Mommy is in Timeout

Today is “Crazy Mommy Monday!” I blog about throwing away my weekend to-do’s for fun with my kids. If you want to know more about the series, read here. For this edition, I let Crazy Fun Daddy come with us. I was feeling generous. Alright, I’ll be honest, I really wanted the extra hands at the museum.

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You may remember how Charlie used his mad Google maps skills to win a dino egg hunt back in March. The prize was 4 free tickets to Dinosaurs Unearthed at the Detroit Science Center.

Since it was cold and rainy this weekend, we decided to redeem our passes to the exhibit. Not only would they have the typical showcase, but they were also hosting an Easter egg hunt. Booyah! Free candy for the parents the kids.

The boys were both ecstatic to spend the morning there. Well, I believe Cooper was ecstatic. He clapped when I told him we were leaving the house, so I took that as a thumbs up. We packed up the car and headed down to Detroit.

I’ll be honest, when we first walked in it was a toss up as to who knew more about these extinct creatures – me or Cooper. Yes, I did just compare myself to a 16 month old. No need to judge.Fortunately, we had Lanagan, aka mini Ross Geller, as our tour guide. He quickly filled me in on all I could have ever wanted to know about dinos. And then some. And then some more. Didn’t you know? Lanagan is a dino expert. He’s actually a self proclaimed expert in three areas: pee, poop and dinos. The proud mom that I am, I pay attention to the latter.

After our 5th lap, I decided it was time to move on. We had to drag Lanagan out of there. You think I’m kidding when I say drag. Not only because he loves dinos, but he swore there were more hidden eggs to find. After I explained that 6 dino bracelets and 4 mini Mars bars were enough, he gave us the green light to head back downstairs.Of course when we left, I was hit with the question “when can we come back?” I’m pretty sure when this exhibit leaves town, we will be moving with it. Hopefully it’s to a destination mommy really likes. For now, we’ll enjoy it until Labor Day weekend.

This past weekend was somewhat of a whirlwind. I started off Friday traveling to the west side of Michigan with 2 students for a business club competition.After that, I drove up to northern Michigan to meet my family where Charlie was speaking at the Student Council State Conference in Traverse City. Yes, a weekend surrounded by teenagers. A little glimpse into our future.

We were both busy with work related events but also wanted to fit in some fun for the kids during the weekend. Traverse City is one of our favorite places in the summer – crystal clear water, a quaint little downtown for shopping and so many different water sports to choose from on the bay.

However, when it is an unseasonable 20 degrees in the end of March, these outdoor activities are obviously out of the question.We decided we would go to the indoor waterpark at our hotel. We threw bathing suits on the boys and then quickly realized that we’d both forgotten ours at home.

It would’ve been a really fun experience had we not had this oversight. Instead, there I was crawling around the edge of the pool, one hand on the cement, the other hand pulling around a toddler around in a life vest and goggles.As I was trying to perfect this ridiculous balancing act, I started to think that we somehow totally forgot to ever sign LJ up for swim lessons. 3 1/2 years old and he’s never once had a lesson. Big mistake.Don’t worry. I’ve already been googling classes in our area to rectify this situation.

Swimming lessons or not, LJ had a great time at the pool. He played with kids on the floating plastic fruit, ran through the spray park and splashed around with his new found friends on the steps.

As we were heading back to the room, he whispered in my ear – “thank you mommy. I had so much fun. I love you.” That moment made the embarrassment of crawling on all 4′s and now having discolored-chlorine-soaked pants completely worth it. Next time? I’ll remember my suit.

Today is “Time Out Crazy Mommy Monday!” Hope to see all of you getting out of your comfort zone with your kids.I’d love to see you join in. If you want to know more about the series, read about it here. Then grab a post – old or new – and link-up below.

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This past weekend started off pretty rough. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, some sort of mini-plague hit our house Friday night.

On Saturday morning we started to see a slight turnaround. The older patient (aka Super Fun Daddy) was feeling “meh” and gave himself a health rating of “7 out of 10.” The toddler patient didn’t give a health rating since he isn’t talking yet. I took “mama” and the fact he was, once again, scarfing down food as a sign that he was getting better.

It was a warm day outside so I thought we should take advantage. By warm, please know that I mean 45 degrees and sunny. When you give people in Michigan a 45 degree day just coming off of winter, you’ll start to see t-shirts and shorts. I even considered busting out the kiddie pool.

We needed to get out of the sick bay and brush off the germs. Today’s Crazy Mommy Monday isn’t anything out of the box. It was simply getting outside once we were all on the road to recovery. We were enjoying the fact that the snow has melted, the sun was shining and spring is heading our way.

We did a little hopscotch. I believe we ended up just making our own game because we obviously weren’t following the typical rules. My youngest son, who still crawls, was actually pretty good at it. Go figure.

The boys went on the rock-back-and-forth-head-injury-prone playground toys. You know? The ones where you swear if they get going fast enough one is bound to crack their forehead open. It was the little guys first time. LJ was a fantastic mentor. I sat nervously patiently off to the side while they had a little bonding time.

We took a walk around the outdoor village. We played with trains at the toy store, which was so new and exciting for the boys since we have a train table at home. I tried to bribe LJ to leave the store and he promptly told me that he wasn’t ready. Apparently they had a more extensive railroad than he has at home. I guess it’s time to work on my track engineering skills.We ended our outing with ice cream at Maggie Moo’s. I don’t know how I come up with these fantastic ideas. Give two people who’d thrown up for 24 hours ice cream. Just one more check in the Mother and Wife of the Year column.

We had a great time getting out of the house and enjoying the fresh air for a little family time. It was just what the doctor ordered.I can’t wait to see what you’ve done for fun with your kids!

Tomorrow is “Time Out Crazy Mommy Monday!” Hope to see all of you getting out of your comfort zone with your kids. I’d love to see you join in tonight or tomorrow. If you want to know more about the series, read about it here. Then grab a post – old or new – and link-up below.

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I’m a bit of a neat freak. Actually, that’s an understatement. I’m quite obsessive when it comes to the state of our house. Everything, and I mean everything, always needs to be in order.

A dirty glass that’s still in use? Tossed in the dishwasher.  A candle out of line with the rest of the bunch on the mantle? Moved back immediately to its designated spot.  A throw pillow on the floor? Quickly picked up and set in the corner of the couch turned to a precise angle with the room.

I know! It’s a bit out of control. Trust me, Charlie could really do without this side of my personality.Adding kids to the household presented a whole new dimension with this issue. I had to get used to the fact that my house wouldn’t be in perfect shape every moment of the day.

Charlie has never shared my passion for order. In our house you’ll often find couch super forts, blanket tents and train tracks that run through the whole house. All courtesy of Super Fun Daddy.I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I made a little mess and constructed a super fort of my own. All the while with Super Fun Daddy looming over the situation, critiquing my structure.

When I was a kid, I loved taking a Mr. Bubble bath. I can still remember making fake beards and blowing handfuls of bubbles at my sister. As a mom, I forget sometimes how baths should be fun and not just an item on my to-do list.

I decided it was time for a boring bath intervention.I’ve dedicated one night a week for a no-rules-apply-play-bath. Whether we use bubbles, color capsules to change the water color or splash all around until Mommy is completely soaked and covered in bubbles – we’re bringing the fun back one bath at a time.

My “Crazy Mommy Time” post has inspired a new tradition with my boys. As you read (hopefully), I’ll be doing something fun & unexpected with my kids at least once a week.Last week, my oldest son and I had our first crazy mommy time adventure. I rarely take time away from work for my kids. I decided that needed to change.

Since my son spends most of his time racing cars down our hallway, which also doubles as the autobahn for him, I wanted to take him on a little field trip. to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

We stopped for lunch at Lafayette Coney Island. I’ve wanted to go here ever since Detroit Moxie posted about coney wars. We sat at the bar like we knew what we were doing. I ordered. The waiter shouted to the men in the picture “1 with, 1 without” as I sat there totally puzzled.Voila. Food appeared. A ketchup demand was made. Thank you to the nice gentleman next to use who shared. Actually, he didn’t have much of a choice. My son just grabbed it. We averted a ketchup meltdown, I poured some on his plate and he dove into his fries.We then took the obligatory self portrait. I also inserted this just as a bloggy reminder that I need to either (a) cut my sons hair or (b) at least brush it before we take a self portrait.

Off to Greektown for parking and to hop on the People Mover. He studied the course. Checking to see if we’d end up at Sodor Island. We didn’t. We got off at Cobo, much to his shagrin.

We then checked out the cars…

…did a little mock driving…

…and treated a brand new Taurus like it was a jungle gym (sorry!).

We also bought Daddy a present. It’s being delivered in 2027. He’s patiently waiting.

And we left the auto show. We took what the 3-year-old deemed as an “air train” back to Greektown. Upon stepping off the air train, he declared he needed “sushi from the sushi store.” Not only do I break all rules, I also give in to all demands during crazy mommy time. So, we noshed on california rolls at Fishbone’s.

Then we were home. Happy. Showered. Wiped out. Mission accomplished.

This past weekend I left my husband alone with the kids for the first time. Ever. I’ve left them alone before but it’s always been with a level 5. A clearance my husband was just recently awarded.I was nervous the whole week leading up to this trip. I made lists upon lists. I took my laptop so I could video conference in with instructions if necessary. I called incessantly to check up on them.

Did you feed them? Did you put them down for a nap? Did you remember to brush their teeth? I’m surprised my husband didn’t change his phone number.I worried. And worried. The thing I didn’t realize until I was gone was why I was so worried.

It wasn’t really about what they would do without me as far as getting through the day. It was about what they would do without me in terms of the fun they would have. Would they even miss me or notice that I was gone.You see, my husband is by far the more fun parent.

We knew it would be like this as we embarked on having kids. My husband winds them up, then sends them to me. He would be the exciting parent. I’d be the fun governor.I don’t begrudge my husband for this fact. I love the exciting, creative and unique things he comes up with for the kids. I love how much they truly enjoy playing with their Daddy.

Sometimes though I feel like I’m the behind-the-scenes person. The stage manager. Making sure everyone makes their cue. Making sure all clothes are folded. Making sure all the sheets are clean.

The Binky Boys

When Charlie is gone it’s noticed. There aren’t any dinosaur rescue missions. There aren’t any space ship rides in laundry baskets. There aren’t any train races around the house acting as Thomas & Spencer.

Would any of the things that I do on a daily basis be even noticed or missed by a 3 & 1 year old?It hit me on my train ride that I don’t have enough spontaneous moments with my kids. I get too caught up in the day to day to-do list. Doing the dishes. Prepping for dinner. Cleaning up the house.

Before we had kids, I was at a conference where the speaker talked about the “Crazy Daddy Time” he had with his son. They would eat cake without using hands or utensils – they would just dive in face first. They would splatter paint onto a blank canvas Blue Man Group style.

I always knew that would be, and now is, my husband. But now I want that also to be me.

This has led me to my new tradition. Maybe you will follow suit with your kids. I’m instituting one “Crazy Mommy Monday” activity each week. I’ll blog about most of them. I’ll be getting out of my comfort zone. Making an utter mess with the kids. Taking them on an unexpected adventure.

I’m taking the afternoon off for an adventure with my oldest son. Stay tuned to see what we did…