A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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Being the only girl in a house full of boys has its perks. For example, none of them want to go watch a girly movie. If I need a few minutes to myself I announce that who ever is in the room has to help me scrub or clean up. The front door slams so fast you would think I shouted, “bomb”! The brothers love me in their own special ways. Big brother, always being the type of kid to wear his heart on his sleeve, will tell me he loves us or sit with us on the couch. Little brother is not so much the gentle kind. If he randomly decided that today he...
When it comes to being a mom you do tons of ‘letting go’. You have to let go so they can take those first steps. Let go of the bike seat so they can learn to ride without your help. Let go of their hand in the water when they are getting the hang of swimming. Let go when they go to their first sleepover. Sending them to their first day of school is a big one. You let them go off on their own. Tonight I am busy packing for Big Brother; he is headed on his first vacation without us. My mom is taking him for five days for a grandma and big bro...
The brothers are loving the summer months. They have been bugging me almost every day to either go swimming or take them to the beach. Luckily for the boys they have an aunt who lives nearby with a pool. Last week we went swimming there four days in a row. We haven’t gone this week because we went to the beach. Big brother has picked up on his skills from last summer and can swim underwater with ease and is venturing all the way across the pool. Little Brother is no longer using a life jacket and now uses floaties to swim. He was scared at f...
After working hard all school year Big Brother had mixed emotions about the end of the school year. He’s always been serious about not missing school and would get upset when he’d get sick. He does not like to miss out on things that go on at school and dreaded lots of homework to make up. I think this year was a particularly important year to him. He’s at an age where the kids exchange home phone numbers to make plans to hang out. He was so happy when kids from his class went to his birthday party. Even more so when after the party they came...
Little brother is very good at being mischievous, he practically owns the word. I mean to the point of doing something, getting caught and melting your heart with a smile and hug. The latest technique is using his eyes. He gives you this loving look and you can almost hear the serenading music playing. That is what he’s begun to pull out of his sleeve when the hug and his million-dollar smile don’t cut it. He wrecked his Brother’s little Lego town and before Big brother could tell on him he was helping him rebuild. I walked into big Broth...
I don’t know if moms of girls find things in weird places around the home but I do know that with my boys I find a good share of stuff where they obviously don’t belong. How they get there and who did it is almost always a mystery because the boys will say they either forgot or it was their brother. So here are twenty out of place findings from this week. 1.) Legos found clogging up the washing machine. 2.) Popsicle wrappers stuffed down the couch cushions. 3.) A pencil, hot wheel car and small train inside the subwoofer to our surround sound s...
The longer I ride this train otherwise known as motherhood the more accustomed I become to situations and things that are inevitable. As a mother there is always the chance that I can prevent, try to work around or just plain old accept and laugh at all those times that are certain to happen. Here is a list of this week’s five inevitable moments that I knew had a very high possibility of occurring given just the right environment, and accepted them with a chuckle, slight panic & lots of patience. 1.) I asked the brothers to use the bathroom b...
As spring approached so did the deadline for Little Brother’s school days. He had been going to daycare while I’ve worked but now I’m finished. He’s been improving his speech with the help of a dedicated speech therapist but deep down I knew he needed me to work with him more than ever. He doesn’t like to repeat things and it’s hard to give him that push to talk when he just does everything for himself instead of asking for assistance. I make games out of sounds and make a big deal out of new words he says perfect. Even the words he says tha...
We are on our way home now and the boys are so ready to see all their totas. For the rest of our time spent away from home we had great weather. Big brother got in his fair share of swimming and seashell collecting. He made friends on the ship and loved the Oceaneer’s Lab. We were appreciative that our dinner was always perfect. Little brother loved walking around the ship finding things to do. He tracked down Goofy and Pluto to give them high fives and hugs. He really liked the movie theater on the ship and the live show, both of which he w...
It’s been a few days of vacation and the brothers have managed to amaze me with their savvy travel attitudes. Little brother who is a fast runaway kind of kid hasn’t been doing too much running away. He seems to understand that we are far from home. His great behavior all started back in Syracuse. We went to the mall up there and did some shopping. I realized after a few stores that this was the first trip we’ve taken without a stroller. Little brother is three now so we’ve been making him walk with us like a big boy. There were a few times I...
It’s been two years since we planned a big family vacation that included an airplane ride. We took the brothers to Florida back in two thousand ten when little brother was a tiny one year old and big brother was five and totally obsessed with going to Walt Disney world. Now little brother is the one going through the Mickey Mouse phase and in love with everything Disney. The shows, the characters, even the commercials. Instead of spending the next week sweating in hundred degree weather as we walk the miles upon miles of theme parks we opted fo...
Big Brother had all of last week off from school. It started the previous Thursday but two weeks ago he started counting down the days until he could sleep in and have free time. I think it was a much needed break for him. He’s been working really hard on homework, reading logs and studying for his spelling tests that are every Friday. We’re so happy with his grades especially since it’s all up to him how he does. He never misses the bus and seems so big and old when he checks his homework. Then he makes sure it’s in his book bag in the mor...
I’m sure everyone else has noticed the unusually beautiful weather this past week. The sun is shining and it has reached eighty degrees a few times. My boys have been so excited to play outside and just being out there without a jacket & snow pants. What a change from last year when we were still in the middle of a snow storm at this time of year! We’ve been cleaning up the ditch near our house and the yard from the wild birds. Yes wild birds, it hasn’t been the dogs because my neighbor keeps her tied up and they’re good pets...its these b...
Little brother is very animated. With a look or using body language he’ll let you know what he’s thinking. He is talking more now and his words have become clearer but he is still a man of few words. Especially around visitors or when we are out of the house. When he plays it all depends on his mood, either he is the greatest villain or hero. For the last year now he has been into his nerf guns, fake pistols, swords and ninja skills. Whoever plays with him gets to see first hand what an imagination he has. If you have a shoot out and he get...
Last week we had the opportunity to go rock climbing, indoors of course. My sister-in-law found a place in Ottawa that teaches it and has a full scale, every level rock climbing gym. Big Brother was all for it. Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to hit the road. Little Brother went to hang out with his tota girl while my husband, Big Brother, sister-in-law and I went on our little adventure. Once we found the place we didn’t really know what to expect. At first I was a little worried about this place being legit. We walked down s...
Every generation has its own kind of moms. My grandma’s was a stay at home brand and knew how to fix, sew, build, cure anything type. My mother’s generation was going to school after having or while carrying kids, working and juggling home life with kids type. That generation had some of the help of the grandparents who were retired and more than happy to get kids off the early Head Start bus or be there to step in with supper and emergency sick kid center so the moms could still make it to work and school. My grandma says times are cha...
As it goes with kids, they keep on changing. Lately, Big Brother has taken on big boy responsibilities and a personality. He is growing up into this little man. He surprises me with how he reacts to situations. The other day he got off the school bus visibly upset. Worried, I asked him what was wrong and he told me, “I have a friend on the bus but everyone makes fun of us and say she’s my girlfriend. She’s really nice, I sit with her and we laugh but I don’t like getting teased.” I remembered before that he had mentioned how he said he wasn’t...
My boys make a mess and drop food on the floor. Sometimes we’re in a rush and don’t sweep before we’re out that door. Other times they are sneaky and quiet. I know better than to trust that they are pretending to be a pilot. Most times they try to fake me out, Getting into things they shouldn’t while the other plays lookout. They dump their toys across the floor and don’t you know it, someone is at the door. I take a shower and they always manage to flush the toilets. When its time for bed they say “aww you spoiled it!” About five is the n... Full story
As painful and headache-inducing as it is, parents always have this ongoing battle with the “rules”. As parents we make the house rules, enforce the rules and limits, set consequences and listen to the cries of a child facing a consequence. Every parent is different and raised a certain way. I know there is no right or perfect way to raise a child; we just do the best we can with what we have and love them little terrorists the only way a mother could. One parenting rule I do stand by is ‘don’t be afraid to make them cry.’ It’s okay to tel... Full story
January is here and so is the colder weather. My kids have been waiting for major snow fall but had only gotten a few inches that melt or blow away on them. The first time we got some really good packing snow they were right in it packing snowmen and snowballs. Before we knew it the snow was melting away and rain was back. I’ve never seen more bummed out faces then the day we went outside one morning and all the snow was gone. One cried that winter was already over and the other one just stared at the puddle with a mad look on his face. Every t... Full story
This article is about Little Brother. He is my second son and is our baby and I’m very close to him. The difference with my second child was we weathered some rocky territory together. I had help when Big Brother was born. My in-laws were there and my husband was around to take turns with diapers and errands. Little Brother had me worrying about him and his well being before he was even born. Once he got here I rocked him through four months of colic while my husband was away at work. I slept nights with him on my chest while he battled p... Full story
No matter how big, Our children are here to stay But our babies are not, I’m sad and sorry to say You’ll watch as they grow and learn everyday In the most remarkable and intriguing way We watch and admire our babies so little and young Hoping someday they will grow to be strong and have lots of fun Wisdom and integrity are a hopeful thought too Their brilliance is simply amazing that much is true Next they’re off to school and you don’t know what to do The house is so uncomfortably quiet and calm You try to keep busy,for noise you turn the was...
In my younger years, I imagined that I would have a daughter or daughters to raise and dress. When pregnant for Big Brother I started to get scared that it would be a girl and had my heart set on a boy. Memories of all I had done to torture my parents came to mind. Sneaking out, stealing their cars and then crying to get out of it, staying out late and hiding at my grandma’s to save my hide. Well, I got my wish and the fears of chasing a teenage daughter out windows and away from boys vanished. Then the second boy came along and I thought to m...
Halloween was a fun night for the boys. Big Brother was on a mission to get as much candy as he could. He came home from school with a few bags full. By the time we hit the road it was getting dark out. I had wanted to head out early, but the boys wanted dinner and some time to chill out. They are so stuck in their routines of having an hour to relax after their school days that even on a night as exciting as Halloween I couldn’t get them out of the house before six. They played outside and I helped them put candles in their pumpkins. Big B...
My boys have had their days. One bugs the other regularly. They get along, share, then they have their disagreements. A few minutes later they make up and are friends again and of course the cycle repeats itself…and repeats itself a few more times throughout the day. I notice more on the weekends because they haven’t had their “break” from one another. During the week Little Brother goes to his preschool program, which he loves and does not allow anyone to call it day care so we all say school. He wants to be just like his brother. Once Bi...
