Working, playing, leaving a legacy

I got to hang out with my favorite girl this weekend, Miss Super Spunky Drives Me Crazy Cracks Me Up and Makes My Heart Soar girl.

(Sidenote: My parents visited on Sunday and at one point Dad says to me, "You are so enamored with Clair," which is the second time someone has said that to me. [The other was my mother, come to think of it, when Clair was a tiny infant.] Is it that obvious how much I adore this girl? Do I need an intervention?)

We went to her tumbling class and then to the mall to buy a gift for a friend of mine who recently got married.

She loves this ball pit o' germs.

Introducing her to food court Asian food!

While we were out spending Mommy-Clairzee time, Lester and the boys went to learn about "flying things" at Science Alive at Masonville Cove.

Dean, wearing the wings he and Lester made, and looking like a young Sidney Poitier, who, by the way, is one of Lester's favorite actors!

Our friends Antwyne and Mari unexpectedly brought their son Antony too! So the boys had a friend to hang out with, which makes me so happy. The more friends they see having fun with science, the more likely they are to think that science is cool, right? (Or so I tell myself.)

Antony and Dean bird-watching.

Checking out a bird's nest. Mari tells me the boys were none-too-pleased that the bird wasn't considerate enough to be home while they were shaking that tree.

And on Monday, I had a day off from work because Michelle was off. So after picking the boys up from school, we all went to a playground and to lunch!

Abby and Maya came with us!

She wanted to be gently pushed without stopping, to the point where she was ever-so-slightly falling asleep in the swing. LOL.

All this great time spent with my littlest loved ones made me think that being a SAHM mom wouldn't actually be so bad, IF we could afford it. The boys are 10,000 times less crazy than they were even a year ago at this time, when I would have stabbed you in the eyes with Bobby pins if you even suggested the idea of me staying home with the children. My Monday off with them moved so smoothly -- from drop-off to pick-up to bedtime dance party, rockin' out to the Jackson 5.

I was so much more relaxed and present all day. I think that was the nicest thing -- being actually present with them, instead of running on fumes and frustration.

Being at home would also be nice, because it would be good to get to do the things *I* want to do with the children during the day, instead of hoping Michelle will do them (which, most of the time, she doesn't.)

And it would be lovely to get to spend more than two hours a day with the children I actually prayed for.

But we are committed to sending our children to private school, for many reasons (which I promise I will get to in a dedicated blog post soonest), and to giving them a life of experiences that we believe will enrich them and improve their futures. And, while we are far from wealthy, we also hope that we can do more for them financially than our parents ever could, in terms of helping them pay for school, or buy a first home. By doing so, we hope the kids as adults will be in even better positions than we are, so that their kids will be even better off coming out of the starting gate. We want to leave a legacy that maybe our grandchildren will realize -- something that happens far too infrequently in the black community, sad to say it.

So that means Momma Gotsta Go To Work. (Cue Vanessa Williams' "Work to Do.")

So I'll cram a lot of fun and Mommy-and-me time into weekends and post-work-hours during the week, and trust that a little dance partying goes a long way.

Needles and swings

Yesterday, Clair had her 4-month-appointment (even though she'll be 5 months on the 16th).

She weighs 14 lbs., 12 oz. and is 26.5 inches tall (long)!

Dr. Bodnar declared her excellent in every way. And he said we can start trying a little rice cereal around 5 months, if we want. He wasn't at all concerned that she eats less than most babies her age (only about 22-24 ounces a day, as opposed to 28), but he did say if we started cereal to be sure not to let her fill up on it, so that she gets most of her nutrients from her bottles. So, I think we'll start in a couple weeks to see if her bottle-consumption picks up any before then.

She also got her shots, and she only cried a little bit, and even then, only after the 2nd needle stick. The first one, she barely registered.

I think my kids must be pretty hardy, because yesterday I also took the boys to get their second lead test (in Baltimore city, kids are required to get one lead test, but the school we're sending them to in the fall requires a second) and neither one of them cried either. I was sure there would be tears, because they have to draw blood from the inner arm, which always makes me cringe. But they were very stoic, and mostly just wanted to know when they were going to get their Band-aid.

In fact, after Cary came from getting his blood drawn, he went straight to the waiting room and said to Dean, "Look Deanie. I have a Band-aid!" And then Dean, who had at one point been gearing up to protest going back with the phlebotomist, quickly changed his tune. "Mommy!" he said, urgently. "I want a Band-aid, too!!"

So we went back and got one. No fuss, no tears. It was great.

See my Band-aid, Mommy? Mommy, I have a Band-aid. Mommy, I have a green Band-aid. The doctor gave me a Band-aid. Mommy? Mommy? Mommy!!!

Afterward, I took them to the park, to reward them for being such brave boys. This was a particularly good visit to the park, because I actually got them to SMILE. Faithful readers will know what a feat this is with my two boys. The concept of smiling while actually doing something fun? Totally foreign to them. 

Cary refused to show off his Band-aid for the camera. But I managed to sneak a picture while he was getting "milch" out of his shoe.

Clair's Band-aid is hidden behind her polka-dot pants.

 

My brood nearly takes up the entire swing set. Good grief.

When we got home from the park, Lester had finished dinner and had it ready for the boys. He even put some aside for their lunch the next day, so I wouldn't have to do that after Clair went to sleep. What an awesome Dad!

Oh, and I got asked to be on the board of an organization I really admire: The Baltimore Urban Debate League. I'm quite flattered and excited to help them with their important work.

So, yay! All in all, a very, very good day. Now, we wait for the results of the lead test. (I hate waiting.)