As the holidays approach
I think more and more on my family and how much I miss my father. I am hoping against hope that he actually does get laid off when his company moves so that he really can do as he's been planning -- drive his 36-foot-long or 42-foot-long or however big that honkin' thing is RV over here to the East Coast and stay for a while. Heck, I even have my in-laws' place that he and Sandie can stay at, if they want to be in a real house for a while -- my inlaws are so cool, they volunteered it :) Sprite has only seen my father twice in her life and Cyke has seen him three times. I desperately want adult time with my father, and though I'm loathe to admit it, I'm jealous as hell of my stepsister for the fact that she's gotten the time with him that I wish I had. I want my dad to retire for good.
Anyway, away from the angst of that thought....
I'm making my Christmas list for the kids. For everyone else, it's likely to be a very small Christmas indeed. But my mother is planning on getting the kids (the whole household) a Wii, and so I'm going to buy a couple of peripherals for gifts, and a couple of games. And the rest of what the kids get will be small things -- a couple of books, their ornaments (something I do for each of the kids every year), and one toy apiece probably. Maybe some clothes, since they both seem determined to outgrow everything they own :P
Cyke is coming up on his 6th birthday the first week of January, and Sprite will be 3 in March. Where *does* the time go? I watch them and realized the other day, Cyke has his big-boy face. He's got a loose tooth!! You can look at him now and almost see the young man he'll become.... God help me, he's darn cute. And that's not just Mommy-pride. He's halfway through kindergarten, and well ahead of the game in terms of academics. He's reading! And doing addition and subtraction. And he's so darn smart he scares me - I hope hubby and I will be able to keep up with him. :)
Sprite has her little-girl face now, too, as opposed to her baby face. You can still see hints of the baby that she was, but she's a person all her own now. You can *almost* see who she'll become. She knows her colors and she's learning to count already, and her vocabulary is absolutely amazing. Most people mistake her for being closer to 4 years old than 3. It's.... terrifying. Exciting. A little sad because I love them so much more every single day and I don't know how my babies became these people. They're such good people, caring and thoughtful. Much as I would like to take credit for it, I have learned that the nature vs. nurture argument is moot -- nurture certainly molds various parts of the people they'll become, but nature plays a large role as well. So much of their personalities are already their own from the time they're born, I can only hope as a parent to mold and shape those tendencies in the right ways. I suppose the fact that they are such caring, nice people who try to make sure that the people around them are all right and look out for one another, is my doing in some small part.
I am so grateful that these souls chose me to be their mother. I am so proud of both of them. Even when I wanna rip their heads off because they're fighting AGAIN *laugh*
I'm looking forward to next fall or the following spring -- we're planning on taking them to Disneyworld. It's going to be an amazing trip. :)
Anyway, away from the angst of that thought....
I'm making my Christmas list for the kids. For everyone else, it's likely to be a very small Christmas indeed. But my mother is planning on getting the kids (the whole household) a Wii, and so I'm going to buy a couple of peripherals for gifts, and a couple of games. And the rest of what the kids get will be small things -- a couple of books, their ornaments (something I do for each of the kids every year), and one toy apiece probably. Maybe some clothes, since they both seem determined to outgrow everything they own :P
Cyke is coming up on his 6th birthday the first week of January, and Sprite will be 3 in March. Where *does* the time go? I watch them and realized the other day, Cyke has his big-boy face. He's got a loose tooth!! You can look at him now and almost see the young man he'll become.... God help me, he's darn cute. And that's not just Mommy-pride. He's halfway through kindergarten, and well ahead of the game in terms of academics. He's reading! And doing addition and subtraction. And he's so darn smart he scares me - I hope hubby and I will be able to keep up with him. :)
Sprite has her little-girl face now, too, as opposed to her baby face. You can still see hints of the baby that she was, but she's a person all her own now. You can *almost* see who she'll become. She knows her colors and she's learning to count already, and her vocabulary is absolutely amazing. Most people mistake her for being closer to 4 years old than 3. It's.... terrifying. Exciting. A little sad because I love them so much more every single day and I don't know how my babies became these people. They're such good people, caring and thoughtful. Much as I would like to take credit for it, I have learned that the nature vs. nurture argument is moot -- nurture certainly molds various parts of the people they'll become, but nature plays a large role as well. So much of their personalities are already their own from the time they're born, I can only hope as a parent to mold and shape those tendencies in the right ways. I suppose the fact that they are such caring, nice people who try to make sure that the people around them are all right and look out for one another, is my doing in some small part.
I am so grateful that these souls chose me to be their mother. I am so proud of both of them. Even when I wanna rip their heads off because they're fighting AGAIN *laugh*
I'm looking forward to next fall or the following spring -- we're planning on taking them to Disneyworld. It's going to be an amazing trip. :)