And We Spent the Day at the Pool

You know that I love that the weather seems to have finally changed for the better. I don't want to speak too soon and jinx it all (if I believed in that), but we have had about 3 days in a row now with pretty decent temps, and if the weather reports hold true, we should still have 2 more days in store. That's 5 days people! I can't hardly stand it.

What I could do with out though, is the seasonal "changing out of the closets" that needs to be done each and every season with growing children. First off, it's a pain in the neck (you know I wanted to say somewhere else, but I am all about restraint). To dig through all the clothing, refold, rehang, and bag up the old is a nightmare that lasts all day long. I usually wait to do this chore when it's really yucky outside so that I don't have to miss too much outside time.

Then there is the figuring out what fits still from last year. This always surprises me. I can't get over how much they grow from year to year. I could just cry when I hold up those size 5 capris and shirts. I sit and think back to when they were little and I would look at kids clothing that was that big and think, "There is no way, at least not for another decade, that my baby will ever be that big." Then BAM it's five years later, and some of the stuff, she is just barely squeezing in.

And I refuse to buy size 6.

Not until I have had ample time to mourn over the fact that my sweet little girl is a size five.

It's all the mourning, really, that takes up the whole day. If I could just change out the closet and not sit and look at how big things look/how small she used to be, I could probably get this chore done in half the time.

But what's the fun in that?

Then there is the boy's closet. It's just more of the same year in year out. Boy's clothing is khaki, navy, and jean. Then there are a few different colored shirts thrown in just to mix things up, and there you have it. The only difference is the sleeves and pant legs get longer/shorter depending on the season. Socks stay the same color and only need changed when their feet get too big. Instead of hair bows and barrettes, it's baseball caps which need no coordination what-so-ever.

Don't even get me started on the shoes.

Really though, I am going to look at it as a blessing because I could be stuck indoors for two full days had Pax been a girl.

Besides trying to find something to wear, this wonderful turn in the weather has allowed me to force the children outside. One of my most favorite things about summer time is that after the kids eat their breakfast, they slip on their shoes (while still in their jammies) and head out to the back yard for some play time while I still wake up IN PEACE AND QUIET. It's wonderful. Then after dinner, the same phenomenon happens.

Except that I am not waking up. Instead, I'm winding down, and again it's NICE AND QUIET.

Yesterday, Scott took the training wheels off of Delanie's bike. I was worried about ruining a good thing. I mean the kids where just really getting into playing bike races with each other. The thing of it is, is that Pax now can ride his bike (2 wheeler with training wheels) almost as good as Delanie can. It just looks weird to see the two of them on the same type of bike. So before either Delanie or I could start having a complex, we took them off.

Man, I was worried. My girl wouldn't really be described as perseverant. Nor do the words, easy on herself, laugh it off, or get up and try again really fit the bill. She has surprised me. I can't believe it when I see her and her daddy working together to get this 2 wheeler thing learned. There are tears, and sometimes the arms cross and the foot stomps a bit, but then she gets back on and tries again.

Oh, and she's been bribed with ice cream and a new bike if she learns to ride with out training wheels.

It's the art of Intrinsic Motivation that we are working on in our home.

You should have seen the way she made it around the cul-de-sac a few times tonight. I was dumbfounded. Yesterday, she couldn't even peddle with out us holding on to the bike. Tonight, she is riding around with out us. It's amazing to watch kids learn new things. I wish my brain/body still worked that way.

I had said to her yesterday, that I thought she would have it down by the end of the week if she kept trying each night. At the time I thought that I maybe over exaggerated, and was worried about how upset she was going to be when it didn't happen. There she was proving me wrong tonight. I am pretty confident in the whole end-of-the-week statement I proclaimed yesterday.

Between bike riding, hitting the pool, and changing out the closets we should be full-on ready for summer in no time.

Next on the list: teaching Pax how to wear flip flops (apparently this is not something boys just know how to do). He is trying so hard though.