictures from this season:

Mikayla dominated in her U5 league. She had 7 goals in one game! It's fun to see her getting aggressive on the field - pushing, shoving, going after the ball...no matter who has it. Now we just have to work on the "team work" aspects, like not taking the ball away from her teammates.

Jordan was in the U6 league. This league was much more competitive than U5. It was fun watching these kids develop. They are starting to really build on the fundamentals of dribbling, passing, trapping & shooting. Jordan played well and had a lot of fun. He couldn't stop laughing on the field because he was so happy. Now if we can focus that energy next season...the possibilites are endless!

“Do as I say, not as I do” from a 19-month-old

The other day, Ryne got a hold of the Desitin that we so lovingly refer to as “Butt Cream”. Payton went up to him and said “NO”, took it away from him, and handed me the tube of cream. What a helper! She's already acting as another set of eyes for me. Oh, but 10 minutes later, this is what I find:

Payton, holding the tube, with butt cream all over her face and Ryne next to her. Ryne had a couple finger swoops of cream on his face, too. At least she shared!

Where was Jack when all of this was going on? On the dining room table of course!

Later that day, Mikayla lovingly buckled Jackson in the child rockers we have. She then proceeded to buckle herself in the one next to him. Why am I writing about this? Because she couldn’t unbuckle herself. Oh the temptation to not leave her in there for a long long while…but then, what kind of mother would I be?