Bite-Sized Blog: On the Go Go Go Go.

The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.  ~C.S. Lewis

We are only two weeks into the New Year and I feel like we've been in fast-forward ever since the ball dropped. Yesterday morning I spent nearly three hours in the pediatric dentist's office with my big guy.  And I feel the need to stop right here and say there is a special, special place in my heart for these people. I'm convinced pediatric dentists and their aids are performing earthly purgatory or required penance.  

{I pause to applaud you here.}

Besides the dental visits, we have simply been on the move so much, I feel like I haven't spent as much time face to face with my kids. Whether sitting and talking with them, reading or playing—I have missed our slower moments together and I am hoping to modify our current schedule with much more down time very soon. I'm having a really hard time keeping them little.

So, I am going to keep this quick, but we don't want you to think we've completely forgotten about the world of blog-dom! We have lots of fun activities and plans coming up in the next few months, and as long as we survive trips to the pediatric dentist, we can't wait to share them with you.

Even in the middle of life at full throttle, I was reminded today that we can create special moments while errand-running and carpooling.  Here are a few simple thoughts if you are feeling stressed about being on the go and want to make the most of your time! 

Look Around, Be Creative.

It's amazing what happens when you encourage your kids to observe what's going on outside the car windows (or shopping cart). It's very easy to take a simple game of “I Spy” to the next level while driving in town.  Come up with a counting or matching game if you are stuck in traffic, or help kids admire big buildings and construction equipment. Once you look up and out—there are many things to see!  This is also a great way to encourage conversations about the amazing created world in which we live.  Check out contrasting colors in the earth and sky, etc.

Promote Interaction, Create Stories.

I have always enjoyed creating stories, so this is a timeless game for me. Once you take a moment to look around you, encourage your kids to come up with stories about what they see while they are on the move. 

For example: Yesterday we saw 2 really filthy semi-trucks beside us on the highway. The kids and I came up with many ideas about how the trucks became so dirty, where they had been and where they were going.  My big guy noticed 2 clean stripes on the side and it was fun listening to him hypothesize about this mystery.

Encourage your kids to be creative! This also helps them start realizing the world is bigger than their own house and street—many license plates tell us the other cars on the road are from very far away. What is their story? This can easily be applied to a trip to the mall or Target as well. Who do you see? What are they doing?

If you want to take this to the next level, here is a printable for your child's All About Me book (go HERE to start one today).  Continue talking about your adventures at home. Have your child write or draw a story here.  It might turn into wonderful essay material down the road--you never know!  

Go here to print this:

Give a little, Get a lot.

This is a principle we need to remember in parenting as much as possible, but especially when life gets busy. If I give up control of the music playing in our car, the reward of happy, LOUD singing from the back seat is always worth it.

I recently noticed a kindred thread between two of my sweet friends: holey jeans.

As I think about the attitude and examples these ladies have shown me, I have much to learn.  Am I the type of mom who has chased on hands and knees and given piggy-back rides enough to warrant holes in the knees of my jeans? Whether or not you consider yourself a hands-on mom who gets on the floor with the kids, an ounce of interaction (on the floor or on the couch) will always be rewarded in the eyes of your child. In my opinion, holey jeans are a sign of a very blessed mom with very blessed kids. Patch up those jeans, stretch your legs and be interactive—it is always worth it.

For now, it's time for me to take a few deep breaths and get back in the fast lane. The laughing gas has worn off and it's time to lick our wounds with some tasty treats:  non-sugary, dentist-approved of course!

You will never find time for anything.  If you want time you must make it.

~Charles Buxton

The Root of the Matter.

There's never a good time for a root canal. I can think of about a billion other places I'd rather be sitting on a Monday afternoon than in the squeaky, plastic covered chair of an oral surgeon, but when pain wins out and teeth are dead, options are limited.

As a mom, it is especially difficult to run around to several dentist appointments in one day, sitting in chairs and receiving numbing shots. Thankfully my husband had the day off work, so while I sat in the last chair for close to an hour with my mouth forced open by plastic and rubber, wearing protective glasses to keep the shards of tooth and powder from spraying down my throat and into my eyes, I couldn't help thinking how silly I looked and how incredibly uncomfortable and awkward the whole thing is. And I honestly kept looking to my side, wondering if there was a tank full of colorful talking fish, offering advice on how the dentist should proceed.

During my hour of conscious “thinking time” while I ignored the chatter about drill sizes and cotton and the ever-present smell of nauseating antiseptics, I eventually found a happy place. I remembered that the previous Monday I had been in a different chair—an expensive cushioned chair, the chair that I visit four times a year.  Come to think of it I occasionally have my roots done there as well. That cushy chair smells like exotic shampoos and soothing oils; a chair where an expert gives me a relaxing scalp massage and nobody tells me I should floss more.

When at last the root canal was over and the last X-rays were taken, I sat up and checked myself out and paid the bill at the sterile counter. Then I fully realized that not only is it much less painful to have my roots done at Wisteria Salon, but it's a lot cheaper as well. In fact, I might be doing haircuts at home with safety scissors for a few years.

At any rate, I drove myself home with a numb, lop-sided face, filled my prescriptions, then came home to find my little guy was sick and my husband had already cleaned up one episode of the sick. I was reminded again that there is never a good time for a root canal.  (For instance, I had my first root canal as a freshman in high school when my tooth was knocked free during a Christmas Eve basketball practice. It was not ideal timing, and I have had a fake front tooth ever since.)

While the kids and I stayed inside for several days and licked our wounds, I realized more than ever how much my life resembles the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. It all starts with something simple, like my daughter asking me to draw with her at the easel. In order to get to the easel, I need to pick up 400 matchbox cars, which need to be organized by size and color. This allows me to find that long-lost yellow Uno Moo sheep that we couldn't find! I excitedly put the sheep away in the game box which makes me realize the game shelf is a mess, again. So I organize the games and in the meantime find a piece to the princess puzzle the kids started yesterday. Since we were only missing two pieces, this is great news. I place the piece in the puzzle and head back over to the easel to draw with my daughter, but then I notice the paper is unraveling on the ground, so I need a piece of tape to secure it. When I go to my drawer to find the tape I notice some coupons that are about to expire, and so on and so on.

I eventually ended up back in the toy room, marker in hand, facing the easel, sitting on a tiny yellow kid-craft folding chair with my knees scrunched up into my lap. As moms, we sit in a wide variety of all kinds of chairs throughout the week: perhaps you are currently sitting in the chair feeding a newborn baby and trying to catch a few minutes of precious sleep, or maybe you were just sitting in the chair in your minivan driving the kids to and from the store and piano lessons and school.  

And as much as I love a good recliner or those cushy chairs at Wisteria Salon, I'm pretty sure sometimes it's necessary to spend a few uncomfortable hours at the dentist to eliminate the root of the problem.  Since my tooth already feels 100X better than it did last week, maybe those chairs that cause some discomfort are ultimately what I need to take the root of the pain away. It's a stretch, but in another sense, spending a few minutes sitting in a tiny folding chair near an easel in the toy room while ignoring the mess in the room will be a lot more memorable for my daughter than if I spend the morning getting the house organized.  It's a lesson I seem to revisit daily.

So after a week of reflective recovery from our minor set-backs, I am heading into the weekend ready to plop down on the many chairs of motherhood and sink my mended teeth into some strawberry Laffy Taffy. Just kidding Dr. Swinderman!! Just kidding.  And for those who have never had a root canal, I leave you with a link to this video of what you are missing. Enjoy......

Now, most dentist's chairs go up and down, don't they? The one I was in went back and forwards. I thought 'This is unusual'. And the dentist said to me 'Mr Vine, get out of the filing cabinet. ~Tim Vine