Attention...what was I doing?...span

When my kids were little (I realize they're still young now, but 2 kids under 2 is a totally different category), I remember looking at parents of preschoolers and thinking that their kids were so old! What would that be like, I wondered, to have kids that can ambulate and communicate? Now I'm starting to find out.

Example: I no longer have to carry Peanut everywhere we go. She can walk pretty good distances, and most of the time she is very good about holding my hand and staying with me. She also recently learned how to climb into her own car seat. It takes about 15 minutes (exaggerating), but at least it saves me a hoist.

Jellybean has reached the phase that I remember my friends with older kids telling me about, and I never believed it was true: Her attention span has lengthened considerably. She will now sit for 30-45 minutes doing the same activity -- especially if that activity is artistic in nature. No more dragging out the crayons/colored pencils/markers and paper, only to turn right around and put them away. She would create art all day if I would let her (I do let her quite a bit). See Exhibit A, the marker picture of a sun, rainbow and flowers; and Exhibit B, a dot painting.

I remember when I couldn't wait for Jellybean's attention span to grow; I looked forward to settling in with activities. Here's the irony, though: Now that it's been almost 4 years coming, I am having a hard time adjusting. I'm so accustomed to bouncing from this toy to that toy and this project to that project, that I've forgotten how to sit down and do the same thing for a while. I'm not sure MY attention span is capable of this kind of time! Maybe by the time Peanut is almost 4, I'll be ready for it. In the meantime, I'm going to practice. I may even adopt a mantra (sit down, sit down, sit down...).

Especially heart-y

For the first time since I was a kid, I allowed myself to get completely swept up in the Valentine's spirit this year. In fact, a midday visit to the grocery store on the 14th gave me a new perspective that will officially convert me from a V-Day cynic for years to come.

I had more advance preparation than ever for Valentine's Day this year because of Jellybean and her preschool activities. I had her write her own name on her Valentines for her classmates, so we started with that project early in the week to get them completed by Thursday. Her enthusiasm about giving a cheap little piece of cardboard to each of her classmates made it hard for me to grumble internally about the commercial concoction that is February 14.

She did all kinds of Valentine art projects at preschool in the preceding days -- all with lots of pink and lots of hearts. My favorite, though, was a card that she decorated with her photo and stickers. She instructed the teachers to write on it, "I love you Mommy and Daddy." It was the simplest yet sweetest thing. How can I be cynical about THAT?

Peanut was very into Valentine's Day too; as long as the celebrating included eating occasional candy treats and coloring with markers on a regular basis, she was in. She called it "Valen-times," which I thought appropriate seeing as how all our prep and build-up were taking almost a week! Good times, Valentimes.

So, even before the 14th, I was sort of in the Valentine mode and not fighting it as I have in the past. But once I got to the grocery store that afternoon (to buy a cake mix and pink frosting and cake decorations -- what is going on with me?!), I became a huge fan of Valentine's Day. The parking lot was so full that I had to wait my turn for a spot. As I was waiting, I watched people pouring into the store. I saw college girls with bouquets of flowers, -- I thought college boys preferred DE-flowering, myself -- anxious men bolting for the florist line (which was about 20 people deep inside the store) and parents holding their children's hands as the latter bounded into the store. And it hit me: Look at all these people going out of their way to show friends and loved ones that they care.

There are wars, both literal and figurative, transpiring all over the world. Financial markets are in shambles. Politics in our country have been bitterly divided. Conflicts going on and on. But on February 14, a whole lot of people in the U.S. felt a whole lot of love. Hallmark should be so proud.

Notes from Dad

As I've mentioned before, L's schedule this semester includes an early class that requires him to leave before the girls get up in the morning. He concocted the brilliant plan to leave notes for the girls each day so they'd hear from him as soon as they got up in the morning.

Jellybean can hardly wait to get downstairs for breakfast on the days that L is working. "Do you think he left me a note?" she wonders, all the way down the steps. I read her the note, and she memorizes it, then reads it out loud to herself a few times during the day. It's so sweet. Sometimes she reads Peanut her note too, which I also love.

Peanut gets the note thing totally. She points to the notes and says, "Note." or "Daddy!" (depending on her mood, I think).

I have to give props to L for a really good idea.