There Has To Be A Point

This has been a very exciting spring for the wee ones. For example, Mister Man finally learned how to ride his bike after four years of trying to teach him - yay Autism. It was a huge accomplishment on Mother's Day when he finally got over his fears and issues and just ... did it. And boy did he.

Since Little Miss had her training wheels removed last fall and has been riding all over the place this spring already, the fact that he finally was riding with her meant the world was now open to us. As an incentive, I'd told the wee ones that if they got good enough, we could ride to Dunkin' Donuts to get ice cream (or in Little Miss's case, the lemon sorbet that is dairy free) - yes, this was inspired by the $0.33 scoop night back in April.

My dad had a different idea. He was most excited to go for a bike ride in the forest preserve near our house. He loves to do this, and he was absolutely thrilled that the wee ones would finally be able to join him. And so we packed up our bikes on my and my father's bike racks and headed down to the park.

We unloaded and set out, with clear rules about how you bike around other people clarified before we left. Within five minutes, Little Miss was crying. I want to go back, she wailed. I just want to go home. Since she didn't appear to be in any obvious pain, and I didn't see any major issues, I told her to continue to the next bench where we could stop to talk.

Once we got there, she explained that she didn't like it and just wanted to go home. I convinced her to continue since we'd been biking for all of maybe six minutes at that point. She got back on her bike as Mister Man and my parents caught up to us - because, she was of course flying on the path and we had way outdistanced them. Within seconds, she was sobbing again, choking out I want to go home over and over again.

*sigh*

I obviously wasn't going to get around this one. Since my parents had fortunately driven a separate car with a bike rack and car seats, I asked if they could bring Mister Man home. Little Miss and I turned back around and headed for home. Once we arrived there and I had the bikes loaded, I asked her what the problem was.

But Mommy. We just kept going and going. There wasn't any end, and we were going to keep biking for no good reason at all, she sniffled - loudly.

Because riding in circles through our neighborhood apparently was going somewhere. Go fig. I did clarify then, of course. The result is that if we had brought a picnic with us and stopped along the way and then continued, that would have been fine. Had we started at the opposite end of the park and had a playground break halfway through before continuing on, that would have been fine. Had we started at one end and biked to our cars at the other end, that would have been fine.

That's why I say that Little Miss has lots of personality.

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The Green Goblin Returns!

The weather in Chicago has finally started to get a little nicer. Just a little. It's sunny. And almost to our regular highs instead of 10-20 degrees below them.

This weekend, Little Miss popped into the kitchen where I was working on lunch. Ok, Mommy. I'm ready to go bike riding outside. Are you?

Oh my little creative one....

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Three Wishes

Apparently my children in Florida are finally starting to miss me, as today they deigned to talk to me for the first time since they left.

Little Miss told me about her potty habits, as she’s getting quite proud of herself. My mom is being brave, really, much braver than I’d be. Packing for the wee ones at the last minute became a bit hectic, and while they took Lil Swimmers and diapers (that I had gone to Costco to buy the night before since we were about out, oops!), my mom decided against taking any Pull-ups. Apparently the whole potty thing is really sinking in though. My mom is using Lil Swimmers as Pull-ups for her all day and not just when they’re at the pool.

Given what I know of Lil Swimmers and their … design, this would not be my choice of a Pull-up. My first summer as a mom, I took Mister Man to the local spray park and didn’t change him out of his Lil Swimmer before we left, since it was dry at the time. For anyone who doesn’t know, Lil Swimmers are designed to hold in only one bodily function. Because they’re designed to get wet and not expand like a puffer fish gone made at the first sign of water, they hold no water in, if you catch my drift.

However, she appears to be doing well with my mom’s little experiment, so we may not even need to break open the brand new box of Pull-ups I bought last Wednesday. Little Miss may be ready for underwear by the time she gets home. Apparently the almanac my husband found as a joke that had the best potty training times for April between the 24th and 30th was actually right.

Then I got to talk to Mister Man.

Mister Man: I made three wishes at the wishing well. Grandma gave me three whole coins to drop in, and I did and I made three wishes.
Me: That’s great. What did you wish for?
Mister Man: My first wish, I wished for more ice cream from the ice cream store. The ice cream here is really good, Mom. I’m going to bring you some home as a present.
Me: I’m sure Grandma and Grandpa will take you to get more ice cream before you come home. And that’s really sweet to offer to bring me some, but you don’t need to bring me any. I think it might melt.
Mister Man: Ok, I’ll eat your ice cream then and just tell you about it.
Me: Sounds good. What was your second wish?
Mister Man: I wished for another baby sister.
Me: (choking) Really? Do you like having Little Miss as a sister that much?
Mister Man: Yep. I want another one now, too.
Me: (wondering where on earth he got this idea and freaking out because his cousin at age four accurately predicted his sex from the first ultrasound and ditto with Little Miss’ sex at her first ultrasound and maybe kids have this sixth sense but I am really really good with just two children!) I don’t think that’s going to happen, Sweetie. What’s wish number three?
Mister Man: I wished we could go on another bike ride, but not a bike ride at home. I want to go on a bike ride here in Florida. They have bicycles here with four seats, can you believe that? And there are lots of speed bumps and stop signs, too, can you believe that?
Me: I can believe it. Those bikes sound like fun.
Mister Man: The speed bumps are my favorite thing in the whole world.
Me: Really? Even more favorite than Thomas (the Tank Engine, for the uninitiated)?
Mister Man: The speed bumps aren’t Grandma’s favorite though. She says they’re so bumpy they make her teeth fall out. Her teeth don’t really fall out though; she’s just very silly.
Me: Yes, she is silly sometimes, isn’t she?
Mister Man: Uh-huh. BYE!

And that conversation ends.

So apparently he thinks he wants another sister. My mom did clarify for me. She asked if he wanted to trade Little Miss in for a different sister (which I could see him wanting to do sometimes). Nope, he wants another one. He likes the ones he has and is ready for a second sister. I'm not.

My only guess is that two of his friends in preschool have somewhat young siblings, one who was born a couple months ago and one who is about 8 months. Plus, Little Miss’ best friend at preschool has a one year old sister, too.

I have to wonder though if he knows that we have four bedrooms upstairs and that a new baby would mean sharing rooms. And since he’s the boy, if it were a sister, the baby would share with Little Miss and not with him. Sometimes, he’s smart like that.

It would figure though. I just sold my crib a month or so ago. All the baby clothes have now been given to a battered women’s shelter. Little Miss has a full size bed in her room and no room for a second bed or furniture. Oh yeah, and I got the warning from a friend that everyone he knows is pregnant with third children, including those who weren’t expecting them. Hmmm.

Can everyone send me some good mojo to keep things at the status quo? I think I need some help, as things are not stacking in my favor right now.