Saturday musings

Today we took the kids on a hike at the greenbelt. It was absolutely beautiful! The leaves on the trees are starting to change color, it was cool but not cold outside, and due to the recent rains there was actually water in the creek. Enough to make waterfalls even! Too bad we didn't think to bring a camera with us.

We instituted a new behavior/reward chart around here a few weeks ago to encourage/bribe the kids to do the things we expect them to do. They get a sticker if we see them being proactive or kind or obedient or super helpful or if they don't whine all day. So far, they each have several stickers under the proactive, kind and super helpful columns. They have a couple stickers under the obedient category. And they have exactly zero stickers under the "I was not a whiner" category.

As per the usual, the kids did really well on the walk out but commenced to whining and complaining on the way back to the car. Jake even lamented that it was not fair that our car Big Red was not a helicopter so it could come pick us up when we feel tired of walking. And all I could think about was that it's not fair that we just spent $130 to replace a broken tail light on Big Red and it still needs two new tires and a new power steering pump and, oh yeah, it doesn't have a working heater. Jeez. I wonder where those two get their whining abilities from? Anyhow, today was not the day that they were going to be successful in the "I was not a whiner" category.

After we got home my friend Jenny brought our beloved Sydney and Lila over to play for awhile. Jake and Sydney had a few tense moments because I think they were both overly tired but the day ended on a positive note with all four munchkins getting along and Sydney chasing Jake around trying to give him a goodbye kiss. Which he really did not whine about. Emma did a face plant off of our monkey bar out back and did deservedly whine about that for a few minutes. But it was nothing a bowl of yogurt and some homemade graham crackers couldn't cure.

We ended the day with squeals of laughter from a brother and sister who obviously adore each other when they are not getting on the other's last nerve. They serenaded me with Pat Benatar's "Hit me with your best shot" for a good ten minutes. And now they are tucked safely away in their beds with still no sticker for "I was not a whiner" on their behavior charts.