Multi-tasking

 I left my children 30 seconds in the tub to heat up their dinner in the microwave.

 They told me they wanted to be Santa Claus.

Consumerism

I really try to avoid buying incessantly for my children.  I remember when I was a child, we received gifts on our birthday and Christmas and not too often in between.  At the time I might not have agreed, but today I think it was an excellent conscious decision on my parent's part.

Can I tell you what an exercise in restraint it is?  Sometimes I just can't resist.  Case in point:  Georgia's Dri Knapp princess headband.  I am certain in this photo she was contemplating how she could take a bath with it on her head.  Because it hasn't left its perch.

Although she has let me try it on....

Happy Easter 2012

The bunny ate all but a bite of the carrot we left him last night. And he hid ten chocolate eggs in our living room. Georgia finding 9 and Sebastian stumbling casually on one. The day starting at 6:45 am and still going as I watch my husband clean the fish tank (Stonsey, our new brick red pet)...

Our family celebrated Easter in town as we avoided the crowds heading out for a full moon weekend at the local beaches.

I'm so happy I don't have to unpack suitcases tonight.

Happy Easter!

Highlights from the last 31 Days

Scrub a Dub...

Will they hate me for posting this later? Bathtime. The benefit of not yet renovating an old apartment....huge tubs. Big enough for pool size floaties....

6:45 am Tuesday

Vovó

November 6th is also the anniversary of Vovó Vera e Bisavô "Co" (Grandma Vera and Great Grandma Co). Sebastian was born on a lucky day.

Georgia helped "glue" the butterflies on the cake. And, naturally, her Grandma let her blow out the candles.

Happy Birthday Grandmothers!

Halloween Munchkins

Happy Halloween!

Why I haven't Posted....

I intended to post while we were away for the holiday weekend. But the internet signal was weak and the sun was bright. And I am happy for the excuse. My children needed to eat sand and lick salty ocean water from their lips, shed the city kid shell and forget their parents have jobs.

A few highlights:

1. Georgia screaming (at the resort pool): "Daddy, I peed in the pool!"

2. Sebastian is in his "Mommy might disappear phase" and earned the nickname agarradinho. Think of those fuzzy, adorable animals that hug your pencil. (I am the pencil.) And I'm not complaining.

3. My husband babysat while I got a my first facial since I became a Mom, the ever observant Georgia asking me why my skin was glowing.

4. I am not sure what makes my son look more mischievious. The gap between his upper two teeth or the (already) chip in the upper right tooth?

And we drank buckets of coconut water and went to sleep at the same time as our children: down at dusk and up at dawn. Ready to play all day.

Day in the Country

The weekend was simple. I delivered my orders Saturday morning and we hit the road with friends, peeling off the extra layers as the tires rolled out of town and the sun boiled the tops of our thighs through the windshield. Countryside. Peace from car alarms and smog, from securing Georgia's wrist at stop lights--letting her run free.

I think I could leave the citylife behind...for a while anyway.

Vacation Ends

Vacation is officially over today. The cell phone alarm serving its second most useful function this morning and the rush to get to school on time prevailed. Thank goodness for sand spilling from my sneakers, reminding me of long walks on the beach and resolutions for a calmer second semester.

My children are growing before my eyes...vacations are bittersweet.

Thank you Vella family!

Is there room for me?

Cookie Sale

I have been invited to write a monthly column for a Brazilian magazine's website called Pais e Filhos. Here is the link for my first column (below in English) and translated on the site...

COOKIES FOR SALE

My daughter Georgia recently squirted through an entire bottle of shampoo while bathing, simply enjoying the lathering bubbles without a care. Waste was the last thing on her mind. When I noticed, I became rather cross and explained that we do not waste in our home. I asked her how we were going to wash our hair tomorrow night. To which she replied, "We can buy more tomorrow at the supermarket." And when I asked her who would pay for it, she replied. "We can use the money in your wallet." "But what if I don't have any money?" I asked. "We can use your credit card!" She proudly proclaimed. "But where do we get money, Georgia?" I asked. To which she replied we "pick it up" in an airplane.

PIck it up? If it were only that simple. And that is when I decided it would be great for my three year old to understand the merits of work and compensation. Perhaps it would help her understand more why her Daddy arrives home at her bedtime Monday through Friday. And why, at times, I cannot spend the entire afternoon in the playroom. Does she realize how lucky she is that her parent's hard work provides her with so many wonderful things? I want her to understand the satisfaction of purchasing something with her own hard earned cash. She will enjoy her toys more. (maybe?) Waste less? (I hope.)

My girlfriend Tati thought it would be a good lesson for her three children as well. So during our shared holiday vacation, we decided to have the kids operate a cookie stand on the beach. They participated in the baking, sign making, and selling. We told them they could each pick a toy with the proceeds from their sales. To which all three screamed loudly their desires. Georgia and Mathias wanted play dough. Lorena wanted a doll. Little Thereza wanted candy and ice cream. The sale was a success. At dinner we talked about the experiences of working and earning. We told them that instead of buying toys and candy, we could buy more ingredients and make more cookies, earning more money for bigger toys or even saving for the future. They thought about it a little. "Nah!" They screamed in unison, the money burning a hole in their little pockets.

Happy little consumers. Hard little workers. Tomorrow we are going to the toy store with their earnings. We're learning.

Where the Wild Things Are...

The update.

Five and Under

As an American living in Brazil, I am always amazed at the plethora of holidays. I have learned to get into the spirit of these usually extended weekends. (Thursday is the actual holiday but let's add Friday and keep "holiday-ing" until Sunday.) So my friend Tati and I headed to the beach as soon as the final school bell rang on Wednesday, five carseats for five children five and under--husbands scheduled to join the following day.

Highlights:

1. I often just write in my calendar "holiday" on these days off from school and work, never stopping to research the significance of the day. So this morning I googled the date: Corpus Christi. In parenthesis I see the word "feast". Could that be why we ate ten days worth of calories in five days?

2. Or maybe we ate so much because of the cold? There isn't much to do at the beach when it is chilly. So the moments we managed to keep the children (all with runny noses) from shivering on the beach and threatening to enter into the cold ocean current (they entered), we barbecued daily.

3. Or perhaps we ate so much because of the kids? As much as we love all five of them, at times we decided that distilled spirits and snacks would help in dealing with strong little personalities. We couldn't help but notice that at every moment of the day 1 of 5 was crying, whining, or fighting with their buddy. ("Mommy, Mathias told me he will never be my friend again or go to my birthday party.") Negotiate. Compromise. Soothe. Munch. Inbibe.

4. "Tonight is Gonna Be a Good Good Night Oooooh Ooooh!" The soundtrack of the holiday weekend. Little voices singing and shaking pint size parts to the Black Eyed Peas. The adults changing the words for the mini crew: "Tonight I am going to sleep in my own bed all night Ooooh Oooooh!" The children thinking it hilarious. (And me relieved to know that I am not the only one whose children love to swap beds throughout the night.)

We all came back tired and refreshed....already scheming the next holiday.