January Life

Before they realized bowling is dumb

Last January was the longest week ever (or that’s how my co-worker Nick and I described it). This January is flying by! It could have something to do with new job and big kids who have activities, combined with [counting this one] THIRTEEN blog posts. We really did learn nothing from September.

The new job is good. I feel like I’ve been there much longer than a week (or so) – but that could be from the sheer volume of information I’ve needed to absorb and act on. There was no “wading in” period. Straight into the deep end, but so far, my head is above water. They are also using words like “Emerson Exchange” that should terrify me, but make me really happy because I know how to do that! My commute is significantly less good and I’m learning to deal with the traffic (I’m not). But we are figuring out the new schedule and I’m hustling my bottom out the door in the morning.

Happy skater

In the evenings, we are hustling out the door for gymnastics (on Monday for Q and D) and swimming (on Wednesdays for Q and D). Drama for Fiona will start up in a couple weeks as well. Declan has hockey every weekend, and you truly haven’t lived until you’ve watched a bunch of 4-year-olds play hockey. Mike has hockey most weeks and it is completely unpredictable when that is. If you are counting, yes, that is three activities for Declan. Yes, I overthought that strategy for weeks and was not loving the idea of over-committing him. Then the voice-of-reason (also known as Mike) spoke and reminded me that it’s the middle of winter and if we don’t provide children 2 and 3 with big muscle outlets, they will use our furniture and walls as said outlet. He was right. And our big muscle humans are extremely tired and happy with the arrangement. The non-big-muscle child does not hate the one-on-one time that she gets by default.

We’ve made a pretty significant transition in hockey life – from Dec getting all up in his own head and sobbing about ten minutes before leaving to joyfully heading out the door for practice. The introduction of a fancy mouthguard and a “cup nut” to his attire has helped this! And honestly, just the frequency of going has made a huge difference for him He’s feeling more confident on the ice and Mike says that Dec is smiling the whole time. I went to watch last weekend when he had a practice fairly late on Sunday night. It was from 6:00-6:45 and D did great. However, we all laughed when he fell down at 6:43, because he was just not going to get up. He was toasted and over it. One of his little teammates tried to help him up and they both ended up on the ice giggling. He did get back on his feet for the end of practice.

Two day braids. HOW?!?!?

We had a hockey team outing at the bowling alley – and the sisters could join. Everyone was super excited. I ended up bringing them since Mike was getting his volunteer hours in at the rink. If you don’t know, I have a pretty strong anti-bowling stance. The outing was just bowing for the kids, so I figured I could handle it. As the two hours of bowling went on, it became quite clear that I have three chips of the [not so] ol’ mom. They were all  on the team of “really?!?! we just roll a ball and knock over pins?!?!” I’m with you, kids!

In the rare instance that we are home and not taking ninja showers to maintain basic levels of hygiene, Quinn has been asking me to braid her hair. I love that she lets me play with it. She loves when I play with it. It's a good combo. We've also discovered that if she leaves the braids in for a day or two and then takes them out, her hair is incredibly curly. For my stick-straight-hair child, this is pure magic. For this wild-curls-and-so-much-volume-is-a-thing mama, how amazing her hair looks after two days in braids is beyond mind-boggling. 

So there you have it. That's January in a nutshell for us. You'll find us at the rink, the gym, or the pool. But not outside - because there is still NO snow!