According to the kids we've been having a lot of "best day evers" around here! That is very good news as I feel it has been an exceptionally busy summer. Given the young ages of the kids and my decision to work outside the home, I often wondered if I was around enough to give them lots of "best day evers". Right or wrong, I rationalized my choices in favorable statistics - as I am not at home with them every day the percentage of "best day evers" (BDEs!) are higher due to a smaller sample size. Narcissistically, I am attributing BDEs to me being around - it makes me feel better! And when you feel better, you parent better, right?! This type of me-swayed logic ensures I have few bad days!! Happy pills for the egotistically mad.
To attempt to compensate for being busy, I have done some crazy things in the hopes of providing BDEs - like zoo camps for Tings that are 80 miles roundtrip a day (not including driving to the office) in rush hour.
Once again, thank goodness, for my parent's jumping in to help. My carefully planned logistics fell apart on Day1 when I had to attend a late evening meeting. I think Tingu enjoyed it but we were all exhausted by week's end.
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| Cheetahs at the Zoo! |
Not completely surprising but Zoo camp did not get BDE exclamation. As a reminder, to mainly myself, the weekends that were most highly acclaimed were ones spent chilling with the guys. The kids were much more adept at self-serving BDEs then I gave them credit for - I just had to set the stage and they were off:
Indulging desires to experiment early in the morning ensured I enjoyed a full cup of coffee warm till the end - without a reheat.
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| Hunie smelling his experiment - seems pleased with the results! |
We attempted to play hide and seek:
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| Hunie hiding and Tingu building an inconspicuous fort to hide in....one day. |
My dad used to do a very convincing version of ride the tiger - I tried but reverted back to standard horse, much to Tingu's chagrin. The kids sat on B & my backs' and battled each other with swords commanding, "Ne-how horsey!" Mandarin and horse noises seem to be the same for my 3 year old...yes, the one I brag about being very adept at languages....
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| The guys are riding "the horse" tandem and backward...B's knees have yet to fully recover... |
Buying lots of edible googely eyes and figuring out something to do with them....and when it involves sugar
all the better.
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| Presents for my cousins - who have always suffered through all my wierd cooking concoctions and now seem to be indulging the hobby...(thank you for the ice cream maker!!) |
More messy - mashmellowy junk food...
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| Huns knocked over most of the ingredients on the floor ...twice. |
Waterfight parties -
Welcoming committee:
I have given in - sometimes we spend all Sunday morning in bed with all our Apple devices. The kids at least have to start off with educational games but as soon as I am not looking Subway Surfer reigns !
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| Tingu's weather forecast included, "terrifying storms" as he intrepretted Google weather icons for severe thunderstorms! |
Sadly, I had to give up on Tingu playing tennis this summer. He was much more keen on dressing like a tennis superhero then actually playing the sport. I debated a lot about letting him quit but it feels right - we will give it another shot next summer.
I hope they figure out how to make most days their BDEs though adulthood. As a parent, that would give me a lot of satisfaction. There has been a lot of press coverage lately on if and how women can have it all. I don't believe anyone, male or female, has it ALL so I generally disregard these articles, however, I am very grateful for what B & I do have and it is in large part due to my parents and the strong support of extended family.
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| After-work circus show - in every sense of the word! |
An ode to the grandparents blog is long overdue, as they truly provide the everyday BDEs for the kids.
As my in-laws are coming soon, I am sure I will have even more to write about on that topic shortly!
