Category Archives: Parenting

Updates on the boy …

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University of Montana in the fall -- Photo by R. Sanchez

So he’s having his first “real fall” (with actual changing leaves, and weather that’s less than 80 degrees). He’s made lots of friends, given his first public speech for a class, gone to every home football game with new buddies from the Journalism school, sat on the banks of the Clark Fork River, trekked to downtown Missoula for meals with the dorm kids, done some laundry, worn a toga, gone to the campus doctor and had a splint put on his arm (!), dealt with his first away-from-home cold, bought some basic groceries to supplement his meal plan when hunger strikes at night (groceries usually consist of Oreos and Ramen, I hear), and won two raffles at the student store. I hear he’s even found some time for studying!

This week is rumored to be the first week it might snow (supposedly today!). His best friend from home is arriving in Missoula tonight for a four-day visit (and a home football game). I’m sure they’re going to have a ball. …

I’m so happy he’s having fun! He worked hard to make his college dream come true, and I’m so happy he’s now reaping the rewards.

How To Make a Halloween Scrapbook for Your Kids

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One of the items that comes out of the “fall decor” box every year is a Halloween Scrapbook I made for my kids one year (during one of my scrapbooking-obsessed years).

Here’s the cover:

I made it in a spiral-bound notebook (filled with heavy art paper) that I bought at Aaron Bros. I didn’t use plastic covering because I love the textile feel of paper and photos, but in retrospect (or if I were to do it over again), I’d probably cover it afterall (or use a traditional scrapbook with plastic page covers), because I had no idea how much this particular scrapbook would get so manhandled over the years! (In fact, of all the scrapbooks I’ve done for my kids, I think this is their favorite!)

Each double-page spread is devoted to one child, per year. On the right side is a set of three photos, the child’s age that year, and the date. (For the photos, I tried to have one headshot, then two full-body shots if I had them. For the date, I used a stencil and colored pens.)

On the left side is a page of thematic scrapbook paper, then my own handwriting where I tell a story about how they picked the costume, or a funny story about the costume, or trick-or-treating in it, or who we went with, or whatever.

Here’s one of Ricky’s early pages. This is the right side of the page:

And left page:

Here are some more pages I love: Continue reading →

Sending Your Firstborn Off To College – Part 3

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So as we drove away from Montana – having left our firstborn in a strange state, a strange land, a strange room, with … well … strangers – and as I had lots of time to stare out the car window at scenery like this:

 

I had plenty of hours to think about things like why sending your child to college was so emotional.

I mean, there are the obvious things, like you don’t get to chit-chat as often, you won’t be privy to all the daily goings-on of your child’s day, you won’t get to have your interesting discussions at the dinner table any more, he won’t be around to make you laugh. There are the good things, like you won’t have to wash a gazillion socks anymore, you won’t have to buy mountains of Cheese-Its, and you get a little real estate back in his/her room, which you can use however you like now. Continue reading →

Sending Your Firstborn Off to College — Part 2: We Did It!

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Well, we’re back from Montana, with my oldest child safely dropped off with all his worldly belongings, including a new comforter, a few snacks, a ukelele, and a football he decided to take at the last second.

And you know what? It wasn’t so bad — I wasn’t the emotional wreck I thought I’d be.

I think talking about his leaving, musing about it, and writing about it really helped me get a lot of the sadness out. By the time I got up there (and especially after I saw all of his dorm mates dropping their stuff off and immediately taking off toward the Clark River with inner tubes), I was so excited and happy for him. I just couldn’t wait to let him get started, so Superman and I could hear about all the new adventures he’s going to have!

I think it also helped that we brought the younger kids along. They were a lot of fun, and they kept reminding me that my job as a mom isn’t over — I’ve got another several years of all their craziness! The drive home felt like we were starting a new phase, but almost like we rewound the clock about three years — now Rene is my “oldest” at home, and she’s the age Ricky was three years ago, so I get to redo sophomore, junior and senior year.

I’ll post a little more about it — plus more photos of Montana — in the next few days. For now, it’s back to work, back to registering the younger kids for junior high and high school, and on to Phase II!

Having Boys

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They can never walk quietly along a sidewalk, holding your hand; instead they need to gallop down sidewalk, leap up and down off the curbs, and balance on any knee-length wall that look like a balance beam.

They can never just politely sip a drink through a straw; instead they must blow bubbles, shape the straw into angles, or try to squirt each other.

Their socks are only clean when you take them out of the package. After that, no matter how freshly washed, they have the color of sand, mud, pebbles and bark.

Their pockets, when you do the laundry, are often filled with rocks, pinecones, gum wrappers, Nerf bullets, pens and rubber bands.

Their hands are perpetually dirty, even right after washing.

They hate to take showers until about the 6th grade.

They love dinosaurs.

They love superheroes.

They can play outside for hours and hours, moving easily from one game to the next, as long as there are other boys to play with.

Tag is a universal game for all ages, every generation.

But after all their crazy energy, dirty socks, moaning about showers, and shooting Nerf guns all day and all night, they are the coziest of cozy on the couch.

And they love their moms.

I love having boys. …

 

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