Routines

Today Sweet Pea started preschool. Since she was able to meet her teachers on Friday, she was excited today. Today she will go to motor skills class (sort-of like PE) and Spanish class. She will also have the typical snack time, playground time, arts and crafts time that she will have each day she attends school. The potty breaks are even scheduled. While I think this will be really good for her, I wonder if she will get overloaded by the schedule. Will it be too much? Or, will the schedule allow her to thrive because, once she knows it, she will know exactly what to expect? My fervent prayer is for the latter. Thus far in her three plus years, she has always thrived on schedules. She loves her morning routine so much that I have to make sure she is up by 8 (at the latest) in order for her to complete said routine before school starts at 9.

I also love a morning routine. This summer we had a nice one going. Most mornings we did not have to be out the door until after Panda Girl's morning nap. That fact made for some nice slow mornings in our home. Now, we need to be out the door around 8:45 each day. I know many of you have to be gone hours before that time. I honestly don't know how you do it each day. Since I am NOT a morning person, that would be torture to me. I am awed by your efficiency and energy. Thus, with the start of the new school year, I also must create a new routine. One that allows me some quiet time in the morning to myself. One that allows me to be a pleasant and helpful mommy. One that allows for protein in the morning. One that will feel as comfortable as our summer, just sped up a bit. One that also allows for a little bit of fun for the kiddos.

If you have older kids or are a working mommy (good for you) and have any good tips, please leave them in the comments. This school newbie is all for suggestions. I hope you had a great morning!

Book Club Book Review

I met with my book club earlier this week. We don't actually meet as often as we would like to, but we have a good time when we are together. For this meeting we read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. We all loved this book. Everyone found it a sweet read that was, ultimately, heartwarming. The format is different than any other book I have read. The story unfolds through a series of letters exchanged between the characters. This unique medium allows the reader a unique glimpse into each character's thoughts and feelings.

The novel is set just after World War II. It mostly takes place on an island in the English Channel called Guernsey. This island was occupied by the Nazis during the war. The inhabitants were subjected to the whims of their Nazi occupiers. Reading about the abuses rained down on the inhabitants is heartbreaking at times, but it is never too graphic. There is a bit of a mystery surrounding what has happened to one particular character. Thus, this novel has suspense, heart, and humor.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Updates

This morning I am dashing out the door, so these are just some quick updates....

1. The pool play date was not too bad. I knew one of the moms there and the pool was actually closed. So we ended up at a nearby park. It was really hot, but at least I didn't have to take off the cover-up. People were mostly friendly and we all kept conversations limited to the basics. There was one "perfect" mom, but it almost seemed as if she was trying really hard to cover up her own insecurities. Thus, I am considering the outing a success - even if I was the mom letting her toddler cavort around barefoot (I had not brought shoes for her).

2. Once we were home, the phone rang. It was a nearby church in which I had been trying to get Panda Girl enrolled. After much thought I had realized I need her to go to mother's day out two days per week, not just one. With Husband traveling, I will need that time for my sanity. On top of that this church was my only plan. I had no Plan B. So, I had been calling, emailing, and praying for a spot for her. Thus, when the woman on the other end of the call introduced herself, I literally jumped for joy. She is able to start on Tuesday!

3. Today I am taking Sweet Pea to meet her teacher. We are heading out to swim lessons and then going straight to the school. She is nervous. She keeps asking me if I am going to stay with her. I keep assuring her that today I will be right there with her. I really hope this makes Monday easier.

4. This weekend I have another book to review. It is one we read in my book club. I'll just say that I loved the book and I will leave you in suspense as to the title.

I hope everyone has a happy Friday.

Review Number Two

Everyone is Beautiful: A Novel by Katherine Center is my latest literary conquest. This novel is a nice quick read. I enjoyed the pace of the story and found myself truly understanding Lanie's situation. The book is full of familiar feelings and struggles. It aptly describes the push and pull of parenting small children. The book is full of contrasts that serve the author's purpose well: clean vs. dirty, orderly vs. chaotic, beauty vs. homeliness. If you are looking for a quick read that will also give you something to think about, this is your book.

Lanie feels as though she has lost herself in the everyday struggles of a stay-at-home mom. She laments: "What I needed so desperately, and did not have in my life, was something I could point to and say, "I did that." Something that was a direct reflection of me." Thus, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

As Lanie searches she also takes a long, hard look at marriage. How does marriage change after kids? How can those sweet children enrich their marriage rather than tax it? Lanie is trying "to find the passion that had been lost at the bottom of the toy bin for so long." Can her marriage survive the turmoils of parenthood? While this is certainly not new material for chick-lit, the dynamic of Peter being a struggling student does add its own twist to the discussion.

Can Lanie have "time set aside to strive for that impossible balance between excitement and exhaustion, between longing for and having, between giving yourself away and hanging on to yourself, between how things are and how they ought to be"? This quote sums the novel up concisely and accurately. Happy Reading!

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old...

I have always prided myself on being a person who will try her hardest in any and every endeavour. I have never been the smartest, prettiest, or kindest person in the world. I have, however, always tried to be a good friend, a good wife and a good parent.

Today we are off to meet Sweet Pea's new classmates. As I mentioned before, she starts preschool on Monday. A couple of nicely proactive parents have arranged a play date at a local pool for all the kiddos to meet. I have no doubt that Sweet Pea and even Panda Girl will leave with new friends. In general, they are happy and well-adjusted. Both make friends quickly. I, however, am lacking this confidence in myself. For those who know me well, it is no secret that I have struggled mightily the last couple of years. Particularly in the last year I have turned inward and not had the desire to get out and socialize. Thankfully I kept the little ladies' activities a priority or I probably would have rarely left the house. Every invitation to get out and do something fun felt like a chore. Thankfully, in the last month or so we have learned the culprit of my melancholy. Post-partum depression. Sigh. I plan to discuss this a bit more in the future. I think it is important to be open and honest about it. My case was anything but textbook. Anyway, I digress.

All of this is to say that I am really nervous about meeting all these moms today. In my head all these women have beautiful, well put together homes. They aren't battling their weight. They have house cleaners and nannies that allow them to get out on a regular basis to pursue their own interests. They are everything I am not right now. While I realize this image is unrealistic at best, it still plagues me. As the overweight, depressed, brain dead mommy I fear their disapproval. I don't want to be the person they whisper about behind my back. I understand that all of this assumes they will think anything about me at all. Let's face it, that's a pretty self-centered attitude. However, I am still learning how to turn those thoughts off.

So, for the sake of my sanity, I am going to take a leap of faith. Who knows, maybe I will make a new friend. Thus, I will stand up straight, take a deep breath, and walk in looking confident. Yeah, I don't really believe that either. At least I am willing to try.

Update!

I took the little ladies to visit their Nana today, as mentioned in the earlier post. Unbelieveably, it went really well. The ladies behaved themselves and charmed the hospital staff. My grandmother was upbeat and pleasant. I feel like these days I am often disappointed. What a gift it was to be handed a positive surprise today.

Patience

I am not a patient person. I do not humor people well. It is just the way I was made. I have had to learn coping strategies for the little ladies. Small children need patient parents. My husband was made with a double helping of patience which has always served him well. Thus, while I am counting to ten, taking deep breaths and walking out of the room for a minute; he is shrugging his shoulders and hugging the offending lady. I am grateful that he is my foil in this regard. He is a good example to me and I am learning to be more like him, in this regard, every day. However, I find it exhausting. It totally wears me out.

Today I am going to visit my grandmother at the hospital. She had a knee replacement on Monday. My grandmother has always been very good to my sister and I. There is no one she adores more than the little ladies. When in their presence I can see glimpses of what she was like 25 years ago with my sister and I. It warms the heart. However, she is a massive hypochondriac. She loves to ply anyone who will listen with tales of her aches, pains, and diseases (real or imagined). I am dreading this visit. It is going to take every ounce of patience I have ever cultivated not to tell her to buck up. On top of that I will have two little ladies running amok in a hospital. With no help. Fantastic. So, this morning I am going to exercise, in hopes it will put me in the proper frame of mind to channel my sweet husband. I am going to go into this situation expecting mayhem and hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised. If it ends up being as bad as I fear, I will come home ASAP. I will put the little ladies down for their naps, and I will open a bottle of wine. Or take a nap. Or both.

Bye-Bye Summer

This is the last official week of our summer. The little ladies don't have "school" this week (it was only once a week this summer anyway). Next week Sweet Pea starts preschool. Real preschool. She has attended mother's day out for the last couple of years. She always had fun. Her teachers loved her. She had a little best friend, Jackson. Jackson lives far away, so she probably won't ever see him again. Sigh. That makes me sad for her. I can't seem to grasp what starting school will mean for us. She will be at learning all kinds of things three days a week. She has new teachers to charm and new friends to make. I have my money on the fact that she will become fast friends with the rowdiest boy in the class. Panda Girl will greatly miss her sister. I'm planning on taking her to a gymboree class one of the days Sweet Pea is gone. Another day, Panda Girl will be at mother's day out. I'm not sure what we will do the other day we have to ourselves.

All of this to say I am savoring this week. The last week before Sweet Pea starts her many, many years of school. She has no idea how many years of education are in front of her. I just pray she loves to learn and is an eager student. I can't believe she is such a big girl. While I am ready for her to begin this new phase, I am mourning my baby. Luckily I have Panda Girl to enjoy, at least until she starts preschool.

Book Choice Number Two

I have chosen the next book I plan to review: Everyone is Beautiful: A Novel by Katherine Center. The book synopsis tells me it is about Lanie, a mother of three small boys who relocates from her native Houston, TX to Cambridge, MA for her husband's career. She leaves behind the family that lived just ten minutes away and upon whom she depended for help. Lanie's first day in Cambridge she runs into a woman with whom she attended high school back in Houston. While talking to her and a well-meaning stranger at the park, the stranger asks her when she is due with baby number four. Lanie is not pregnant. Embarrassed, she lies and confirms that she is expecting. She realizes how crazy she is to lie about the pregnancy. She decides she needs to make some changes in her own life. She needs her own life, not just the one that revolves around the kids and her husband. The story progresses from there.

I am also feeling the need to make some changes in my life. The past couple of years have been a huge struggle and that struggle has yet to end. Thus, the book choice. Here's hoping it is a nice read that does not disappoint.

The Help

My first review is of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The story plays out in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. It tackles civil rights and southern mores. The characters are rich, flawed, and believable. The narration alternates between three characters: Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter. Aibileen and Minny are black domestics to different white women in Jackson. Aibileen is a single woman who has experienced loss deeply. She loves small children and enjoys bringing them up to be confident and caring. Minny is a large sassy mother with an abusive husband. Her mouth tends to get the better of her. Skeeter is a white lady. She is a recent college grad who has come home, to her mother's horror, with a degree and unwed. Her friends are all married with kids and their own homes to run. The story knits these three women's lives together with humor, loss, and deception.

While the situations presented are not something I can personally relate to, the emotions are real and universally understood.This book was an enjoyable and compelling read. While I am often drawn to historical fiction, this is not an era I have read about before now. I would recommend this book as the subject matter is interesting and thought provoking. A word of caution to anyone from Mississippi, you may find it offensive as it is not a particularly flattering tale. If, however, you can read it with objectivity you may learn something new.

First Book Choice

The first book I plan to review is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I chose this book because I wanted a book that would take me out of my daily life. The book I read just prior to this, which I will review soon, was very personal and heavy. It discussed demons I am currently fighting and I was ready for something light. Well, The Help is not as light as I had envisioned, but it is compelling. Once I finish the book, the review will be up. I'm hoping to finish it in the next day or two.

The two little ladies are currently wrestling, screeching at each other and laughing. The younger, Panda, is less than ten pounds lighter than the elder, Sweet Pea. Thus, it is fun to watch them wrestle (since I know they can't really hurt each other). I am blessed in that they not only love each other, they genuinely like each other. It's not that they don't fight, because they do. At the end of the day though, they always want to hug and love on each other. While I know they will go through fazes when they are not getting along, I am enjoying the bliss that is watching them grow together as sisters.

Every Great Story Has A Beginning, This is Mine...

I am a stay at home mom with three great loves: my husband, my girls, and my books. While the human loves keep my heart full to overflowing; they do not always keep my mind as active as my body. This is where my books step in and take me away. They remove me from my mundane duties (read: the dishes, the diapers, the dusting). Books remind me of how wonderful this little life truly is and that it is something to be cherished.

I find reading to be highly personal. I believe we choose books to read based on our own lives. How will this book relate to my life? Do I just need to escape for a couple of days? Do I feel the need to learn something new? How have other people dealt with the problems I am facing? I will share my own struggles and my own thoughts. I will also review the books I read. I promise to never give away the ending of any book and I promise to be honest.

I will also share stories from my mundane, everyday, wonderful life. I will work to be open and honest. I do not sugar coat in real life, so I will strive to be direct here also. I am flawed and opinionated, which I have found is not always the best combination for a person. At times you will sympathize with me and at times you will loathe me. Hopefully you will relate to me and find me sincere.