It’s Spring Fever Here

Not that kind of spring fever. I wish! (They were predicting snow today.)The kind of spring fever our household (ok, just me and hubby) get when we’ve decided we’re ready for a new house. Every year somewhere between February and May we get a move itch. The only thing I can guess is that it has something to do with us never living in ANY place longer than two years. We have now, officially, been in this house two and a half years. Why the desire to move, you might ask?

Don’t get me wrong. I love our neighborhood. Townhouse living can be hard if you’ve just spent several years in a single family home, but we love the neighbors, the great pool and wonderful playgrounds. We can walk to the store and even to the kids’ elementary school. But the house is small and we’re lacking a yard. We’d like a dog and . . . maybe another child. That just doesn’t add up in our small house. The kitchen is by far the smallest kitchen you’ll ever see. Did I mention my husband's nightmarish commute. I digress.

So it’s the end of February and the beginning of the home sale season thus the beginning of our spring fever. What has kept us here for the past few years is the high home prices. The DC area wasn’t affected by the dropping housing prices until just recently. This is good news for us since it means we may be able to afford the home we want, in the area we want. But those who know us well, know we do this every spring. We hit the open houses, take a bunch tours, do some number crunching and end up staying put.

I have no idea what is in store for us this spring. As much as I hate the idea of selling (because it’s A LOT of work to sell a home with kids in it), I think our whole family is ready for a change. We’re a bit of a nomadic family. In nine years of marriage, we’ve had six addresses. My only way to prune junk is by moving. And we’ve apparently hit our limit on what we can store here. I literally have bikes and wagons in my dining room.

No Glass of Wine?

I was sad to read the news in this morning's paper saying there is no safe amount of wine for women to drink. Do I believe it? (I ask as I sip my Merlot.) What's a mom to think? Are there more factors to consider?

I exercise regularly (about 5 times a week) and eat healthy (no preservatives, here). But I am probably at high risk for cancer because of my mom, my dad and my grandfather. I don't smoke or have any other vices other than this one guilty little pleasure in the evening. So what am I to think of this news? Next thing you know they'll be saying coffee is bad for me too. That is when my world will really end!

The Cast Came Off

It was a long three weeks with the cast. I learned a lot about Alex during this time. His self disclipline is a amazing. We had only one incident of the cast getting a bit wet. He, for the most part, kept it out of the sand and mulch and followed the "rules" of the cast. He learned to ride his scooter with one hand + 2 fingers. He learned to cope and deal the best he could with nary a complaint about his temporary "disability."

And when he woke up yesterday morning, even before the cast came off, he was a completely different boy. He confessed that he hadn't been sleeping very well. Which in turn was probably accounting for the massive change in behavior the past three weeks. Funny how I hadn't put two and two together.

He was a brave little boy as they sawed off the cast. He explained to Anna it would be really noisy but it wouldn't hurt. How did he know? But he was fantastic. I do have to give major props to Commonwealth Orthopaedics for their attention to children's special needs. The X-ray lady was ready this time with a basket of lollipops.

The first thing we did when we got home was take a very long bath. So now he's free from the nasty smelling cast and we're off to celebrate with a party this afternoon. He wanted balloons with casts on them, but I drew the line at that one.

Them Against Me

Check out my kids' latest doings over at Baby Bunching. They are slowly learning to form some kind of allied force against me--smart kids. I'm pretty sure that's why I have siblings and we go on to give our children siblings.

Baby Bunching Makes the News

It has been a very good week for Baby Bunching. But last night I received an email from a friend telling me my Washington Parent article ran on the afternoon news (NBC affiliate)--with promos leading up to it. I'm still working to get the footage because this is HUGE for us. If anyone saw it or can send it to me, please do! I am so excited.

Baby Bunching: Juggling Two Under Two

My second article was published in Washington Parent magazine this month. Yes, of course, it's about Baby Bunching. Check me out. Oh, and they just asked me to write another article for them. Woo hoo!

It's Too Much School

On my mind this week has been the topic of school. My son starts kindergarten in the fall. We are fortunate that our neighborhood school is a pretty good one. It offers full-day kindergarten at a school with both a magnet and G/T program. Since we never looked at the schools when we purchased our house five years ago, we feel blessed that we do not have to scramble for a move or private school.

However, both my husband and I are having some reservations about a few things. The first started after reading Raising Cain—a parenting book about raising boys. I am a bit concerned about Alex getting lost in the shuffle of public school. He’s a smart boy who is very much “boy.” I know as his parent it may take a special teacher to reach him. And I am worried in a class of 20 something kids, a teacher doesn’t have the time to make the effort to reach out to kids, especially boys, who are acting their age.

I am even more concerned about the tiny amount recess they give to five-year olds during a full day of school. It’s even worse when I know what it takes to make my child perform well and that I’ve now lost control of providing him that environment.

The big news here in our area is the changing of school times. Lots of research has been done lately saying high school kids aren’t getting the sleep they need and that school starts too early. Yeah, our high school begins at 7: 20! That’s insane. And I am so in favor of this change. However, the change in high school start times somehow changes the start times and end times for the elementary schools. My closest guess is it’s something to do with the buses. So our school which was 8:30 to 3:10 will now go 9:20 to 4 p.m. Wow! Talk about a long day. At least with 3:10, my son still had a chance to come home, unwind a play a bit outside with friends. But a 4 p.m. end time doesn’t even give us much time for homework, let along playing. And from my standpoint, my kids are up before 7 a.m. anyway, send ‘em on to school, I say.

My dream would be to find a school where I could send my kids from 8:30 to 1:30 p.m. or 2 p.m. Somehow I’m having trouble finding schools to meet MY needs. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do at this point except wait and see. In the meantime, I am looking into a few other options. Who knew this could so stressful?