Monkeys, Pottys, Vacations, and Sandcastles

This is what I have heard from the monkeys in the last few days. See and Do were sharing a jump rope, using each handle as a microphone, and pretending to be Blake Lewis beat boxing. See says "Lift the roof and shake your boo-tay." I thought it was raise the roof but maybe I am out of the loop because the Daddy at dinner that night said the same thing and didn't raise an eyebrow(or a roof for that matter). Yes, this is normal conversation heard around our table.

We were outside playing in the backyard and Roscoe our dog who thinks he is a beaver(this will be explained in a future post) was sitting by me. I guess Roscoe was having trouble with controlling his--umm, well let's see for lack of a better term--his lipstick(this is what I call this male dog anatomy now since a girl at church called it this). Any way, Do walks by and glances Roscoe's way and says "Oh potty chair!" Potty chair, indeed.

Speaking of potty chair, Do knows the word, knows that he will get an M&M if does something in there, knows when he pottys or poops and says potty chair when his diaper needs changed but he will not actually do anything in the chair. We keep talking about it but I don't know whether I want to push it or not. His brother was almost three before he was potty trained (he is strong willed). When he did finally go to the potty it only took a couple of days for him to get the hang of it and he had very few accidents after that. It just seems silly to push it if Do is going to be frustrated or have a bunch of accidents.

The Daddy and I are terrible decision makers. We are going on vacation in a few weeks and we have no definite plans at this time, no hotel, no destination. At this rate we will end up staying at home to watch the grass grow. Part of the problem is finding something that a two year old, a six year old, and two thirty-four year olds would like to do. Another thing is that Do is going through the "Terrible Twos". We just really don't know how he is going to do in any situation because frankly at times he is a little wild man. The Daddy is supposed to e-mail me a list of his top destinations, ranked in order of preference of course, later on today. Hopefully, we can make a decision today or at least before the night we are supposed to leave.

One last thing. Lately I have been feeling like a "bad" mom. I have no patience. I feel pulled between the fact that I should be doing meaningful activities with the boys and cleaning the house. Why is it that I can't find balance with anything? Maybe I am too hard on my self or maybe I am not hard enough. Sometimes it feels like I am climbing up a mountain made of sand. Taking one step at a time but sliding back one step for every two steps taken. I know it will get better with time. Then I will look back and think "you silly girl, look, those were the best times with the hugs, kisses, and funny things that happened." Right now though it is hard to sometimes to see that or appreciate that. Right now I know I should live in the moment and maybe just maybe I should get my shovel and pail and build a sandcastle with my family on that sand mountain.