I used to do these posts more frequently when the kids were changing quickly and going through new phases on a regular basis. Some of that has slowed down, but there are still things that I want to remember about our life and our family right now.
1. Over the winter months, one of our regular family night activities was watching shows and movies together. We found a show called 'Lego Masters' and watched all 6 seasons of it as a family over the course of several months.
2. Briggs has recently got into doing puzzles. Just as his bedroom floor used to be constantly covered in Legos, now it is covered in puzzles and puzzle pieces...and Legos too. (Well, and dirty clothes and wet towels and paper and markers and books.)
3. Staley now has long and drawn out shower routines and schedules. She has always taken long showers, but now she has certain nights that are just showers, certain nights that are hair washing nights, and certain nights that are "long" hair washing nights. It's hard to keep track of...until she's been in the shower for over 20 minutes and the hot water starts to run out. Then we know it's a long hair washing night.
4. Just like Staley with her shower routines, Briggs has now started taking long showers and sometimes 2 a day (morning and night). While Briggs used to take such short showers that I was sure he couldn't possibly be using soap, now he is contributing to the excessive water usage in the house. Good thing we just got a larger capacity hot water heater.
5. Adelie is by far our neatest child now. Briggs' room and Staley's room are always a hot mess. Staley's floor is typically covered in clothes and her dresser is covered in face care and hair care products. Both Staley and Briggs are bad about leaving their things strewn about...books and shoes and clothes and breakfast dishes and dirty lunch boxes. Of our kids, Adelie is the only one who typically keeps her room clean and picks up after herself.
6. With that said, all 3 kids are now very capable about helping out around the house and doing a good job...if I ask. They are not typically going to see that something needs to be picked up or cleaned or folded or unloaded, but if I ask, they can do it and do it well. If we all pitch in the get chores done, it can generally be accomplished efficiently and well.
7. We always talk about how Briggs is a creature of habit. Currently one of his habits is asking incessantly about playing video games. Our general rule is that he can only play video games on the weekends, but that doesn't stop him from asking every single day when he gets home from school. His favorite video game is Zelda, although will sometimes sprinkle in Super Mario or Animal Crossing as well.
8. Staley has been practicing her driving skills with Zach since getting her permit. It has been a learning experience for both of them. Staley drove into a ditch on her second driving expedition with Zach. She has also ended up in the neighbor's yard when hitting the gas instead of the brake when backing out of the driveway, has struggled with making sure she stays on the correct side of the road, and has been hit or miss on turn signal usage. She only almost drove into the garage door once. Zach has said he's only had to yell 3 times in the course of their driving and that she has gotten significantly better with each outing they've gone on.
9. Adelie, my social and FOMO gal, does not like running on her own. Whereas Staley will often prefer to do her runs solo, even when we offer to accompany her, Adelie ALWAYS wants someone to run with. She will go solo if that is the only option, but her preference is to always have company. In runs and in life.
10. On a typical day at our house, this is where you will generally find our kids: Staley (if she's home, which is rare with her busy schedule) will be in her room, door closed, listening to music or an audio book. And singing. Loudly. Adelie will be reading her book on the couch downstairs in the basement. She may or may not hear anything you say to her if she has a book in her hand. Briggs will either be in his room doing Legos or puzzles while listening to an audio book or riding his bike to the library.
Our days sometimes feel crazy. Our life gets busy. We settle into our hectic rhythm of life and enjoy those brief instances when the rhythm breaks for a short moment to allow for a little reflection. I want to remember our life...the good, the bad, and the ugly. And, right now, these are the daily idiosyncrasies that make up our life.
