This is our main floor bathroom. Actually it’s a closet disguised as a bathroom. I’ve seen airplane bathrooms bigger than our 3″ x 3 1/2″ cubbyhole! But the small size does have its advantages - you can clean all the walls, the floor and wash your hands in the sink all without getting off the toilet. Trust me, I oughta know. Like the art? Jo-Bear painted it in First Grade and it’s been hanging in the bathroom ever since. I love hanging my kids’ art all around the house.

When we bought the house the bathroom was painted glossy white with U-G-L-Y plastic tiles on the walls and institutional linoleum tile on the floor. After painting the walls and plastic tile a nice cream color we installed stick-down tiles on the floor. We used stick-downs because they were quick and easy, and looked better than what had been there. What we didn’t realize was how kids regularly peeing on the floor and washing their hands a thousand times a day would affect the tiles. My spilling 5 gallons of vinegar water while washing the floor probably didn’t help either. After almost 10 years of being flooded with any number of liquids the tiles started getting un-stuck and all manner of nasty liquids found their way underneath. Then the bathroom started smelling all manner of nasty - no matter how often I cleaned it or what I cleaned it with.

Teacher and I had been talking about redoing the bathroom for a while but never had both time and money at the same time. You know how it is: when you have the time you don’t have the money and when you have the money you don’t have the time. Finally this summer everything came together and we set aside Fourth of July weekend to work on the bathroom.

The weekend before Fourth of July Teacher and I took a trip to Home Depot to check out flooring. We wanted something easy to clean that would hold up to high traffic and look nice… tile was the ticket! After spending an eternity comparing tile color, texture and material we finally found the perfect ones and purchased samples to bring home. We were on our way to a new bathroom!

To be continued…

One of Jim’s dreams while in America was to see the Great Lakes for himself. He asked Teacher about flying to see Lake Superior, but Teacher told him that Lake Michigan was just an hour away. “By bus?” Jim asked. Apparently Thailand has an extensive system of buses that Jim often used for travel. “No, you don’t need to take a bus, we’ll drive you.” Teacher told him.

Since our van wouldn’t fit all of us plus Jim we asked the kids who wanted to go. Jo-Bear did, but the girls decided to stay home and watch a Gilmore Girls marathon. So Sunday afternoon we packed the boys and Jim into the van and took off for Manitowoc and Lake Michigan. Teacher had underestimated the distance to Manitowoc so the drive was actually closer to two hours than one, but it was a peaceful drive. Z-man and Little Guy slept the whole way, occasionally snoring gently or muttering in their sleep. Jo-Bear played his Nintendo DS, and didn’t complain when I made him turn the volume down so the game wouldn’t drive me crazy. Jim looked out the windows, occasionally asking questions about the farms we passed. We did our best to answer his questions and explain dairy farming to him. Jim’s parents are farmers in Thailand; growing rice and a local fruit that I’ve forgotten the name of, and it was interesting to discuss the similarities and differences between their Thai farm and Wisconsin farms.

It didn’t seem like long before we entered Manitowoc and started looking for signs to the beach. We passed one little park with a small beach, but it wasn’t the one Teacher had found online and wanted to visit. Just up the road from the little beach we turned off the main road into a woods that offered a peek of the lake through the trees. The blacktop road gave way to gravel as we got closer to the beach, then ended abruptly in a turn-around. Teacher parked the car and we all tumbled out.

Next to the road was an arched wooden bridge over a stream of clear, rapidly flowing water. Jo-Bear jogged over the bridge with Little Guy trotted after him holding Teacher’s hand. I had out my camera and was already taking photos so I didn’t notice right away that Z-Man had balked at the bridge. “He’s scared” Jim called to me. “You want me to carry you?” he asked Z-Man. Z-Man nodded and raised his arms to Jim. I started back across the bridge to take Z-Man from him - I didn’t want our guest to feel obliged to carry our son, but Jim said “Is OK” with a big smile so I continued across the bridge.

Here’s everyone starting across the bridge, and the stream under the bridge. I don’t blame Z-Man for being scared.

The view from the bridge to the lake - gorgeous! And Jim carrying Z-Man across the scary bridge.

Z-Man was happy to get down and walk on his own on the other side of the bridge, kicking the gravel ahead of him, then scuffing through the sand when the gravel ended. Jo-Bear bent down to take a handful of the beach sand. “Mom, feel this, it’s so soft!” he called. “We should take some home for our sandbox.” he added. Teacher and I looked at each other and laughed. In Michigan he’d built a sandbox for my daycare and filled it with lake sand from a local quarry. I loved that fine, soft, dust-free sand so much! One of my biggest disappointments in moving to Wisconsin was that I couldn’t find lake sand for our new sandbox. I kept teasing my in-laws that they should fill the back of Dad’s pick-up with sand, or at least bring a garbage can full of lake sand when they visited - but in the almost 10 years we’ve been here they never have. Since our visit to Manitowoc I’ve decided to find a Manitowoc quarry with lake sand, rent a trailer and get sand for our sandbox there. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s SO worth it!

The beach was obviously not a swimmer’s beach; judging by the large boulders visible through the waves and the number of shells, sticks and stones in the sand. The boys all had a blast throwing stones into the lake - without being yelled at! - and searching for “treasures” in the sand. Teacher found some crab shells and after Jo-Bear saw them he was on a mission to find as many shells as he could. He found quite a few, including one with a dried-out crab inside. Grosssss!!!! Jim was awed by the size of the lake and took tons of photos. Teacher followed Little Guy up and down the beach, scooping him up when he got too close to the water and the waves washed over his feet.

The shoreline, and one of the crab claw treasures Jo-Bear found.

Z-Man is looking for treasure while Teacher keeps an eye on Little Guy. At this point his feet are still dry…

Jim takes photos of himself everywhere he goes. If I ever get to visit a country more exotic than Canada I’m sure I’ll do the same thing. It just amazes me to think that we have a friend halfway across the world.

This is one of my favorite photos from the day. Little Guy loved being on the beach, I can’t wait to take him back when it’s warmer!

It was amazing how relaxing the bright sunshine, scent of fresh lake water, and sound of the waves were. I could feel the tension leave my body as I walked along the beach next to Teacher. Apparently he was feeling the same way; “Relaxing, isn’t it?” he asked, putting an arm around me. I rested my head on his shoulder and looked out toward the horizon, watching the water glitter in the sun and filling my senses with the lake. “Oh yeah.” I agreed. “If I didn’t love our house so much I’d really want a place on the water.” We stood there for several minutes, just enjoying.

After about an hour an a half we were ready to leave the beach - at least the adults were ready. Jo-Bear was old enough to hide his disappointment, but Z-Man openly pouted and Little Guy cried and arched his back to get down as Teacher carried him away from the water. This time Z-Man wasn’t afraid of the bridge, and after crossing it once he wanted to go back and forth one more time. I walked with him as Teacher got Little Guy in the car seat, then we all piled back into the car for the drive home.

By this time it was 4:00 and we hadn’t really had lunch - just muffins around 10:00 - so we were hungry! A quick stop at McDonald’s provided the solution, as well as loudly annoying toys for Z-Man and Little Guy to torment us with all the way home. Next time we’ll try Burger King - their toys can’t be as annoying, right? All in all it was a great afternoon, and I’ll never forget the way Jim’s face beamed as he stuck his hand into Lake Michigan. “It’s cold!” he said first. Then, “I touched the Great Lakes - is always my dream.” It doesn’t get better than that!

More photos coming later as I get time to edit them!

Little Guy was hamming it up the other morning so I snapped a series of photos. If you look closely at his little finger you’ll see me wrapped around it. Yeah, I’m a total marshmallow when it comes to the kids, but I can’t help it - they’re so cute! And Little Guy’s big blue eyes and adorable smile get me every time…

Isn’t he just the cutest?!

Saturday morning dawned cloudy, cold, and snowy. Snowy?! Yep, 32 degrees and snowy. Welcome to Spring in Wisconsin. When the girls and I went to band at 8 am the windshield was covered with ice and snow and we shivered until the heat kicked in.

Aside from complaining that I was SO tired of winter I didn’t think much of the cold until it was time to pick up our Thai guest from Teacher’s school. We were the first family to arrive and had just scurried inside the building when the small bus pulled up behind us. “They’re here!” Teacher called to me. “They’re here!” I called to Jo-Bear, Z-Man and Little Guy who had run ahead of me into the cafeteria area. We all turned around to watch as the bus doors opened. Yeah, I realize I’m a loser for not bringing the camera, but it had been a busy couple of days so gimme a break.

The Thai children tumbled off the bus with giggles and exclamations of “Snow! Snow!” Our guest later told us that it doesn’t ever snow in Thailand, even in the mountains. The children spun in circles and jumped around, releasing some of the energy that had built up during the two-hour bus ride from Madison. Lynn, the Thai teacher, Teacher and the bus driver quickly unloaded the luggage and the Thai teacher shooed his students inside.

I was surprised by the Thai teacher’s appearance; he looked much younger than I’d imagined - although I later learned he’d been teaching 18 years which made him about Teacher’s and my age. He was thin and not very tall (close to Teacher’s 5′ 9″), with black hair sticking up in all directions and a big grin. He was wearing a lightweight leather jacket, colorful scarf loosely tied around his neck, and had a leather backpack slung over his shoulder. “I am Jim” he said, pressing his hands together and bowing slightly to me. His slight accent that caused it to sound like a cross between “Jim” and “Cheem”. His Thai name is Warawut, but he goes by “Jim” which is much easier for English-speakers. “It is cold!” he said, holding his arms and shivering. He told me that right now in Thailand it’s the hot season, with temperatures near 100 when they left. I looked at the Thai children - they were wearing scarves, sweaters, and sweatshirts, but not winter coats.

The other host families began to arrive and claim their guests. Pannapat, Praeploy, Natpawat, Bhurin, and Wasu each pressed their hands together and bowed to the members of their guest family. “Hello, I’m happy to meet you.” and other polite greetings were exchanged. In the little time I was able to watch I was very impressed with the Thai students’ knowledge of English. I also marveled at the Thai families’ bravery for sending their 10-12 year old children halfway around the world to stay with strangers for 3 weeks. Jim told me that these students were from different parts of Thailand and didn’t know each other or him before this trip. I don’t think I’m a clingy parent but I’m not sure I could send Jo-Bear or Angel Face to Thailand with a stranger for three weeks!

Jim handed out his card with phone number to each family while Lynn passed out her cell number and our home phone number. “Just treat them as you would your own children.” Lynn told the host families. “You can call me 24/7 if you have any questions or concerns. If they get homesick have them call their English teacher, Jim.” Later Jim told us that one of the students racked up a $70 phone bill calling home from the hotel. Of course the student didn’t have any idea how expensive it would be, he (she?) was just homesick.

Among a flurry of “goodbye”s and hugs each Thai student left with their family until only Teacher, Jim, Lynn and I were standing in the commons chatting and watching our boys run around. “He’s so cute!” Jim said with a smile, pointing at Little Guy who was following Z-Man across the floor as fast as his little legs would go. Jim tried talking to Z-Man, holding his hand out for a “Five” but Z-Man was acting shy and hid behind me. The adults chatted a few minutes more and amidst lots of laughter and hand gestures Jim told us how another student left her passport on one of the airplanes, the mad dash to retrieve it, and how the plane was held for them.

I felt a sense of relief as I listened to Jim talk - I’d been worried that we wouldn’t be able to understand him and vice versa, but he obviously knew the English language and had a huge vocabulary. When he spoke quickly I had a hard time following him because of his accent, but most of the time I could figure out what he was saying. He seemed to understand us well enough, and wasn’t shy about asking us to repeat something he didn’t catch.

Soon it was obvious that Little Guy needed a nap sooner rather than later so we said “Goodbye” to Lynn and headed for the van, stopping to pick up Jim’s luggage on the way. “You pack light!” Teacher commented when he saw the small suitcase and duffel bag, “I don’t think I could pack that lightly for 3 weeks away.” “I know I couldn’t!” I said. So true - the amount of luggage that Jim had for these three weeks is less than Teacher and I take when we spend three days and two nights in Chicago for the Midwest Clinic.

Teacher stowed the luggage, I “stowed” the kids and we all climbed in, Jim sitting next to Little Guy. As the van left the school parking lot we all began our adventure together.

Our guest, Jim, on the bus. Jim has been to several countries in Asia but this is his first trip to America.

Bhurin (nicknamed “Green”) meets his host family. Green has been to America several times without his parents; the first time he was only 4 year old!

Lynn (far right) handing out phone numbers to Pannapat’s host family. This is Pannapat’s first time in America.

Wednesday night Teacher had class so Princess, Angel Face, Jo-Bear and I cleaned the upstairs whiled Z-Man and Little Guy enjoyed a Little Einsteins marathon. Cleaning went uneventfully aside from the minor bickering between Angel Face and Jo-Bear -for some reason everything each of them does bugs the other to no end. By the end of the night I was ready to strangle them both.

Thursday night the little boys were set up for another Little Einsteins marathon, Princess was babysitting, Teacher and Jo-Bear were at the store picking out a birthday present for Jo-Bear’s sleepover the following night, and Angel Face and I were picking up in the basement playroom. “Why is this wet?” I wondered out loud as I picked up a crumpled Barbie dress. “I don’t know” replied Angel Face, “I wondered the same thing when I picked up my book.” I felt the carpeting. It was wet - not soaking, but not just damp either. “This can’t be a good thing.” I said, and sniffed the area carefully. One of our cats had been peeing in laundry baskets so I was worried she’d started peeing in other places too. Nothing smelled like cat pee though - whew!

Where was the wetness coming from? The ceiling was dry, the center of the room was dry, the walls were dry, there were no cups or containers lying around that may have spilled… I ran my hands across the carpet, to feel what was wet, what was dry, and where the water could be coming from. It seemed to be coming from the bookshelf/TV area we had made by removing the decorative fireplace that came with the house and replacing it with shelves built into the opening. I started moving things away from that area and discovered that the carpeting closest to the shelving was soaked and there was a puddle on the small strip of concrete between the wall and carpeting. Definitely is not a good thing!

We’d had rain for the past two days, in addition to the melting snow, and for some reason the basement decided to leak in a brand new place. We’d had occasional leaks through the fruit cellar into the laundry area, but since all that flooring was cement and sloped toward the sump pump hole it was more nuisance than serious. This new leak spread through Teacher’s closet-sized workroom and under the wall into the carpeted basement playroom.

When Teacher got home with Jo-Bear I showed him the problem and he immediately got the Shop Vac and vacuumed up all the water from the tool room. By the time he’d emptied the water, the tool room floor was covered again. We tried sucking the water from the carpeting with our carpet cleaner, but that only seemed to make it spread faster. We did the best we could then concentrated on picking up. By the next morning the wetness had spread another 2 feet into the carpet. I resigned myself to the fact that we would need to get new carpet, like it or not. Teacher agreed although he wasn’t happy that he couldn’t take care of the problem himself.

Friday night we cleaned College Boy’s room. College Boy, if you’re reading this you may want to stop now. Really, go find Irish Girl and watch a movie or something. Don’t you have homework? How about a computer game? *sigh* OK, it’s your choice - read on at your own risk… We were tired and overwhelmed by the amount of stuff lying on the floor, desk, bookcase, pretty much any horizontal surface. We decided to do things the “easy” way and got some boxes from the garage. Anything that wasn’t obviously garbage like empty candy bags or scraps of paper was boxed up and put in the attic or the far corner of his closet. The girls remade the bed, swept the floor and emptied the trash then we were ready for our guest!

Well, except for the basement. I’d wanted it clean so he could use the computer down there whenever he wanted, but with the pond formerly known as carpeting occupying half of the room that didn’t seem like such a good idea after all. I’m just glad we were cleaning it and discovered the leaking before more things were ruined. So far we have about 4 wet books and a ruined cardboard box - in addition to the carpeting. But since there were tons more books and things stored in that area it could have been much worse. It’s hard to believe but I’m glad we had to clean!

“So, to add to your stress level…” Teacher said Tuesday night as he started making dinner, “Lynn asked us for a big favor today. She said she’d owe you mucho margaritas if we could do it.” Lynn, aka Seidel Sensei, is the Japanese teacher at Teacher’s school. Each of the elementary schools in the district teaches either German, Spanish or Japanese to all the students beginning in Pre-Kindergarten. “There’s a group of Thai students and teachers coming to Wisconsin for two weeks and since the district has done this kind of thing before we were asked to host them, but one of the host families fell through.” Teacher continued. “Lynn asked if we could fill in and host one of them - she said she’d owe us big time. I’d really like to do it.” I looked at him in shock; I don’t know what kind of favor I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this! “I know I’ve thrown this at you, I’ve had all afternoon to think about it. I almost called you right away but I wanted to talk to you in person. If you don’t want to it’s OK. Oh, and they’re arriving this Saturday.”

At first I was dismayed and my brain spun with a thousand thoughts: There’s no way we can do this. It’s challenging enough to have my in-laws around all day Friday when I’m working with the daycare, I can’t handle someone hanging around all day every day for two weeks. What if we can’t understand them? What if they can’t understand us? What will we feed them? Do Thai people eat dairy? What if they don’t like our food? The van is full with just us, how will we get anywhere all together? How are we going to get College Boy’s room and the rest of the house all cleaned up in time?

“What would they do all day?” I asked. “It’s the English teacher, and he’d go to school with me.” Teacher replied. That’s not so bad then, I can handle that. And Teacher wants to do it, he always finds ways for me to do the things I want to do. How can I say no? Besides, it would be great for the kids, and someday we want to go overseas - what if we were the ones without a host family? “OK, we’ll do it.” I told him - hopefully more confidently than I felt. “But we should probably talk to the kids first because it’s going to affect them too.” As Teacher continued to work on dinner I started to plan a cleaning schedule and tried not to worry.

During dinner Teacher told the kids about the opportunity. “That sounds cool!” Princess said, “Do you think he’ll teach us some Thai words?” Angel Face and Jo-Bear agreed that it sounded like fun. “Is it for sure?” Angel Face asked. Teacher turned to me with the question in his eyes and I said “Yes, it’s for sure.” He mouthed Thank you to me as I warned the kids that we’d have to do some major cleaning. “Tomorrow we’ll clean the stairs, upstairs bathroom and hall; Thursday we’ll clean the entire basement, steps to playroom; and Friday we’ll hit College Boy’s room.” Unbelievably they all agreed without much complaining!

The next day I shared the news with my friend Nicole. Nicole’s mom has hosted exchange students for years so I asked her about how to feed our guest. “You just make whatever you’d normally make and he’ll eat what he wants.” she said. “He’ll be here to experience our culture so that’s what he’ll be expecting.” After hearing that and after thinking about things all day I was feeling pretty good about the whole situation. Since our guest was an English teacher I assumed he’d have a fairly good command of the language. I wasn’t looking forward to cleaning, but with the kids’ help it would go faster, and I’d already worked out a plan to help things go smoothly. I was still a little worried that Teacher and I would lose our “together time”, but I trusted that we’d be able to carve out some time alone together.

Sunday we took Princess to the pet store to get a new hamster. I figured she’d avoid Teddy Bear and Panda varieties since they’d remind her of Marshmallow and Oreo, and was prepared to scout out where those hamsters were and steer her away from those cages. Luckily there were no Teddy Bear or Panda hamsters, but there were other adorable varieties. All of the hamsters were sleeping in their “castles” so it was hard to see them. We found an Associate and asked her to uncover them so Princess could get a good look at each of them. Princess’s eyes shone as hamster after adorable hamster was uncovered. “They’re all so CUTE!” she squealed. “Which one do you like?” I asked. I wanted to give her enough time to choose, but we were there with all the kids and Little Guy had decided he wanted DOWN NOW which meant that holding him was a Herculean effort.

“I like those…” she said, pointing to the cream and white dwarf hamsters. I was surprised to say the least, but glad she hadn’t chosen the Albino ones that freaked me out, looking like rats with their bright pink eyes. Dwarf hamsters are teeny tiny - less than half the size of the other hamsters we’ve had - and when the Associate lifted up their cave and they all wiggled around and started running in all directions, reminding me of mice. I didn’t like them at first, but the more I looked at them the more they grew on me. They had fluffy tan/grey backs with white tummies, long whiskers and bright black eyes. I read the sign posted above their cage and pointed out that they would only be about 2″ long when full-grown, and their life expectancy was only 1 year - half that of the bigger hamsters. Princess decided that was OK and started deciding which one she wanted.

The Associate told us that dwarf hamsters really should have a buddy or two so we ended up getting two hamsters. Princess pointed out the two she liked and we all laughed as the Associate tried to catch them. Not only are dwarf hamsters twice as small as other hamsters, they’re twice as fast! She caught the first one (later named Creampuff) fairly easily but the second one (Honeybun) evaded her for a good long time. Finally she got a small bowl, shooed Honeybun into it and covered it with her hand to transfer him into the cardboard carrier. Of course new hamsters need new stuff so we also bought treats, a cardboard tube filled with fluff (stuff that looks like pulled-apart cotton balls), extra fluff, a couple of add-on features for the cage, etc, etc, etc.

After getting the hamsters situated in their freshly-cleaned cage with it’s new tunnels, accessories, silent wheel and fluff tube we realized that they’d given us hints into their personalities as the Associate tried to catch them in the pet store. Both started out hiding in the side tubes, but after a while Creampuff slowly ventured out and since then Creampuff has always been the first to come out, and the one who’s been out more often. Honeybun is much more shy and prefers to hide when we’re around. If he does come out it’s only after Creampuff has been out for a while, and he’s likely to scurry back into the fluff tube or the side tubes at any moment.

Not only can we tell them apart by temperament, they look a little different too. Creampuff is a bit fluffier and lighter while Honeybun has slightly darker fur on his back and is a little thinner. They’re both almost impossible to catch and hold because they’re so small and fast, but I’m hoping that as they grow up they’ll mellow and get used to being held. They’re awfully hard to take photos of too! Creampuff is pictured in the cage, and Honeybun is being held by Princess.

We had a tragedy over the weekend - poor little Oreo died suddenly Friday night. We had “adopted” Oreo for Princess after her much-loved Marshmallow died of old age, and have only had him for about six months. Princess had looked forward to Oreo living as long as Marshmallow had so he could be her “baby” until she went off to college in about a year and a half.

We’re not sure what happened to Oreo. Thursday night he was bright-eyed and active when I put his wheel back up in his cage and started running on it immediately. I thought that was really cool because I’d been trying to catch him running on it for months but he’d hear me creeping up on him and get off the wheel before I came close enough to see.

Friday morning it was dark and I was tired when I woke the girls up for school. Sometimes I peek in the cage while I’m waiting for them to mutter that they’re awake, but that morning I was too tired. Now of course I wish I had checked on him - if I’d realized he was sick I could have taken him to the vet.

That night I did peek at Oreo when I went in to say goodnight to Angel Face. He was curled into a little fluffball all cuddled into his bedding, sound asleep. I tapped on the lid above him and said “Hi Oreo” as I usually do at bedtime. At first when he didn’t move I thought “Wow, he’s really sound asleep” and tapped again. When he didn’t move the second time I became worried and opened the lid to gently nudge him with the tip of my finger. His body was still soft so I knew he wasn’t dead, but he still didn’t move. By this time both Princess and Angel Face were watching me with panicked looks in their big brown eyes. I said “Princess…” as I moved closer to Oreo, looking for signs of breathing. “He’s not dead!” she said emphatically from across the room. Angel Face crawled across her bed to peer at Oreo. “Is he breathing?”

Just then I saw a slight movement of the white fur on his sides. “He’s still breathing, but he doesn’t look good.” I said. “He’s not sick, he can’t be!” Princess flew across the room and gingerly touched Oreo’s back. “He’s really cold” she said. I sent Angel Face for a washcloth and wrapped Oreo in it. He stayed cuddled in a small ball, his front paws near his face. Princess cuddled him against her chest and covered him with her hands.

Jo-Bear and Z-man had heard us talking and came into the room, crowding around Princess and Oreo. “What’s the matter?” Jo-Bear asked. “Oreo’s sick” I answered. “Awww…” Z-Man looked sad as he gently touched Oreo’s head. After a few minutes I shooed them back to bed and took Little Guy downstairs to get ready for bed.

After Little Guy was nursed to sleep, a fact made obvious by his loud snoring, I took him upstairs to his crib and checked on Oreo and Princess on the way back down. Oreo looked a little more lively - his eyes were open and bright and I started thinking maybe he’d be OK after all. Princess had been researching hamsters on the internet and thought maybe he’d caught a cold. According to the site a lethargic hamster should go to the vet, but it was 10pm on a Friday night - not a time I really wanted to visit the vet. Teacher and I were discussing whether I should take Oreo and Princess to the vet right away or if he should take them in the morning when Princess came down the stairs. “Mommy,” she said with fear in her voice, “he’s making a weird noise.” When I saw his eyes shut and his mouth open I knew we had to make the trip to the vet right away.

To be continued…

Sometimes being a parent really sucks. Like when one of your kids is naughty - really naughty - and you have to figure out what to do about it. My parents were good at this; they always seemed to come up with a consequence that fit the crime and hit us “where it hurt” without going overboard. After 20 years of parenting I still don’t feel like I know what to do when one of the kids misbehaves, like Z-Man did last Friday.

To celebrate Easter I had bought buckets of sidewalk chalk and chocolate bunny suckers for the daycare kids. I don’t know where my brain was when I was shopping; I didn’t get suckers for Z-Man and Little Guy, only buckets of chalk. Little Guy didn’t know the difference, but of course Z-Man noticed right away. “Why I don’t have a bunny?” he asked. I explained that Mommy didn’t buy suckers for he and Little Guy, but that the Easter Bunny would bring them some or we’d go to the store tomorrow to get some for them. Since Z-Man hadn’t slept during naptime he was in rare form and kept asking for a sucker. “Please, please please can I have a sucker?” “But I want a chocolate bunny” “Let me have one now!” Teacher and I took turns telling him “No, you can’t have one, these are for your friends, we’ll get you one tomorrow.”

Sometime after supper I realized I hadn’t seen Z-Man for a while. I thought maybe he had fallen asleep on the floor someplace so I started looking for him and calling his name. As I walked toward the playroom I saw him peeking out from behind a shelf in the quiet corner. His eyes were full of mischief and his mouth was full of… something. “What’s in your mouth?” I asked, thinking that he was chewing paper or rubber bands again. His eyes sparkled with mischief as he mumbled “Shocat munny” around a mouthful of half melted chocolate.

It took me a moment to decipher what he had said, but as my mind put two and two together his conscience kicked into gear and his face started to pale. “WHAT are you eating?!” I asked again. “Chocolate bunny” he repeated, his big brown eyes growing bigger. For an instant I was frozen in shock. I could not believe that my sweet baby boy had so blatantly disobeyed us. Z-Man looked up at me, his eyes grew unbelievably bigger and the corners of his mouth turned down. His lip started to tremble as he watched me expectantly, waiting for punishment.

My brain was moving slowly, trying to catch up. He’s waiting to see what you’re going to do, you have to do something! My mind was empty. I shot Teacher a look: I don’t know what to do! Teacher’s eyes replied I don’t know what to do either! but he turned to Z-Man, “Sit in this chair. Now.” Z-man shuffled over and climbed into a chair near Teacher, his eyes filling his face and his little mouth trembling. Meanwhile my brain was spinning, trying to find an appropriate consequence.

No dessert tonight? No, he’s already had a chocolate bunny. Besides we’re having strawberries which he loves and the vitamin C will be good for his cold.

Buy another one? With his money? That just might work, let’s try that one…

Z-Man’s eyes were misty and he kept looking at Teacher, me, and his lap as he sat waiting for his sentence. Teacher started out, “That was VERY naughty to take a sucker after we told you not to…” I chimed in “I’m very sad that you took your friend’s sucker, that’s not being a nice friend…” Teacher continued “You need to apologize to Mommy and me for not listening to us…” then I dropped the bomb; “And tomorrow we’re going to the store and you’re going to buy a new chocolate bunny with YOUR money.” As Z-Man listened to us his eyes grew even bigger - bigger than I’d ever seen them in his whole life. I could tell by looking at him that he knew how naughty he had been and that he was sorry. “I’m sorry, Dada. I’m sorry, Mama.” he whispered, big tears rolling down his little cheeks. His sweet sad face imprinted itself in my memory forever and my heart melted, but I knew I had to stay strong and couldn’t give in to my need to comfort him.

Shortly after we let him go play I couldn’t help myself and had to gather him onto my lap and cuddle him close. “I don’t want to use my money mama.” he said. “Then you shouldn’t have eaten the chocolate bunny!” I replied. A moment later he started to tear up again, “I don’t want to use ALL my money!” he whispered, burying his face in my shoulder. “It won’t take all of your money, just some.” I told him, stroking his head and back. I felt bad that he was upset, but felt that we’d found a suitable consequence.

The next day we went to Walgreens to replace the chocolate bunny. As I picked one out for Little Guy I wavered and grabbed one for Z-Man too, just because I love him so very much. But I knew it wasn’t the best thing to do for him so I put it back. He carried the suckers to the counter and handed the money over to the cashier without complaint. When we got home he taped a new sucker to his friend’s chalk bucket and gave Little Guy his sucker with a huge smile.

I have a feeling that Teacher and I were more traumatized by the whole experience than Z-Man was, but hopefully he’s learned from it and next time will think before acting. Hopefully…

Works for Me Wednesday is an idea I borrowed from another blog. Actually since I’m not giving it back I guess you could say I stole the idea. On Wednesdays I’ll post tips, tricks, and miscellaneous things that work for me. Hopefully some of them will work for you too!

It all started when College Boy was a little tyke. In college Teacher and I sang in the Kantorei (AKA The choir that sings in church on Sunday) so we had to be at church EARLY every Easter morning. This posed a problem for us sleep-deprived college students-slash-parents. Unlike Christmas presents that can safely wait under the tree indefinitely, hardboiled Easter eggs don’t do so well sitting at room temperature overnight. At least, not if you plan to eat them later as we always do.

The Easter Bunny, being a smart little rabbit and knowing how crabby we are when we don’t get enough sleep, decided to take matters into his own hands. He started visiting our house during the day Saturday instead of in the middle of the night. He’s pretty sneaky too - he can hide all the decorated Easter eggs, fill and hide the Easter baskets, and disappear down the street before anyone sees him. Once or twice we’ve hear him hopping through the house - it’s amazing how loud this little bunny is - but we’ve never managed to catch a glimpse of him. One year we came running through the house just as the front door slammed shut and almost caught him, but by the time we opened the door he was gone.

When College Boy, Princess and Angel Face were young he liked to visit while they were taking a bath or getting ready for bed. Sometimes he’s come when the kids were outside playing, or at their friends’ houses. In recent years he’s visited while the girls were giving Z-Man a bath upstairs and the older boys were playing PlayStation in the basement. Last year he sneaked in while we were all out eating dinner. We never figured out how he got through the locked doors - the kids say it was Bunny Magic.

Teacher and I love having the Easter Bunny come on Saturday instead of Sunday! We watch the kids hunt for eggs, explore the goodies in their baskets, and play with their new toys without having to worry about being late for church. And having the Easter Bunny goodies on Saturday helps us all focus on Easter joy instead of chocolate bunnies on Sunday morning. It’s also funny to watch people at church ask the kids if the Easter Bunny visited them “today” and see their reaction when the kids say “No.” They give us a puzzled look until we explain that he comes on Saturday instead.

I often wonder if our kids will continue the Saturday Easter Bunny tradition as they grow up and have families of their own… or if their spouses will think our family is crazy and do Easter baskets Sunday morning like the rest of the world. I guess I’ll have to wait to find out.