Sunday afternoon we took the leap into riding a bike without training wheels. Will has been riding a tiny bike with training wheels since he was 3. He has outgrown the bike and desperately needs a bigger one. (Plus, Henry is CRAZY to get on that bike!) Being frugal and a hard liner, I told Will he couldn’t get a new bike until he learned to ride on two wheels. Yesterday, I got the wrench out and took ’em off! I gave him a 30 second pep talk about falling, getting up, and not getting it right away. I fully expected major bails, crocodile tears, and a defeated little man. I ran holding the back of his seat for about 5 minutes in our cul-de-sac…the next thing I knew he was doing it! I was stunned. He was SO darn proud. By the end of our afternoon, he was riding around the large circle, turning, and stopping.

I take no ownership over his accomplishment! It was all him. Most things with him are not this smooth or easy, so it was SUCH a treat for both of us! Guess he is getting that new bike for his birthday!

Unfortunately, for boys, there are expected manners every where you go. Most specifically when you are in public! Henry has not learned the protocol when you browse at the library! He bee lines it to the same section EVERY TIME we go to the library, which is about once a week. He l-o-v-e-s the non fiction section focused on vehicles. Today he proceeded to take 3/4 of the books off the shelf before I even got into the kid’s section.

Now I did make the effort to re-shelve the books the best I could. (Thank goodness for those dewey decimal system lessons when we were kids!) However, as I was re-shelving the vehicle books he was dumping the sea animal books. My re-shelving the books was actually creating MORE work! I had to finally give up! I did ask the librarian, as we were checking out, if I should bring the books that Henry “read” to the counter or leave them at the table. She thanked me, with a smile, and told me to leave them on the table. Little did she know it was about 50 books! Hey, I asked, right!?

Why blog? Because the cool kids do it? No, I want to write as a form of free therapy! Often times at the end of the day, I wonder if I am the only one that needed to send a child to his room 8 times for not listening and talking back. Or if any other mother had to add a lock to the door into the garage so that her toddler wouldn’t sneak out to sit in “daddy’s car”! Or if am the ONLY ONE who feels like the hostess, waitress, cook, bus boy, and the dishwasher. And no one ever seems to leave a tip!

If you would like to “listen” in….I am happy to share! Any advice? I would be happy to take it!

1. I LOVE MY KIDS. (This should be a mantra I chant to myself throughout the day!)
   
2. I would love my signature drink to be a “straight up vodka martini with three olives”. I have tried and failed miserably! Shall I keep trying? Yes I will!
3. I had a much better name for my blog, but worried that I would be shamed had anyone outside “my circle” found out my blog address!
4. I appreciate my girlfriends who are keepin’ it real about being a mom! Love you dearly! You help me keep my sanity.