Best Friends and Bullies

Again, there have been many days when I think of something funny or witty and want to blog about it but I don't get around to it. So now I'm staring at a blank screen and can't think of anything I wanted to say. How about a kid update. 

First born first..At almost 5 years old, Max:

-takes the bus to camp every morning and loves it

-sits with Anthony every day on the bus 

-loves to go all the way under in the pool

-will turn anything into a contest with Mallory, like "I'm better because I have 4 pretzels on my plate and you only have 3" or "my camp is for big kids and your camp is for babies because I'm big and you are a baby and you're never going to be as big as me" (in age maybe he's right but in size I'm not so sure!)

-still secretly watches elmo every night and I have started to tell him we might want to keep that to ourselves once kindergarten starts!

-plays house with the neighbors

-calls people to tell on me-"I'm calling gigi and telling her that you didn't let me have any candy!"

-told his friends yesterday "Mallory is my best friend"-and he didn't even know I was listening

 And at 3 years  2 months, Mallory:

-pedals a tricycle (this took her a while but shes good at it now)
-likes to get undressed (I vaguely remember writing this about Max a few years ago!)
-loves pistachio nuts and can get them out of the shell by herself
-likes to dress up in her play high heels and tutu
-loves to wear big girl underpants (doesn't mean she SHOULD be wearing them but she does like them ;) )
-wants to go to sleep in Mommy's bed (and I let her because she transfers easily, yes this is one thing that I can admit I lucked out on in the sleep department but I deserve it with all the other features my kids came with lol)
-loves soda and gum and wants it all the time
-tries new foods at Hope's house every day-I come in and shes dipping broccoli into dressing and eating it, WHAT? I think I'm just so accustomed to Max's eating habits that its shocking for me to see a child try something new.
-loves babies-real ones more than dolls
-loves dogs
-is the tallest in her class and looks more like she belongs with Max's friends who are 4-5.
-I try not to make this like a language evaluation but I can't help myself-says many 5-6 word sentences, is getting much better at answering questions although it is still hard for her, and started counting things with 1-1 correspondence, still not so communicative with her peers but really verbal with adults at home and at school  and she is definitely interacting more with her friends now.
-sings "call me maybe" and always wants to watch the video
-is doing amazing in the pool-going under and trying to do everything Max is doing!

Summer is going well. Both kids had a really easy transition into camp which was very different from previous summers. The routine has been -take her to camp and take him to the bus, have some alone time and do whatever I need to do, then get her at 1:00, she comes home and takes a nap then we go to get him at 3:10. He passes out and sleeps on the couch for 2-3 hours!! It has been great. Then the rest of the evening is spent with neighbors in and out of the house and then dinner, bath and bed. Bedtime has gotten sooo much easier and I am reminded all the time by other friends who have kids who are really tough to put to bed. I feel like we went through all of that really early with Max and now he got it out of his system. He's still up until 9 but once he's upstairs and in bed, he stays there. No sleeping in the hallway or waking up during the night and having to sit in there or making us come back in a million times. Same thing with Mallory-there might be some initial stalling but once shes in bed, she's happy to be there. Both kids are up before 6:30 but I'll take that compared to some other wake up times we've had in the past. At least 6:30 is the morning. 

I never posted about our weekend in Bethany with the Blumenthals. It was great and worked out well but kind of reinforced why people say a vacation with kids isn't really a vacation. It's really not!! It was memorable and we'll do it again but it was not what anyone would call relaxing. I will say that at least this year, I wasn't chasing anyone down the beach. The kids stayed put for the most part and everyone enjoyed the beach, the rides, and the food!

We kind of needed a vacation after returning from that one and Mark and I got to do just that! A few weeks later we went to Jupiter, just the two of us and it was the most relaxing time I've had in well over 5 years. We slept late, laid around and did nothing, went out to eat, and just enjoyed being on our own time. I kept saying to Mark that I don't care how much he is "working" when he has to travel for work it seems about 100 times easier than being home with the kids. Even IF he's working the whole day, you get to come home and only be in charge of yourself. I feel like I NEVER get that even on work days because even once the kids are asleep I'm doing something for them. So if you are a hard working man and you have to travel I don't feel bad for you, sorry. There was a tropical storm for the majority of the time we were there but it really din't interfere. We still had a great time so we can't thank Gigi and Poppop enough for taking care of the kids and Grandma and Grandpa for letting us stay at their place in Florida. I can't wait to do it again. Maybe we'll bring the kids along in 10 years or so but until then, I think we'll be vacationing sans kids.

See, we never look this relaxed in pictures at home!

And I'll end on a serious note. I know "bullying" has been the new hot topic for a while now but it is starting to hit home with me. In the past few weeks, a few kids have said some things to or about Mallory. I know that Max has done and said his share of mean things to other kids and I'm sure Mallory will at some point too. It is very upsetting when it's your child who is the one being mean, but when it's your child who is the one being picked on, I think its even worse. I know this sounds ridiculous because I'm talking about 3 year olds and none of them even know they are saying something hurtful and Mallory could care less if someone says something to her. But it just got me thinking how kids always want to make themselves feel better at the expense of someone else. I know I did the same thing as a little kid and a big kid and teenager and even in college and I feel so awful about it now. I know I would have just jumped on the bandwagon to point out if I was wearing underpants and someone else wasn't quite there yet or if I understood how to play a game and someone else wasn't good at it. I mean why wouldn't I rub it in their face that clearly I was cooler and smarter and better? That's just what you do and think as a kid. I see it now and I see how badly it hurts kids and their parents. I want to go back and say I'm sorry to their moms and tell them that we all end up being the same and every kid is just insecure and wants to feel cool. I know one day Mallory will talk back and put everyone in their place but for now it's just hard and I almost want to jump in there and do it for her but I try to just let it roll off my back and remember that I am 30 years older and wiser and I have a little more self control than a toddler. Hopefully her best friend Max will always stick up for her  :)