little admiration

thank you all so very much for your good thoughts sent max's way!

he had an amazing day yesterday, despite a rough morning start. 

there was some hiding and a little bit of a death grip around our waists...some shifty eyes looking to make a break for it. but all that aside, he did fantastic!

he loved the school and his new friends. and matt and me and max's dad have a whole lot of peace now that things are falling into place for our guy.

that definitely calls for an ice cream cone...

 or more specifically, an ice cream cone the size of your head.

it does some good to have moments when you get to look at your child and truly admire them. 

not for anything you've taught them, really. but just for who they are as people.

their ability to trust and adapt and be wonderfully resilient.

it's really something. 

p.s. if any of you have done montessori or have kids in montessori i would love to hear your experience!
p.s.s. photos taken from my phone. i left my camera at home!
(that never happens)

a max divided

friday night was fun fair at max's school.

he told me and matt he was meeting up with some friends there...which i'm thinking was code for "i just needed a ride here...you guys go find a wall to lean on...i'll catch up with you later"...

we spent the whole night running after he and his little friends through crowds and in and out of rooms. never too far behind him if he needed us.

and i guess that's the beautiful thing about little ones growing up. you can sit back and enjoy the view...or frantically chase after them waving tickets and promises of cotton candy. either way, it was funny getting to see a glimpse of independent max in his own element. 

with inflatables.

and at least we got this book out of the deal.

those teeth!

dear max, you're getting too big. stop that.

love, mama.

past in present

i recently found this photo of me and max's dad from 1988

when we were in kindergarten together...the same as our buddy now.

it's amazing to me how much max really does resemble that guy (although i have a lock on his big brown eyes) or how these two little ones had no idea what was in store for them.

it's such a happy picture to me...

nothing like a bit of nostalgia to get the weekend going...have a happy one!

a day in our life

up at 7:30 (woken up by a little boy who wore winter gloves in bed all night)

shower and mama/max time before breakfast.

max's hamster is named spongey.

he puts up with a lot from us...from my high-pitched squeels at him to max's constant forcing him under his shirt. this morning we put him on a globe and sang "on top of the world" and he didn't seem very amused.

 

9:30 and time for breakfast.

i made toast and egg white/red pepper/spinach/goat cheese omelets.

i ruined the first one, so i had mine scrambled.

 matt is up by 10 and ready to leave for the day.

i almost burn the house down and decide to stay out of the kitchen and go out for lunch today.

 while trying to get dressed i realize i hadn't heard matt leave.

he sneaked back into bed. 

he's sleepy like that...

by 10:30 matt has hit the road...it's time to check emails and procrastinate before getting ready.

today i wore a lux blouse, zac posen for target dress i converted into a skirt (it fit terribly on this small chested gal) and a f21 jacket.

max gets himself dressed and insists on helping me with my make up.

then he draws me this owl picture...

(i'm offically in love with him)

and by 11 o'clock we're out the door...

to spend some time at big boy talking serious 6 year old business over chocolate milk and french fries before afternoon kindergarten.

max starts school at 12:30.

hugs and kisses and he's on his way...and i head over to a 1:00 meeting with a client.

i'm working with a local school on a 50th anniversary painting. we went through all sorts of old photos and newspaper clippings for inspiration. 

(pay no attention to that thumb...i'm not ready to talk about it. haha.

suffice it to say...i have toe thumbs. hmph!)

2:30...i have an hour to kill before max is done with school. i go to a coffee shop to mull over everything from my meeting and start sketching out ideas.

by 4:00 we're all reunited!

max got a blue ribbon in math, matt got some more work done on the tattoo on his hand, and i came home to dishes and laundry and my blog.

 

not too shabby, this tuesday!

n

kids say the darndest things: expletive edition

i picked max up from school yesterday and noticed a little tension between him, his teacher, and his classmates. they had trauma in their eyes. my first assumption was that someone had either had a bathroom accident on the reading rug or an upset stomach at the pencil sharpener. either way, these people had seen something.

 

 max walked up to me with his head hung and told me he had gotten "grounded" at school. 2 minutes on the wall at recess (or roughly 6 months in the state pen to a 6 year old).

now, max can be the orneriest of boys but he is also sneaky...and prides himself on rarely to never getting caught with his hands dirty. i couldn't imagine what he had done to get "grounded".

 

"i said sh#t." he told me.

just like that. so matter of fact.

"ship. sh#t. they rhyme." he says...

words can't describe the shock a mama gets when such a sharp word hits those tiny little lips. i'm not much for swearing, myself. it's not my style. but i had no idea max even knew about this word! he's tried on "damn" a time or two when he was younger and heard it on teenage mutant ninja turtles, and that was shocking enough. especially when he used it correctly in a sentence. but this! this was beyond me...

 

we had a talk in the car and max told me he learned it from his daddy this weekend. max decided to use this new word as collateral with his friends to get their approval and extra computer time.

 i called max's dad (jesse) to let him know what happened. he said things unraveled a little like this...

 

max: "daddy, i know a bad word...it starts with a ssshhhhhh"

(and they both chime in simultaneously)

jesse: " sh#t!?"

max: "shut up"

 

jesse: "wait...you meant shut up?"

max: "what does sh#t mean?"

jesse: palm to head

jesse tried to clear up the mistake by explaining to max that it was an adult word, and not a very nice one. they had a "never use it or you'll get in trouble" kind of conversation. and jesse thought he was safe.

but now max was burdened with a secret. adults have words that little ones aren't allowed say, let alone know about. he had to get this conspiracy out.

and he unloaded on the innocent ears of his kindergarten class. 

max is "grounded" for 2 more minutes during recess today. he told me last night he wanted to look into going to a different kindergarten for the rest of the year. i told him to go in with his head high, take your punishment, count to 120, and move on with your life. be a better man!

reformation is already taking place. but you can see this hard-knock life experience in his sad little eyes. and really i don't know how any of us can come back after "sh#t".

swing of things

we're finally back in the saddle and getting ready to head out to school today!

this morning has been mad-dash homeworking...searching for the letter "Q" and bagging up 100 marshmallows for the 100th day of school.

now if only we could rid max of that bewildered snowed-in look...

happy happy back to school day!

happy happy monday, loves!

xoxo

the happy and sad of it...

oh dear. where do i begin?

let's start with the good. the very good! max made it through his first day of school and it seems like a pretty fine fit. 

 

his dinner last night was hilariously awful and tense. you can't tell from the pictures so i guess i shouldn't even be speaking of it. haha. for all you can tell we all got along swimmingly and there was no 6 year old sass or complaints on where we ate or lack of extra party poppers.   

no, it wasn't that awful at all. 

we cheered and made messes and wished school year wishes and ate popsicles while watching the dark crystal. 

then we washed dirty little toes and went straight off to bed. once he was asleep i snuck into his room and kissed his head and sniffed his hair and whispered little prayers his way.

oh friends! 

he was so excited today.

i rushed home from work to find he and matt dressed and ready, but without one thing. a fact he left out until it was time to go out the door. max forgot to put on underwear. 

and with that, we were late.

 

to add to the mess, we got stuck at a train a block from school and missed the line to the classroom. his new school shoes make him trip and when we finally got to his room he tripped in front of his teacher and became devastated. he hid behind me for a second out of embarrassment. the principal saw him holding on to me and mistook it for separation anxiety and instantly came and ripped max from me. max turned into a crazed animal...kicking and yelling and reaching out to me. i was forced to turn my back and leave while max left fingernail tracks in the door.

 and i bawled. i was a big bawl baby.

and my heart broke a bit.

i guess i cried for a few reasons. i had wanted his first day to go exactly how i had it planned in my head...even down to the meeting of me and max's dad, jesse, and matt today. and nothing did. but if i've learned anything the past few years, it's that there is a lot of beauty in the unexpected. or at least something to laugh about later. and if you ask max how it went today, he doesn't even recall mauling the principal.    

but you can bet after school i scooped him up and we went straight for ice cream and french fries. we needed it.

and we're going to be there 20 minutes early tomorrow. 

...with underwear on.