Who Wore it Better? Wedding Edition

Seersucker suits with pink/peach hued ties and tan bucks? I'd say that when it comes to this confident summer look, it's a dead tie between Henry and his favorite "big boy" Robert. Hen said "I didn't feel like smiling, because I wasn't happy, but I was." when he saw this photo and his scowling mug.  Other thoughts he has had today:

"I didn't like you dancing at the wedding because I wanted you to be my mommy and not to dance."

and

"I will take your iPad to school with me tomorrow so that I can do my plans on it."

and

"Daddy and I are doing work. We are doing the hedges outside. You can't do it because you aren't a big boy. Girls don't do hedges, they only drink soda."  (this invited a lengthy conversation on how girls and boys are equals and if mommy wanted to trim the hedge outside, she could certainly do just that.)

Oh the things that come out of a three-year-old's mouth. Precious.

Overtiredness, I loathe thee

What a weekend. Filled with wedding wonderfulness, family pride and only a touch of drama. We are all exhausted and looking forward to hitting the hay early tonight. I'll post wedding photos as I get them, but will keep it short and say that Mary and Brian's wedding was absolutely, hands-down, one of the best weddings I have even been to, and with such a huge family, I've been to quite a few.  Mary and Brian were perfect, the ceremony was personal and touching, the reception was beyond fun. All in all, the best way to celebrate my baby sister and new brother-in-law.  Hen & Kitty did very well and, again with the super big family and wealth of friends had plenty of eyes watching them and arms to hold them. They were surrounded by love and attention, which is something that fills Mike and I with joy (and appreciation, given that we were both a part of the wedding party).

The day after "the big day" is also quite important. It is the time to power down. Post-wedding exhaustion sets in differently for everyone. Some get cranky and snappy, others become giddy and punchy, many just disconnect and retreat to the couch. In the last sixty minutes, Henry has circled through all of these versions of overtiredness at least once.

First he was pleasant and low-key, playing "cut the rope" with me as we laid on the couch. Quickly, however, he moved on to giddy and punchy, as he forced me into a game of hide-and-go-seek by aggressively throwing blankets and pillows on top of me. As I ducked and took cover, politely explaining that I couldn't play "at this moment" but would in a bit, he ventured into cranky and snappy. Cranky and snappy is absolutely the worst phase of all. Hen had a freak-out, hitting-fest melt-down, I was on the receiving end. Dramatic screams, sweaty red face, flailing arms/fists/legs/feet, I had to be on my a-game to make sure that I didn't get a blow to the stomach as I quickly wrestled him into time-out.

This is absolutely NOT the ideal when it comes to discipline. I know this. There should be conversation, there should be plenty of warning before the time out, there should be multiple attempts to de-escalate, in short, there should be calmness and thought put into discipline. In overtired mode, however, there is none of this. There is only frustration, disorientation and the near-impossible task of suppressing the scream that is building up inside of you. In that moment, the most important thing to remember is also the most difficult: You are the adult, so act like it.

Thirty minutes later, after a time-out/meltdown/time-out/meltdown/time-out/meltdown series, Henry finally calmed down and listened. He stopped hitting/kicking us and through conversation, we came to a place of understanding. That is not an easy place to occupy with a three-year-old boy. To acknowledge that peaceful, rare moment, I allowed Hen to do something that he has been asking to do for quite some time, something that I have never had the patience or confidence in him to allow.

He did my eye makeup.

Giddy/punchy

2 seconds later: disconnect & retreat

He obviously really took advantage of this moment and didn't limit himself to my eyes, but included my forehead, cheeks and chin. I've always felt that eye makeup is underutilized--too fun to be limited to ONE part of your face--and I have such a great appreciation for that fashion-forward avant-garde look, so of course I loved the end result.

Luckily, there are not too many of those exaggerated, emotional discipline "battles", but when they do occur, Mike and I do manage to remember one parenting "must do". We always take time, after the lesson has been learned, to connect in a positive, nurturing way with our independent little boy.  To reassure him of the fact that while we may feel unhappy with some of the choices he makes, we could not possibly love anything more than we love him, his sister, each other--our little family.

Liam and Alice love each other.

My first update from the iPad! At GiGi and Grandpa Mac's house with almost the entire fam. Only Blake is missing but he'll join us shortly for the wedding of the century!!! The bride and groom (seen here holding Alice) seem to be doing quite well with nerves under control. Can not wait to see them take their vows in two short days.

Our Kind of Normal

Conversation over the phone on the way home for lunch:

Molly: I'm sorry I missed your calls earlier, I was busy all morning.
Mike: Well, I'm sorry I missed your calls earlier, we're just coming home from Newville now. ((note: I didn't call him once this morning))
Molly: Where are you right now?
Mike: I'll give you a hint, it's the place where you like to enjoy your white zinfandel.
Molly: **long pause** I don't know where that is.
Mike: The underpass before rt. 641.

Doesn't miss a beat, that husband. Wickedly funny all the time. Love him.

Lavar Burton would be proud...

This past weekend I enjoyed a lovely night at Piatto, drinking fancy Prosecco drinks with my super-hip book club, CARDS (Carlisle Area Reading and Drinking Society).  All of those are things that I love--Carlisle, Reading, Drinking, Societies...Areas...winning. Seriously though, what a perfect way to spend a warm summer evening AND to feel pretty smarty pants (yeah, that's right waiter, I read books...big books...books with words).

This past month, we read "Room" (whoa, wack-titude), coming up, "Jitterbug Perfume". I've read Tom Robbins before and am excited to dive on in. I do wonder if this book will have fewer scrota and graphic sex scenes than the Robbins books I've read before...will keep you updated.

What I didn't realize was that Hen is also a CARDS member. Hmm. Funny he hasn't made any of our meetings. He's getting started on the July book (now I'm really hoping that this is a tame Robbins) and has found his own little "reading spot"

Dang, that kid is good! Wait, is he past the first chapter already?? What the French, Canada?! Way to show me up in the area of "reading". Sorry that I'm busy working, and watching "The Voice". Guess you'll have to give me the skinny on "Jitterbug" an hour before the CARDS meeting. That's what kids are for, right?

Fratting it at the yard sale

This weekend we invited community members to come on by and buy our tacky crap. The front  yard featured $1 and $2 tables filled with all sorts of amazing random stuff, including glittery false eyelashes, some fancy candle holders, picture frames, kitchen stuff, books and two super old school tapestries (one from Mike, one from me, both from college days--classy to the n'th degree). Normal yard sale junque. We saw some business, but, for the most part, the sale was pretty tame. I attribute this, in part, to the fact that I forgot to wear my lucky fanny pack. Dang!! Forgetful! Had folks seen my impressive sales-lady style they might have thought twice about passing on our rad gear.  Fail, Molly.


We did enjoy the company of two of the more ridiculous Dickinson students that I work with (Teddy and Dixon), and one very lovely and fun Dickinson alum (Georgia). As soon as Teddy arrived, before doing anything else, he invited Hen to a game of hide-and-seek. As you can imagine, our three-year-old was positively elated.  Laughing, smiling, occasionally missing the point of the game ("You go count and I will hide here!"), Hen couldn't have asked for a better time.  After a little while, he had exhausted many of the traditional hiding places, but certainly would not allow this to get in the way of his game. Hen thought on his feet and moved on to more creative hiding "situations". Below is the BEST by a long shot. 

Lamp shade hiding place. All he needs is one of those tapestries tied around his neck like a cape and he's living frat-large. So college. Proud moments for parents.  And speaking of parents, I have to go be one right now, so I'll post the highly anticipated series, "Kitty in Funny Hats", at a later time.

Jelly-Man Kitty

Breakfast at the Hamilton this past Saturday and Kitty sat in a high chair this time. She just wants to be part of the action nowadays. Of course, along with this promotion to "table sitter" comes a whole new world of "grab and chew" opportunities. Nothing (within arms reach) of Kitten is safe. We remember this stage well our first go-round with Hen, and had prolonged the inevitable status change to "occupant of the high-chair" for as long as we could.

Here, exploring her new freedoms as a member of the table, Alice reaches for the one thing that we haven't shoved as far from her as possible. The jelly packets. She stretched those chubby little Michelin man arms out for a good five minutes before she started to get really frustrated. We replaced the coveted jellsters with a Baby Mum-Mum after a while, and she accepted the substitution.

I look at these photos, and I think "Man, I can't to embarrass my kid with this someday". I wonder now if my parents had the very same feelings...which would explain a lot, actually.  Hmm.