Archive for July, 2009
July 31st, 2009, 9:27 am by Michelle Reese
Now what?
So after writing my last blog about wanting my son to take up karate again - and completely unprompted by me I swear! - my son announced in the car the other night: “Mom, I think I want to do karate.”
It was after his last swim lesson for the session. He must have made some type of connection because he gave that as his reason a few moments later.
Then his little sister chimed up that she wanted to do the same.
Funny, because now I’m having second thoughts!
This week, we had gymnastics one night and two nights of make-up swimming lessons. The one last night was cancelled at the last moment by the pool facility and I have to admit - I was relieved.
Exhausted from work, I was ready for the prospect of just picking up the kids from camp and going home. There, my daughter and I plopped in front of the TV to watch a Disney DVD while my son and his dad played on the computer.
I know, so much for unplugging the kids.
But I just did not have the energy to take them anywhere (other than picking up Subway for dinner).
So now what? I don’t know. I looked at the karate schedule and my daughter is too young for the class at the gym where we take gymnastics and she is too young for the parks and recreation class.
That means we could go back to the karate school we were at in May - but the kids still would be in different classes, on different days of the week.
And really, that’s what I’m trying to avoid.
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July 28th, 2009, 10:53 am by Michelle Reese
So when do you go with the desire of a child or make a decision for him?
My husband and I have always believed in exposing our two kids - now 4 and 7 - to a variety of activites. First, it keeps them physically active and second, it allows them to experience a number of sports to maybe make a decision to focus on one or two.
Plus, I don’t want the kids to have the option to come home every night with hours available to watch TV or play the Wii. Now and then is fine, but not every night.
 Wouldn't you want to do this, too? So in the past few years, we’ve done soccer, t-ball, football, swimming lessons, karate and dance.
Our incredibly busy summer is just about behind us, chasing on the heels of a sure-to-be-busy school year.
Though both kids did karate for a month in May, my work schedule didn’t allow us to keep it up. So we maintained just a once-a-week swim lesson this summer (and still managed to miss plenty of those).
I got a coupon to try a fitness center that offers karate, dance and gymnastics. I signed both kids up for sample classes: gymnastics for my daughter and karate for my son (who has earned a yellow belt in this sport).
We got there and - yup - my son wanted to throw karate out the window and join his sister on the gym floor. I can see the temptation - check out the photo of the pit!
Our swim lessons end this week and so far I haven’t enrolled for the next session. So I tried to convince my son, 7, to take gymnastics AND karate. I’m not sure he should give up the sport he’s been involved on-and-off with for the past few years.
But he insists - he just wants to do gymnastics.
He’s very happy with it. Last night was our second class and I couldn’t believe what he was doing on the rings.
After swimming finishes this week, we’ll be down to just one activity a week - the gymnastics class - for a few months. My daughter starts soccer in October, but my son didn’t want to do a team sport.
I’m not sure what we’ll do. We could do nothing, add another gymnastics class each week or start another session of swimming. I may try again in a week or two to see if my son wants to add karate.
I’m hoping the start of school will give me a better picture of what we should do to achieve the right balance. There’s a lot to be said about down time and play time at home.
Posted in: Blogroll • Michelle Reese • Being a mom • busy kids • kids' health | 1 Comment »
July 23rd, 2009, 10:33 am by Michelle Reese
 Sometimes, simple is best.
After our whirlwind vacation last summer on a cruise with my inlaws (VERY FUN), we decided to chill out this summer at my parents’ place in north-eastern Arizona.
And chill we did.
I can’t remember a more relaxing vacation. We brought clothes, books, movies and - yes - a video game or two with us.
 In the end, much of our time was spent outdoors. We went fishing, took naps on the porch hammock and ventured into the woods on “adventures,” as my son called them. We had a campfire and - for the first time - taught the kids how to roast marshmellows.
Basically, we reconnected as family, something that’s often missed during our rush of two working parents and two schoolage kiddos.
We didn’t even break out the video games until the last three days of our nine-day trip.
Here are a few shots of the kids. I thought I would share, if only to have them available to remind myself how nice “simple” can be.
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July 21st, 2009, 9:10 am by Michelle Reese
I was arguing with my 4 year old this morning.
One day back from vacation, my nails that were looking nice are gone, peeled down to nothing. The fun, calm demeanor I returned with from vacation with is gone, too.
Back is the frazzled morning mom, urging, no begging, two school-age kids to get cloths on (I don’t care what-just make sure it covers you-PJs? Sure!), eat breakfast, grab their bags and get out the door to get to camp.
I want vacation mom back.
I thought that the week off, the rest, the relaxation, would some how meld into my regular workweek - at least for more than one day.
There’s always tomorrow I know. I can try again - and the kids have agreed to do the same. We’ll put the cloths out tonight and NOT change minds in the morning.
It would help I’m sure if I got more sleep the last two nights. But being back in the proximity of a computer I’ve found myself spending two hours each night catching up on e-mails, editing trip photos, reading about writers and yes - eek - thinking about our next vacation!
So I’ll try tonight to put my own cloths out as well, and to stay away from the computer.
Now if someone would just let the dog know we are back at home, there is a doggy door, and she doesn’t need to wake me up any more to go out in the middle of the night!
Posted in: Blogroll • Michelle Reese • Being a mom | Post a Comment »
July 20th, 2009, 12:49 pm by Michelle Reese
Last week my family took a much-needed, do nothing vacation. My parents have a place up north and it is there that I, my husband and the two kids recharged. The weather was great (never higher than 91), the company was fantastic (it was so nice to just PLAY with the kids and not shuttle them places) and the food wonderful (my husband grilled just about every night.)
Now I’m back and hopefully will offer more blogs soon. In the mean time, check out this story on the EVTRIB.COM site about a mom who has brought her wisdom to television.
Posted in: Blogroll • Michelle Reese • Being a mom • fun with kids | Post a Comment »
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