February 2006

 We have been having a crazy time around the house lately. I think we’re reaching a time in the children’s lives when they think they should be testing us. Maybe they don’t consciously do it, but they sure do test us. The most recent "semi-catastrophe" focuses around the boy. That’s what I call Jack when he’s on my nerves…"the boy". Recently he’s taken a liking to technology. Pouring coffee on my new laptop for example... and ripping the keys off Maggie’s laptop.   How about climbing the shelving unit to raid the DVD collection and then using them as mini racetracks for his Hot Wheels, or standing on the baby’s drum, and peeing on the couch (not really technology related, but true).  Maggie is losing her mind.  I swear to God, if you turn your head for ONE second, Jack can be GONE! It’s scary when we’re at a mall or in a crowd. I want to invest in the toddler - tether (A LEASH!). And not just for outside of the house! I want him tethered to me EVERYWHERE we go. But Maggie said it’s a form of torture so I don’t get to get one. It’s like having a puppy. 

Greta, on the other hand, is an angel. She’s UBER shy though. The pre-school teacher says she does a lot of "parallel play". She’s too shy to join kids playing sometimes so she just saddles up next to them and plays next to them. She takes after Maggie. I was what they called "obnoxious" as a kid (I know you’re thinking NOOOO) so I can’t complain that she’s shy, better than uncontrollable. And Baby Teresa is doing wonderfully. She’s starting to become mobile. So now we have to make sure the floor is completely "small-object-free", which is IMPOSSIBLE with Jackson throwing anything he can find on the floor! I said it before, and I’ll say it again, my wife is a saint. How she possibly puts up with the madness on a daily basis is beyond me. I feel bad for her. She looks at me when I’m leaving the house in the mornings like, "how can you leave me with these heathens, again!?" But she never complains, she never screams at them (or me)…she’s so patient and kind, I am unbelievably lucky. What a life.