Drowning in Laundry

I used to like doing laundry.  Seriously.  Despite how otherwise untidy I am, I was fastidious about my laundry.  I found it greatly satisfying to have an empty hamper and a neat stack of clean, ironed and folded clothes.

Then I became a parent and now I stand around with other parents complaining about laundry and how children, whose clothes aren't that big, create so much of it.  That satisfaction I once got from doing laundry dates back to when I did two loads (one lights and one darks) every one and a half weeks.  Our washer and dryer now runs every single day.  Sorting clothes has become a luxury.  Everything is washed together in cold water.

Chris' career goal is to make enough money so he can pay someone to do our laundry.  Until then, laundry doesn't wash and fold itself.  Therefore, this is the average state of our mudroom.  

I cannot stay on top of the laundry.  A neighbor once said that life is too short to spend trying to match kids' socks.  Unfortunately, habits die hard.  Thankfully the kids will be old enough to do their own laundry someday. 

Kiera is Off and Pedaling

The first time Kiera hopped on a tricycle, she road it around like she'd always known how to pedal, even though we knew that was far from the case.  So it surprised me that she could not figure out how to ride a bike with training wheels.  She would pedal half a revolution and then push the pedals backwards and engage the brake.  Kiera is persistent and would want to keep riding, so I'd help push her feet forward and every single time, she'd pedal half a revolution forward and press her pedals backward.  Every single time.  Locked into place, our stubborn Kiera would continue to slam her feet backwards on the pedals until she'd start crying in frustration. I was out of ideas for how to teach her to pedal forward and her perpetual frustration wasn't productive either, so I ended up no longer letting her ride the bike with the training wheels and made her ride the balance bike.  

Then one day our seven-year-old neighborhood offered to teach Kiera. She patiently pushed on Kiera's legs to force her to pedal and then pushed the bike by its handlebars so Kiera could learn that that pedals work when you push forward.  After only a few minutes and a couple trips up and down the sidewalk, Kiera was pedaling on her own.  I couldn't believe it!  And Kiera was so proud of herself too.  She rode up and down the block and each time she passed by me, she turned and flashed me a huge smile.  If she hadn't know she's not allowed to ride past the house on the corner to the south of us and Halifax's old house (the 110-pound Bernese Mountain Dog) to the north of us, I think she may just have pedaled off into the sunset.   

 Oliver, who had recently relearned to ride a bike without training wheels, was not so impressed.  He wasn't sure what the big deal was or why I cheered encouragement to Kiera every time she pedaled past me.

I refrained from reminding Oliver that even though he now knows how to walk or eat with utensils, we cheered for him when he took his first steps and when he managed to connect his spoon with his mouth instead of flinging his food into his face. Rooting on our children when they experience a success, however small, is what parents do.  And for young children, it's developmentally appropriate.  When we smile and talk baby talk back at a babbling baby, they are motivated to keep "talking" until they eventually say something that means something. And then we cheer some more. 

We don't know if Kiera had anyone cheering her on when she said her first word or took her first steps, or if she felt like anyone cared.  But we do know Kiera is a little girl who needs lots of encouragement. Almost daily we witness Kiera experience a situation similar to not being able to pedal not the bike and not being able to ask for help and then getting frustrated to the point of tears.  To watch her work to figure something out was such a proud mom moment.  We don't know much about her past, but as she rode by me and made sure I was watching her and that I was excited for her, she knows she has parents who cheer for her unconditionally. 

Soren Update: 4.5 Years

Many nights I read bedtime stories to the kids in my bed and once we're finished, Soren wants me to carry him to bed. I pick him up and carry him like a baby and pretend to rock him and tell him how I remember when he really was a little baby and I carried him in my arms all the time. I try to lay him down just as gently as I did when he was a newborn and I'd lay him in his crib, except he's so heavy that as I lean over I end up dropping him into bed. He soaks up this tender, loving "babying" type of attention. 

Soren is a sensitive kid.  Celina usually gets the kids dressed in the morning, but so often Soren holds out and demands that I get him dressed.  I asked him why he wanted me to get him dressed so badly when he could do it himself and he shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his feet as if he were embarrassed.  He clearly couldn't articulate why, but I think it's just comforting for him. 

He has a routine every morning where he has to wave to me "from the window and the sidewalk."  I hug and kiss him goodbye and as I leave out the front door, he races the couple steps up the staircase where there's a little window that looks out onto the porch and he waves at me furiously.  I stand on the porch and wave back and blow kisses. When I get out to the sidewalk, I've got to stop and repeat the waves and kisses. In one last frantic goodbye, Soren races out onto the porch and props open the storm door and yells, "I love you and I miss you and I'll see you at dinnertime!" 

So this is the routine every morning, except if Chris happens to be home.  Then I'm chopped liver from Soren and his brothers.  At least Kiera still pays me some attention.  But Soren? He's like his brothers and is a total daddy's boy.  He's often Chris' sidekick helping him on projects around the house.  When Chris needed to replace the frame around our storm door, Soren accompanied him to Home Depot and then helped him measure the lumber.  I was folding laundry in my bedroom and looked out the window into the backyard and there was Soren helping Chris carry a piece of lumber from the garage. Chris could have easily carried it himself, but patiently let his four-and-a-half-year-old helper carry half the load.   

As attached as Soren is to both Chris and me, he's showing signs of independence.  He now joins Oliver to play at the neighbor's house, something he's until recently been terrified to do given their exuberant and forever young Labradoodle.  Soren still wants to keep sweet Lulu at a distance, but he now trusts that Lulu will be kept away from him until she can calm down and leave the kids alone.  He's starting to be able to play on Oliver and Paloma's level and they seemingly welcome his company.

Soren has generally liked going to preschool, but lately he really looks forward to it. I don't know if it's because Oliver talks so positively about his own school that his excitement has rubbed off on Soren, but regardless, Soren is pretty jazzed when he finds out it's a preschool day. 

Soren is still into Legos, of course, but also enjoys riding his bike, coloring, building with Magnatiles and playing with Kiera's dollhouse.  He might play with it as much, or even more than, Kiera.  One day he was spent and kept saying he was tired and wanted to go home and play with the dollhouse. 

Soren continues to be a relatively picky-eater and if Oliver gets going on not liking something, he can bring Soren down with him.  Luckily, if left with no other options, Soren will eventually try what he had previously refused to touch. 

With the changing of the seasons, we also changed out Soren's wardrobe.  He's still in size 4T shirts, but can fit in some 5T's and is now wearing 4T pants.  Chris took him shoe shopping a few weeks ago and I was shocked that he's now in size 10.5.  (Also shocked, because he walked into the shoe store wearing size eight shoes on his feet.)