Yesterday, Briggs had nothing he had to do and nowhere he had to be. Briggs fussed all day about being bored and not having anything to do. Today after church I gave the kids some chores to do before we went out for an afternoon and evening of family fun. Briggs fussed about not having any free time.
#thisismylife
The most common phrase in our house right now is "Bri-iggs! Stop!!!"
Oh, the joys of a 9 year old boy who is very good at annoying his big sisters.
It's been awhile since I've done a post specifically about the things I want to remember about my kids at this specific time in our lives. So many of my posts lately have just been keeping up with our schedule and activities and trips and the bigger moments that are filling our days. But at the same time, there are the day to day pieces of our lives that are just as important...the little moments that make up our days and weeks. Although the kids aren't changing as much or as quickly as they used to, these are still the little things that I want to remember about them right now. I want to remember...
1. How Briggs' self-regulation and behavior has been improving substantially over the past few months. He has always had ebbs and flows with his temper and his fits and his reactionary ability to fall apart quickly and easily. Lately he has been doing so much better. He is doing things that he is asked without arguing, complaining, or throwing fits. He is transitioning easier from preferred activities. He is handling disappointments and bumps in the road without (or with less) tears. I'm not saying that he doesn't still argue or whine or throw fits on occasion, but it is much less than it had been. I'm really hopeful that this a sign of maturation and growth and that we are leaving some of this behind us for good.
2. How Staley and Adelie are growing so much closer and "reconnecting" again. They were best buddies when they were little, but as Staley got older, they grew apart with Adelie consistently wanting to be with or do things with Staley and Staley demonstrating an indifferent or even mean attitude towards her sister. This has been a change over the past year or so with the girls growing closer again. They enjoy spending time together, are consistently making up dances or doing tricks together in the basement, Adelie helps Staley with her quizzing at night, and Staley is much kinder and more inclusive with her sister now than she used to be. I love seeing this change in the girls and their relationship. (On the other hand, Briggs and Adelie play a little less together now than they did and seem to bicker and argue more. I guess we can't have it all.)
3. How Briggs is obsessed with this video game called Dragon Quest. Zach had played Dragon Quest as a kid, so he introduced it to Briggs as a computer game that they would play together several months ago. Briggs loved it and was excited every time I would take the girls somewhere so that he and Dad could have a "boy's night" to play Dragon Quest. Zach recently found the game for the Wii, and Briggs asks him every single day if they are going to have a chance to play together. He gets so excited talking about it and loves any opportunity that he and Zach have to play it together. In the same way, Adelie loves playing the 'Connection' every night with Zach and looks forward to this little thing that she and Zach always do together.
4. How Briggs asks to go to the library almost every day after school or anytime we are within 20' of the library building. (He is still my creature of habit.) He enjoys graphic novels, but is also into 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' books and 'I Survived.' He will read longer novels, but really prefers books he can read in one sitting and sometimes needs a push to finish a longer book that he has started. He did just read 'Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas' for a school project and declared it his new favorite book. He is also still big into listening to audiobooks and is currently re-listening to the Humphrey books.
5. Adelie is my biggest reader at the moment. She tears through books at an alarming rate. I know not to try to tell her anything important while she is reading as she won't actually hear me or remember anything I said. Her current favorite series are 'Keeper of the Lost Cities' and 'The Book Wanderers.'
6. Staley still enjoys reading, but her busy schedule gives her less time to read than the other two. Her current favorite series is 'The Inheritance Games', but she reads a variety of other things as well. She is currently reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and is listening to the Vanderbeekers series on audiobook.
7. How Staley continues to keep her running streak alive. She is at 621 days and counting. Despite her busy, busy, busy schedule of school sports and dance and theater and quizzing and all the things, she finds time to get at least a mile every day. When it's too cold or the weather is too bad, she will run stairs inside at the house. She gets up early to run before school if she'll have a busy evening. Even when she was sick a few weeks ago, she still got in her run every day. Her dedication is truly amazing to me.
8. How Adelie is thriving in middle school and truly finding her place. She has a great group of friends who are sweet and kind and who make her feel comfortable being herself. She loves her teachers and prides herself on doing well in all her classes. Being involved in the Penguin Project is a great fit for her, and she is already making decisions about what she wants to be involved in next year so that she can continue to do Penguin. Adelie did well in grade school, but middle school has been an even better experience for her.
9. How Briggs is different in many ways from the girls, and I am learning and seeing these differences in personality, school, and responsibility. Briggs has an obnoxious streak that I fully blame on his Y chromosome. Potty humor, loudness, squirrely-ness, and doing things to specifically annoy the girls are a part of our lives now. I have realized as we are getting into 4th grade that things I never had to track or think about with the girls, I do with Briggs. He was bringing home some poor grades, and I realized that he wasn't studying for tests, he was turning in late assignments, he was rushing through assignments in order to play fun computer games or read books in class, and he was making lots of careless mistakes in his work. I never had to help the girls in this area, but I've realized that I have to set guidelines and expectations for Briggs in order to do the work he is capable of in class. Since setting these expectations (and telling him that he couldn't play computer games at school until his grades improved), he has made a marked change.
10. How all 3 of my kids are growing in their independence and helpfulness. When I assign chores or ask the girls to do something, they typically just do it without complaint. (How refreshing! Briggs is still a bit of a work in progress.) The kids can do most any chore around the house and do it (pretty) well. They can make simple meals, clean up after themselves, and are even sometimes helping out without being asked. (Not most of the time, but sometimes is better than rarely or never.) It is so nice as we move into this phase when the kids are truly being helpful.
I love just thinking about my kids at certain points in time. I have enjoyed all the phases and stages, but I am really enjoying this time. The kids are independent and helpful. They enjoy each other and get along pretty well. We have fun playing family games and watching family movies and having family discussions. They are fun to talk to, have good senses of humor, are easy to travel with, and are finding out who they are and embracing that.
After our disappointing Bears loss and our epic Grand Canyon hike, we then headed to Sedona to spend the rest of our week. Our home base was a nice condo in the sweet little village of Oak Creek right next to Sedona. It was a great home base of our days of exploring Sedona.
