Days and Years

The days are long but the years are short.

I'm sure this is a quote from someone famous and interesting, but I have no clue who they are. That's ok though.  It doesn't change the truthfulness of the statement. And it seems to apply to moms the most.

Between the late night feedings and calming of fears, the dishes, the diapers, the laundry, the toys, the snot, the skinned knees, and the life lessons our days can sometimes stretch out infinitely in front of us. We wonder if the kids will notice that bedtime was an hour early tonight, or if our husband will complain about dinner being either not ready or stone cold by the time he walks in the door at the end of the day. We wonder if we helped our daughter work through her emotional moment, when she was feeling insecure. We wonder if our son got enough attention while we were playing. And we wonder if the baby got a change of clothes today. He didn't.

We are bone weary at the end of the day.  The kitchen isn't quite clean, there are toys on the living room floor, and the kids still aren't in bed. But all we can think about is collapsing into our soft bed (that hasn't had clean sheets in almost a month) before the baby wakes for his nightime feeding.

It is a weariness that never truly goes away. The worries of the day come to us in our sleep. Our children come to us in our sleep too. We let them climb in and kiss their sticky hair as they fall asleep in our bed, that now houses four people, two dogs and a territorial cat. 

And yet we do it, day after day. Never taking a real sick day. Never having a vacation. And I have wondered to myself more than once, why?  Why did I sign up for this crazy train that is motherhood?

And sometimes I don't have an answer.  Sometimes it feels overwhelming, and too much, and dang it, I just need a nap.  Motherhood isn't for the faint of heart.

But sometimes, sometimes, I look into the face of my sleeping toddler, after he has nursed himself to sleep for the third time, and I see his peace.

I run my fingers gently through my preschooler's hair as he sits on my lap at bedtime, and I think about how blessed I am to be his safe place.

I giggle with my daughter as we play a silly game and marvel at how very much like myself she is.

These moments are fleeting. But they are so, so beautiful. They are the moments that sustain me. They are the moments that help me remember why. They remind me of who I am.

I am a mother. I can cure boo boos, and I can calm fears. I can be a helper, and I can show my children things about the world that will last them a lifetime. And their lifetimes are flying by.

My oldest is already 7 years old.  For more than 7 years I have been a mother.  And it doesn't seem that long. It seems like a month ago that she was placed in my arms for the first time. Last week she told me she loved me for the first time. Yesterday she started kindergarten.

And her brothers lives are flying by just as fast. Maybe even faster, because with them, I seem to blink and learn something new about them. New things that mean they are older and wiser than they were yesterday.

My years with them will be short. But my days will continue to be long. Because I am a mother. And that is ok with me.

Review and Project: Insect Lore Butterfly Garden

*Note: Post contains affiliate links*

For years I have been wanting to get my animal loving science geek girl a Butterfly Garden (by Insect Lore).  The opportunity presented itself to buy it for her at the local Homeschool Convention  (read more about my experiences at Homeschool Con here) this spring. She opened it on her birthday, and we ordered caterpillars that night.

Sorry, forgot to take a picture of our box.

The kit included:

The Butterfly Garden enclosure

Instructions 

A certificate for a Cup O Caterpillars

I love that the enclosure folds flat for storage. Not that Baby Girl has let it sit idle long enough to put it away.  It is also a very pretty color and would go well in our homeschool area.  The instructions were clear and helpful.  They even included a whole section of suggested activities that you could do as you study your caterpillars, which we might explore next year. Rosie, our puppy, did get a hold of the instructions, but they can be found online in PDF just in case.  Whew.   The certificate is a single use postcard marked with a special code. The ordering process was quick and easy.  You do have to pay a $5 shipping and handling charge, but the first Cup-O-Caterpillars is indeed included in the price. 

We ordered the caterpillars on a Saturday and they arrived the following Friday.  Please note that if you do this project you need to be available to get the caterpillars as soon as they get dropped off.  Unfortunately our shipping notification didn't update proper;y and our caterpillars sat in the mailbox overnight.  Thankfully it was a temperate evening and none of the caterpillars have problems, but it could easily have been one on a warmer or cooler day.

The next step was easy.  You set the cup in a quiet area and watch them grow.  When they arrive they are tiny.  And they grow so fast!  But there is no feeding, watering or other care required.  Food is included in their cup and they happily munch away.  Once they are big enough they hang from the top of the cup and turn into chrysalises. 

You then carefully move the paper from the lid to the enclosure and safety pin it to the side.  And then you wait some more.  There is a lot of waiting in this project, which is nice for a busy mom, but occasionally frustrating for kids. Thankfully Baby Girl knew that important things were happening and wasn't discouraged by the lack of visible progress.

Next thing we knew there was a butterfly in her enclosure!  Then another, and another until all 5 were fluttering around the enclosure.  We fed them (sugar water on a paper towel) and watched them for 6 days.  And then it was release day.  They were so fun to watch.  You could really see them eat, and they fluttered around the enclosure quite a bit. It was a very good experience for all of us.  Baby Girl was a little sad to see them go, but she knew they needed to be "free and in the wild" (Thank you Wild Kratts!)

Overall this was a really fun project.  We were wrapping up the school year, so we didn't do very much with it this year.  I fully intend to do a unit study next year and really get into the science behind metamorphosis.  It will definitely appeal to a wide range.  Bubba was even excited to watch them fly away, and I thought watching them was lots of fun.

I recommend you order this as a school project or just to satisfy your little scientist.  Getting to study animals up close like this can be hard to do, so this is a great way to bring nature home.

Stay messy friends!

Insect Lore Butterfly Garden

• Exciting and fun to do
• Appeals to a wide age range
• Let's your budding naturalist get up close with nature

• Very low maintenance
• No small parts
• Easy clean up

Game Review: Let's Grow - The Life Cycles Game

*Note: This post contains affiliate links*

Let’s Grow - The Life Cycles Game is a fast moving and colorful science oriented game for kids ages 5 and up.  

Baby Girl got this game for Christmas last year and it is fast becoming a family favorite.  It is quick to play, usually less than 20 minutes, and it is fun.  Sort of a cross between Trouble and Memory, your goal is to fill up your card with the corresponding life cycle pieces (example: the Butterfly player has to get an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and an adult butterfly) as you go around the board.  If you don’t pick the right piece the first time around you keep going until you get it. 

 My science oriented girl loves to be different players each time we play (Butterfly, Plant, Frog, and Chicken).  We have been playing it a lot recently due to her Butterfly Garden Project being in full swing.  Buds (4) can actually play this game, but it stretches him a little.  I know a lot of 3-4 year olds that would probably do fine with it however, so if you think your younger child can handle it I wouldn’t hesitate to get it for them.  

The only downside to this game that I can tell is that it might lose its appeal if played a ton.  It is very simple to play, and there isn’t a lot of challenge to it.  That said, we have been playing it once or twice a week for the past month and I am not bored with it yet.  The memory match aspect of it really helps with keeping everyone into the game play.  

Overall, this is a game our family has come to greatly enjoy and we recommend it!  

Let's Grow - The Life Cycles Game

• Colorful and engaging look
• Fast paced and simple to learn
• Good for a large age range

• Zero Mess
• No Extra Pieces to get lost
• Easy to set up and put away

To buy Let's Grow or the other games I mentioned click the links below!

My Date with Buds

Me and Buds

Sometimes as a Mom you find yourself bailing water furiously just to keep your head above water.

The laundry is way behind.

The dishes have piled up.

The house is destroyed - again.  (Didn't I just clean up the whole thing yesterday?  How do they dismantle all of my hard work so fast???)

Schoolwork needs to get done, the lawn needs to be mowed, grocery shopping needs to be done, and your kids actually need you in the middle of it.

And sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

My three children have three very different personalities.  Which can be challenging, but it is mostly just fun.  I get to interact with them differently, and my relationship with each of them is unique and special and precious to my heart.

Baby Girl is studious and sometimes silly.  She communicates well and often.She asks good questions and studies the world around her with great intensity.  She also lets me know what she needs.  "Mommy can we spend some time together" is a frequent request. And it is usually answered with "Absolutely!"

Bubba is my baby.  He is less than 2, and still nurses.  He needs me for lots of things.  Nourishment, comfort, a soft place to fall asleep, and reassurance that all is right in his world.  He also communicates strongly what his needs are, and I fulfill them joyfully.

Buds, well, he doesn't ask for much.  And when he does the answer is frequently no. "Can I have more cookies Mommy?"  His sister almost always gets to me first, so I tend to put him off a lot.  He is so laid back that he doesn't complain about being asked to go play while I do one more thing with Sissy, or put the baby to sleep.

And it occurred to me that I have trouble connecting with him.  I know what his favorite TV shows are, what his favorite toys are, and I tuck him in every night before bed.  But my adorable son, who's love langauge is Quality Time (I think) gets very little with me.

This realization hurt.  As a mother, the thing I want most is for my children's needs to be met, on every level.  I realize that Hubs and I are partners in this (and the two of them spend LOTS of time together) but Buds should get at least part of his love tank filled with Mommy love.

So I am on a mission. This summer I am going to make a habit of spending quality one on one time with Buds.  It doesn't have to be formal, or long, but there needs to be a part of each day where I give his needs priority.  Heaven knows I do that with the other two very often.

I started last week.  Friday night we went on a date.  Just me and him.  We ran an errand and then we went to the park.  His choice.  He even chose the park.  And it was so wonderful, just spending time with my little man.  He didn't ask me to slide down the slide, or climb with him. Just me being there, watching him do "tricks" and taking pictures was enough for him.

Doing Tricks

Fun At the Park

Such a Ham

Date Continued at Home

How simple is it really, for me to say "yes" to him? 

How hard is it to give him that little bit of myself, that takes the time to really watch him?

The answer is, its not.

It is easy to give my energy and time to him.  What is hard is realizing that he needs me to.  He can't ask, he doesn't know how.  But spending that time with him meant the world to him.  So I am determined.  I will learn to recognize when I am pushing his needs aside because he isn't my squeaky wheel.  I will learn to listen for what he cannot communicate.  I will be a better mom for him.  And I will enjoy every minute of it!

Moms, I want to encourage you!  Listen not just to what your child can say, but listen with your mother's heart for what they need.  They might surprise you!  And it is easy to give that time and that love to them, sometimes you just need to take a moment to see what it is they need.  So spend some time with your kids today.  Connect with them as individuals.  And don't worry if you don't know quite what to do.  Just reading a book with them one on one will feed their souls.  You won't regret investing in them!