Chased by Children

Who Knows their Mom?

So I was roaming around the internet yesterday and I came across this adorable post.  And I stole it.  And administered it to my children and then answered the questions myself.  If you like idea this then steal it too!

 

The interviewees:

MiMi is 5

LuLu is 9

CoCo is 11

 

1. What is something mom always says to you?

 

MiMi - "I love you."

LuLu - "I love you."

CoCo - "Look it up, bookworm"

 

Jenny:  I always tell them to stop talking with food in their mouths, usually with food in my mouth.

2. What makes mom happy?

 

MiMi - Doggies

LuLu - When we make you breakfast

CoCo - the time we made breakfast

 

Jenny:  when they make me breakfast

3. What makes mom sad?

 

MiMi - When I bite you

LuLu - When I hit my sister

CoCo - When I'm sad.

 

Jenny:  When they are mean to one another.

 

4. How does your mom do to make you laugh?

 

MiMi - You tickle me

LuLu - Says, "Too late.  Had your chance.  Muffed it."

CoCo - Your funny jokes.

 

Jenny:  I tell fart jokes.

 

5. What was your mom like as a child?

 

MiMi - You had hair.

LuLu - beautiful

CoCo - exactly like me.

 

Jenny:  I was perfectly well behaved and did everything my mother told me.

6. How old is your mom?

 

MiMi- 8 or 80

LuLu - thirty-nine

CoCo - twenty-five

 

Jenny:  I have no comment at this time.

7. How tall is your mom?

 

MiMi- 80

LuLu - 5 foot 3?

CoCo - 5 foot 8 

 

Jenny:  I am 5'10" which is undertall for my weight.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?

 

MiMi- getting breakfast

LuLu - take naps

CoCo - hang out with me.

 

Jenny:  Blogging posts about my kids' antics.

 

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

 

MiMi - take naps

LuLu - drink wine?

CoCo - take naps

 

Jenny:  I drink a lot of wine and then nap.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

 

MiMi -  a fashion show

LuLu - for your horrible singing

CoCo - great acting?

 

Jenny:  For this blog.

11. What is your mom really good at?

 

MiMi - picking me up from school

LuLu - sleeping for a really long time

CoCo - looking good

 

Jenny:  napping.

12. What is your mom not very good at?

 

MiMi - working

LuLu - nothing

CoCo -singing

 

Jenny:  getting up from my naps.
 

13. What does your mom do for her job?

 

MiMi - volleyball

LuLu - works at NAME OF MY COMPANY

CoCo - Human Resources

 

Jenny:  They are all right.

14. What is your mom's favorite food?

 

MiMi - meat

LuLu - steak

CoCo - pot roast

 

Jenny: I'm so stunned by their answers that I don't know what to say.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?

 

MiMi - because I'm nice to my friends

LuLu - her accomplishments

CoCo - her pure awesomeness

 

Jenny:  I'm tearing up over here.  Although "accomplishments" seems vague.

 

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

 

MiMi - Princess

LuLu - Spongebob Squarepant's mom

CoCo - Wanda from Fairly Oddparents

 

Jenny:  I would be Kim Possible, of course.

 

17. What do you and your mom do together?

 

MiMi -  party

LuLu - read

CoCo - talk

 

Jenny:  Reading with them is my favorite.

18. How are you and your mom the same?

 

MiMi - we're twins

LuLu - we both love each other

CoCo - we're both cool

 

Jenny:  We are a lot alike...they have a snarky streak.

19. How are you and your mom different?

 

MiMi - I'm naked and you're wearing something.

LuLu - I stay up late

CoCo - she's older than me

 

Jenny:  They are all a lot smarter than me.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

 

MiMi - she's a superstar

LuLu - she says, "I love you"

CoCo - because she tells me

 

Jenny:  sniff sniff.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

 

MiMi - Chili's

LuLu - home

CoCo - anywhere I am

 

Jenny:  Anywhere they are.

The Christmas Pageant

Once a year there is a simply lovely Christmas Pageant at Saint Whotheheck.  

The gym is filled past capacity (don't tell the fire marshall) with parents and grandparents straining to see their little angels or choir members or this year their little Ebeneezer. 

It's warm (in a stifling hot sort of way)

And beautiful (in a elementary school gym sort of way)

And sometimes funny....like when the occasional first grader picks their nose on stage.

I really love this community of people who gather for the rituals our children are sharing.  The songs are all twists on the familiar and the message is always the same, "And unto them a Child was born...." 

Princess LuLu (my only child in the pageant this year because CoCo is too old and MiMi is too young) knocked em dead with her part. 

From the back row. 

On the highest riser. 

Behind a slightly taller kid....um, I couldn't actually see her. 

From there she was SPECTACULAR.  How do I know this? 

Because I'm her mother.

Merry Christmas interpeeps!

LuLu picks the Mall

So, I told LuLu that she could stop going to gymnastics if she wanted.  She was BEYOND thrilled.  I asked if she wanted to go back to just one or two classes a week and she said, "uhhhhhh, no". 

Today, instead of spending three hours working at gymnastics she spent that time at the mall with her mother. ahem.

Just the two of us.

LuLu will only be eight-years-old once.  So she spent all day looking for the perfect high heels to wear to St. Whotheheck's  Halloween fun fair tonight.

She found some at the Disney store that she loved.  In the Cinderella section.  They were 50% off so I loved them too.

On a day in the not-too-distant future she won't want to shop with her mother.  She especially will not want to shop with her mother at the Disney store.  She won't laugh at my jokes, and she will probably be embarrassed by me (what?  shut it). 

But today, instead of gymnastics she shopped with me, and laughed with me, and ate an overpriced lunch with me.  We even sang together in the car on the way home. 

I'm thinking of letting her drop out of school too.

LuLu flips

She went to a gymnastics camp.

They said, "she should really be in a class, she's got real talent"

She took a class once a week.

They said, "she's fantastic, she needs to come more often"

She took classes twice a week.

They said,"she is learning so fast, she's a natural, she should be on team."

She started spending 9 to 12 hours a week at the gym.

She said, "I'm tired."

All of this occurred within three months.  Now my little monkey isn't sure she wants to be a gymnast.  It's hard work and she went from Zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds.  I listened to these "coaches" and thought they were just excited about her talent.  I'm a little suspect now.

Advice? 

We've lost a Page

Princess LuLu is an artist.  We can't keep paper in the house because she draws on every scrap of paper that she can get her hands on...

So, this morning when one of her pages (with the first third of her comic book about a book worm who lives in a book store that she's been drawing on it) went missing she was panicked.  Her panic caused her to be unkind to Princess CoCo who was helping her look.  Her panic caused her to be whiney with her mother.  She was devastated that all of her hard work and creativity was lost, maybe forever.

Anyone who's ever had a hard drive crash probably knows that feeling.

Anyhow, I am looking for suggestions on how to store her copious amounts of artwork in a more organized manner.  She has a lot of little notebooks, and sketch books and pads of paper but she stores them randomly throughout her world.  I don't know why she's like that (what? that's very unkind).

Hannah Montana is the new...Neil Diamond?

Okay, I just wanted to get your attention.

I am preparing to see Hannah Montana in concert tonight.  I'm nervous and excited.  It's like I'm getting to see Neil, or the look-a-like, sing-a-like that the King and I sometimes go see at a local eatery. 

The King just rolls his eyes as I tell him that's what I'm writing about.  Story of my life.

Lightening Strikes Twice

We had our hands full with our first child.

We didn't know what full hands were.

Princess LuLu turns 8 today, and it's an accomplishment that we've all survived that long.

She's full of energy.  And her nickname (self-proclaimed) is Farticus so she's full of other stuff too.

Here are my predictions for Princess LuLu's life:

She will be very famous for something really obscure like pogo stick racing...or doing a workout video based on knock, knock jokes.

She will at some point in her life live in Venice, Italy...or Wisconsin.

She will have several successful careers, none lasting more than 6 years.

She will change her name to something like, Chicky Green.

She will marry her fiance, Nick to whom she's been afianced since she was 3.  She will continue to turn down all other offers and remain true to Nick as she has for the last 5 years....it's impressive.

She will be elected, commissioned, appointed and awarded.

She will win, even when she doesn't. 

And I will be the saddest Mommy on the planet when she finally starts sleeping through the night without waking up at least once to check to see where I am. 

I love you Princess LuLu.  On the face of this family, you are the smile. 

Growing up a Beautiful Princess

She's beautiful.  I mean really beautiful.  From the day she was born everyone has singled her out for compliments -- friends, family and complete strangers.   Her sisters are lovely but in a more normal sort of way.  Princess LuLus is a showstopper, the reincarnation of my late Mother-in-Law who is still the most beautiful woman I ever met.  Sometimes it's a little overwhelming.

It's not a topic you can discuss with too many people - "my beautiful daughter".  You don't want to seem arrogant about it.  I just worry about the effect of it all on her and her sisters.  It is especially hard when your other two daughters are standing RIGHT  THERE as people go on and on about how gorgeous their sister is...

They are young now so it's an emerging issue but Princess CoCo has picked up already that people say LuLu is "the pretty one".   I know that my reaction will inform her reaction, so I try and keep it light...I always say to all of them, "Pretty is as pretty does".  But I can't help but worry about what this means for each of their self-images and for their relationship to one another.

What's also odd is that people notice very little else about Princess LuLu.  She's smart, a talented athlete and funny but people react to her looks in both comment and attention.  It's easy to see how she could rely on her beauty to get a lot of what she wants out of life without really trying...  that is too depressing to think about.

I love LuLu so much.  I want her to be a happy and well-rounded person with integrity and beauty.  I just worry, well, I just worry.  I didn't have any sisters ( and as far as I know everyone thought I was more beautiful that my older brother and that was fine for both of us).  I have no idea about how this "looks" issue will play itself out.  In the meantime, I'll just pray....and worry.