Thank You!

By the way, thank you for praying for our kids! Noah and Jane have been better and better every day since I posted that they were so sick. They did not get as ill as I expected them to, and in fact, today they have been next to normal. I'm so glad they're feeling better!

On the Role of Closets as an Aspect of Lauren's Nerdiness

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Everyone ready for a deep and profound truth that will rock your world?

Moving is not fun.

Okay, perhaps that wasn’t deep. Or profound. Or world-rocking. But it is truth.

I mean, feel free to hop on into the discussion here if you think I’m wrong. Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys moving? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

I didn’t think so.

Even though it seems like it should be a simple thing to just box up your stuff and take it somewhere else, moving is not simple. Besides all the fairly straightforward stuff like closing on the house and setting up utilities—and perhaps having a couple of contractors come in to do some repairs before you move in—there is the myriad of little honey-do’s that can make you crazy:

~Finish painting the family room.

~Install a latch on the attic door so the kids can’t open it.

~Replace the ceiling fans.

~Replace burned out light bulbs.

~Replace light fixtures (choose and buy them first).

~Buy a handrail, stain it, and hang it in the staircase.

~Buy and install baby gates at top and bottom of staircase.

~Finish painting the staircase and upstairs hallway.

~Hook up the new washer and dryer and relight the pilot light on the hot water heater.

~Buy an oven.

~Paint over the wallpaper in the kitchen.

~Choose a paint color to paint over the wallpaper in the kitchen.

~Buy some family room sofas so you can coordinate said kitchen paint color so you can paint over the wallpaper in the kitchen.

~List all the curtains and all the random stuff we found in the house on Craig’s List. (Two rolls of wallpaper, anyone? How about a box full of trophies? An old set of encyclopedias? Or the 1957 Electrolux user’s manual in mint condition?)

And, y’all, that is a very incomplete list.

On the upside, we have already accomplished at least that much, if not more.

However, it wasn’t until we were pretty serious about this house that I realized that it actually has very little storage space. I realize I am exposing a facet of my nerdy practicality here, but a good closet actually makes my heart go pitter patter. When we were looking at houses, for a while we were looking in a suburb out of town a ways, where the houses were newer and much larger than the older house we bought in Houston proper. And, y’all, every time I opened a large, well-appointed closet, that house would inch itself up in my esteem. If I’d open one in an unexpected place that would turn out to be sort of ingenious (the game closet in the play room in one house, the two—count ‘em, two—generous closets under the curving staircase in one house, the butler’s pantry in another house), I’d feel a surge of both satisfaction and relief.

To help you understand why I have this thing about closets and storage space in general, I must tell you about our old apartment on Broadway. Shortly after we were married, we moved up to the Boston area and moved sight unseen into one of the Harvard apartments. The location was stellar. It was a block from Harvard Yard, which meant we could both walk to work or to the T or to all the hubbub of Harvard Square in ten minutes. The building and the apartment itself were quaint and charming. But it came with the drawback that living in the heart of Cambridge always does: lack of space.

In this case, we only had about 500 sq. ft., and only two tiny closets. Most other apartment buildings had additional storage in the basement, but ours did not. So we stored our out-of-season clothes under the bed, pushed our queen-sized bed against one wall in order to make room for a dresser (Nathan climbed in from the foot of the bed for two years), and found a very small table for our eat-in kitchen. And any time we accumulated one more item, if it could not be put away, it just ended up in the corner of our living room. Now, this was not an unsightly pile of junk or anything; it was simply random. A set of plastic drawers. Boxes. Any Christmas gifts we came home with that didn’t have a “home” anywhere else in the apartment. And Lauren despised that pile of random, was scarred for life, and developed forever a desire for abundant closet space.

Ever since then, closets have been one of my favorite parts of the places I’ve lived. In our following apartment in Belmont, my heart thrilled at having a hall closet (heck, of having a hall), and I even got something I never even knew I had wanted: a pantry so enormous it had its own window. Y’all. Now that is a seriously awesome pantry. Granted, the kitchen had no upper cabinets (?), which made all the pantry shelving imperative, but still. It was an enormous pantry. And, as I’ve mentioned before, the pantry is my domain. Things are ordered as I see fit, which is meaningful when you like to cook. And no other family members really mess up the pantry like they do the rest of the house. Whenever other aspects of my life or apartment seemed messy, I would feel an almost instant sense of calm when walking into my pantry, what with its tidiness, gentle natural light, and scent of spices.

The rental house we’ve lived in for the past year in Houston has had great storage, too. The house itself has had some drawbacks, but the master closet is very large, there’s a linen closet, and the pantry is almost as large as the giant one we had in Belmont.

So imagine my dismay when I realized that our new house DOES NOT HAVE A PANTRY. And right after that, I realized that, actually, this house has NO CLOSETS AT ALL, except in the bedrooms. That means that there’s no coat closet; no hall closet; no linen closet; and, of course, no pantry. Oh, good grief.

Now, there have been a lot of other things I’ve had to compromise on when it comes to this house, so at first I just figured that this was simply one more thing, and that we’d just figure it out. And the truth is that this is exactly what will happen. The thing is, though, that I can live with a lot of those other compromises without too much grief. But the lack of storage is really stressing me out; I refuse to have another pile of random anywhere in my house! Today was the first day we’ve really taken a lot of loads over to the new house, and as I was unpacking in the small kitchen, I realized I literally may not be able to fit all my stuff in there, since the cabinet space is limited because of the layout of the kitchen. I actually left the box of all my baking ingredients unpacked for now, until I can get things organized a little better (Sadness! I’ll see you soon, bread flour and cornmeal!).

We have a carpenter scheduled to come in and build us a pantry, but when I realized that, pantry or no pantry, my stuff might not fit, I felt very stressed out. And as I walked through the house, I found this to be true in just about every room (though it doesn’t feel as urgent to me if it’s outside of the kitchen). We might just have to have the carpenter build us a linen closet, too, while he’s at it! I walked out of there tonight thinking, “This house will be fine for a while, but our next house is going to have a plethora of beautiful closets!”

But first we have to move into this one.

We’ve already taken a great deal of our stuff to the new house. The movers come tomorrow morning to get the big furniture items. And then we’ll clean out the rest of the odds and ends. I actually find that last bit the hardest, because by then you’re really tired of moving and don’t have the energy to be terribly thorough, even though you know this is your last shot. Oh, and then you get to unload at the other end. Which would perhaps be a pleasure, since I’d get to be all domestic for a while and set up my house. It’d be a pleasure if I knew where it would all go, that is. And here we’ve returned to the closet space issue…. I think I’ll call it a night!

Well, I Wouldn't Have Expected It

So. No posting lately, have you noticed? We are crazy busy, y'all. We have been trying to get our new house ready, and, of course, everything takes longer than you think it will. So Nathan or I have been over there every evening painting, etc., and we have simply been very busy and still have a ways to go.

This week is moving week! Hooray! But I have to tell you, it's hard to box stuff up with a couple of small children running around. They require a lot of attention; have you noticed? So it's safe to say we are pretty dang far behind on our packing. Nathan is taking tomorrow off, and we're going to box everything up and cart it over to the new house. We'll spend one more night in our rent house, then the movers will come for a couple of hours on Thursday morning to take the furniture.

Or that's the plan, anyway. But we've got another complication, as of today: both kids are sick. After Noah woke up at 2am with a fever of 103, I took them both to the pediatrician, and it turns out that both of them have a particular virus that is pretty much a notch below the flu. Hooray. This was really just not the greatest time for them to be very sick. And because it's a virus, there's nothing we can do to make it go away faster; all we can do is ply the kids with liquids and Tylenol and wait it out.

So if you were looking for something to pray for this week, you could certainly pray for us. The first thing, of course, is that Noah and Jane feel just awful (and Noah is far sicker than Jane--I truly pity him). But we also have to be out of our rental by Friday night, because the new renters have the house as of Saturday. And we have very little of our stuff in the new house, because we've been so busy with painting and contractors over there. We could use a lot of stamina, energy, and perseverance this week, because I foresee a lot of late nights of cleaning, packing, driving, unpacking, setting up furniture, putting things away, tending to and feeding and entertaining and rocking sick kids, etc....

Today

Potential Facebook statuses that have run through my head today:

-Contractors, contractors, contractors! Busy, busy, busy!
-I'm an awesome mom. Exhibit A: Cereal for dinner. Exhibit B: My son just told me, "Mom, you're busted!" (Thank you, Phineas and Ferb.) Exhibit C: "Mom, your name is 'No.' Because every day you say, "No no no no no!'" (In reference to the fact that I told him he couldn't watch TV.) Awesome.
-Paint bought? Check. Bedroom carpet installed? Check. Dead trees removed? Check. Most of the cabinet hinges found and bought? Check. All in a good day's work.
-Anybody want to come over and just go ahead and fix up my new house for me? Thanks. I'll just be here on the couch, watching Project Runway.

Jane's New Stats

Jane had her 18 month pediatrician appointment today. She is doing fantastic, both physically and developmentally.

Her new stats:
Height: 35-1/2" (over 100th percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs. 1 oz. (92nd percentile)

Of course, her height is still off the charts. To put it in perspective, Noah's 18-month stats showed that he was about the same weight but more than an inch shorter! About a month ago, I started getting worried that she'd end up being 6'4" or something, so I looked up growth charts and found that it's much more likely that she'll be around 5'10". So far, she is definitely on track to reach that height. I think she may be very statuesque when she grows up.

Ten Years Ago

Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11/01. Everyone remembers when they first heard about airplanes flying into skyscrapers. Everyone remembers the horror of seeing the images on TV--the flaming buildings; the horror of the collapses; the billowing dust and ash and debris; and ghostly humans emerging from the area covered completely in pale ash, with only their eyes gleaming a different color from their otherwise completely gray selves.

Where were you when you heard?

I was sitting in traffic on Hwy 290. On my way to class at Rice, I flipped on talk radio and heard this extraordinary report about some dramatic events in New York. At first, I thought it was just a gimmicky talk radio stunt. It took me several minutes to realize it was real. I went on to Dr. Ellenzweig's ENG 2010 class (British Literature: Chaucer to 1800) and walked in late. About half the class was at their desks, and the other latecomers were sitting on the floor near the door, so that's where I took a seat. Dr. E was asking us how we felt about the towers being hit. Although I liked and respected her, I began to urgently want to get to a news channel to see what was going on and wanted her to let us go, already. And after a few minutes, someone raised their hand and suggested just that, and she readily let us leave.

I went straight to Nathan's dorm room. He and his roommates were there on that old blue check couch, watching events unfold on TV. Shortly after I got there, one of the buildings collapsed. I felt glued to the TV in horror and watched for an hour or more, at least. I remember one specific image that was repeated over and over on the news: a businessman in a suit and tie, carrying his briefcase, completely covered in dust, wandering in a discombobulated and confused fashion. One of Nathan's roommates said, "Why do they keep showing this?" And I replied, "Because that's the perfect image of what the terrorists wanted. American capitalism confused, half destroyed, wandering in a wasteland." It was a very poignant image that is still crisply cut in my mind.

The rest of the day is a blur, but I clearly remember those two or three hours on the morning of 9/11.

On Facebook today, I asked where people were when they heard about the 9/11 attacks, and the answers were so interesting; slices of everyday life that were joltingly interrupted by major national events.

So here's another forum. I'd like to hear your story, too. If you'd like, leave a comment and recount your memory of that day ten years ago.

God bless America!

Important Lessons

Every so often, I feel a special little glow of satisfaction when I feel like I've really gotten through and taught an important lesson to Noah. I would count my parenting years as a success if I can shape his heart in a godly way. But any mother would tell you that most of your instruction tends to deal with the external, right-now issues that are happening at any given moment, and the things that tend to come out of my mouth at times like those are "Be kind," "No hitting!" "Come here," "You must obey Mommy," etc. Those are all appropriate lessons at the time, but lately I've been trying to make sure I also take the time to thoughtfully present other, deeper concepts to Noah, moving from things like gentleness, politeness, and sharing to deeper heart matters like self-control and contentment.

Lately, there have been a couple of little lessons at our house when I felt like I found a way for him to really grasp a deeper concept. One of them he got right away; the other is a work in progress.

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Example 1:

Yesterday, as we got in the car, Noah proudly announced, "Mommy! I told my hand, 'I'm the boss of you!'" I did not know what he was talking about at first. But then I remembered a conversation from the day before when I told him to say just that.

You see, Noah has a problem with sticking his finger into . . . well, an orifice in his face. Ha! I don't know how to say it nicely. But you know what I mean. It's a yucky habit. And we've talked about that a lot. Finally, instead of saying, "Stop picking" for the four thousandth time, I said, "Noah, the next time you see your hand coming up to your face, you just look at your hand and say, 'No, hand! I'm the boss of you, hand! You can't do that!' Because you are in control of your hand, Noah, and you can make it do what you want. That's called self-control." So we joked about it a little and practiced saying, "I'm the boss of you, hand!"

And, shockingly, it worked! Now, I know that instruction is always going to work better with Noah if he is 1.) cajoled into it or 2.) feels some ownership of it, but I am just not always creative enough to come up with a way to teach him every last issue with those things in mind. But this "I'm the boss of you" business really hit the nail on the head for him. I hope it sticks, because self-control is a major issue for anyone, but especially a three year old!

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Example 2:

There have been a few times lately when Noah has gotten very upset because he couldn't have something. Today, for example, he got upset while we were driving because I told him that, no, we could not stop and get some chicken nuggets. Or sometimes he'll be sad that it's getting dark and it's too late to go to the park. Then there's the ubiquitous toddler/preschooler experience of wanting the toy that the other kid has. And sometimes he gets upset because he didn't get more of something that was a surprise, anyway. For example, if he gets a handful of M&M's as a special surprise, you can bet that he will complain that I won't give him more once he has eaten all he's got. So one day, I got fed up with it and said, "Noah, if you can learn to be happy with what you've got, you'll be a lot smarter than a lot of grown-ups." And, y'all, you know that is the truth!

So far, this lesson hasn't really stuck. But considering that I'm not always content with what I've got, I am not expecting really high marks on this issue from a three year old. And, yes, I know that what I said was born out of exasperation and doesn't really espouse the "ownership" and "cajoling" concepts I mentioned earlier, so this lesson probably needs some work. But I do have to tell you that as a little girl, I probably would have totally jumped on anything that made me smarter than a grown-up, so if Noah is anything like me (and he definitely is), then it might click for him in the end, after all.

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So, all you parents out there, I'd love to hear from you. Have you found a way to explain a deep concept to your kids that was successful? Do you have a turn of phrase that seems to click with them? Or have you thought of a lesson that taught them something important? Or, to both the parent and the non-parent readers--do you remember a lesson that clicked for you when your parents did a certain thing or said it a certain way? I'm interested in what you all have to say.