it SEEMED like a good idea…

Are you sick of C stories yet?  You probably don’t believe that I actually have 4 other children.  Am I right? 

It’s just that he gives me so much to work with.  Seriously, if I could just follow him around with a camera 24/7 I totally would!  He really is a crazy boy with more energy than any human being I know, and I know a lot of human beings.  For real.  You might know a few yourself.

But this is another one of those stories that just has to be told.  One of the many that I want him to look back on when he comes to me and says “Mom, I don’t know what to do with {insert his child’s name}.  He’s out of control!” 

And then I can laugh and say something like, “You’ve met your match.” or “I always hoped you’d have a child just like you.”

You know, something like that. 

They say you get at least one child just like you.  K is mine and C is definitely Anthony’s!  I should have interviewed his mom about his childhood before marrying him so I would know what I was up against when ‘his’ child came along.  Hindsight is 20/20, right? 

Well, as you know {unless you don’t ;)}, the girls raised money over the summer in order to attend dance classes.  They had to come up with $150 and my parents said they would pay the other $150.  Their little lemonade stand was a hit and they were able to raise the money pretty quickly.  Dance classes started in June and they just finished up week before last.  And oh boy, did they have a blast!

 

K is probably the one that wants it the most but has to work the hardest for it.  She’s not the most coordinated but she loves learning new things and is devoted.    Love that about her!  She took jazz.  Her talents lie more in things such as art, crocheting, knitting, sewing, etc.  But her leaps and turns are looking much better than they did in the beginning. 

A is athletic in every sense of the word.  She may a be a tiny little thing {last we checked she was in the 8th percentile} but man she is tough!  She can watch something done once and she picks it up like she’s been doing it forever.  So tumbling was a perfect fit for her!  She has gone from not being able to do a backbend on her own to not only doing it on her own but doing a walkover as well. 


{Please let me know in the comments if you are unable to view this video}

H is a prissy little thing.  Tall and thin, she is perfectly built for ballet.  Well, if I were to guess.  I’m not a ballerina so I don’t really know what a perfectly built ballerina would look like.  I know, shocking!  But she’s very much a girly girl, although, she really wants to be a tomboy.  She’s got a cousin her age that is as tomboy as they come.  Nothing pink, flowery, frilly or girly…. EVER!  H is trying it on for size at the moment but we keep catching her wanting pink cups and floral shirts.  She’s quick to correct herself once someone notices.  “Oh whoops!  I didn’t even notice the flowers.”  She’s remembers the names of all the ballet positions and corrects me when I try to help her practice.  Yes, I am that awesome! 

After seeing all the girls doing so well in their respective lessons, we found it hard to tell them they would not be able to continue once summer was over.  Luckily, we have people that LOVE us and the kids so much that they were willing to pay for lessons for the girls.  THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!  We’ll pick up the payments as soon as we are able.  And to keep it as low cost as possible (while still getting quality training) I found a different studio that is quite a bit cheaper.  There are lots of homeschoolers that attend there with us so that makes it even more fun.  The class sizes are much smaller which means more one on one for the kids.  Awesome!  However, we will be keeping A at the old studio because her teacher was pretty much amazing and the tumbling teacher at the new studio is great, I’m sure, but after watching her with A, I really think she’ll be better off with the other teacher. 

With it being less expensive, guess what that means… even C gets to take a class. 

Tumbling, of course, because we need somewhere to channel all that energy of his.  And since this was the first week of class, you get to read all about his first day!

Oh, I can’t tell you how excited he was to be going to ‘dance class’.  We had talked about it all day yesterday before heading out. 

With it being an outing in which C would be heavily involved, I begged Anthony to come along.  So, we all piled into Big Delores {that’s our Suburban’s name} and headed out. 

Immediately upon arrival, C knew this was his big day.  He was going to dance class and it would be fun!  As we walked him into class, he began to run around with all the other tiny people since class hadn’t actually started yet.  They were wild and crazy.  We were able to watch through the window. 

As the teacher attempted to get class started and have all the kids sit in a line for roll call and to get some instruction, C decides to slap the kid sitting next to him in the face.  Big smile on his face and everything.  The poor kid never even saw it coming!  I asked Anthony to please open the door and instruct C NOT to hit. 

Anthony told me he thought it would be best to let the teachers take care of it.  That’s fine if the teachers had actually SEEN it!  They were both looking away.  C knows better than to strike when they are looking.  That would be bad bully form!  Silly Dad!  So I pleaded with him to do it anyway thinking it would be better coming from him {C’s hero} than me.  Anthony again told me it was a bad idea but reluctantly did as I asked. 

I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately.  I’m usually so right when it comes to this stuff.  But C is the exception to every stinkin’ rule, I swear! 

As soon as Anthony told C not to hit, he threw himself on the ground and started flailing around, yelling.  Ugh!  Then he bolts to the door, runs to Anthony and says he wants to go home. 

No amount of coaxing by myself or Anthony will get him back in that room.  We showed him through the window how much fun the other kids were having as they stretched out but he didn’t care.  Meanwhile, all the other moms are looking at us and snickering.  There seems to be a lot of snickering when it comes to C.  Not rude snickering, just I’m-glad-it’s-you-and-not-me snickering.  

We gathered our kids, walked out to the car, buckled the boys in while the girls got themselves buckled.  C is crying the whole time and then starts yelling that he wants to go to dance class.  LOVELY! 

So, we have a little ‘chat’.  {By ‘we’ I mean Anthony and C ;)}

You have to be a nice boy.  You have to listen to your teacher.  We don’t hit.  Can you be nice?

C agrees to be nice.  We head back in but this time, C notices the playroom.  How cool is that?  A dance studio with a playroom! 

He wants to play with toys.  I tell him he can play with toys after class.  FINALLY, we get him into class.  They’re doing somersaults.  C’s turn comes up and he does his first real somersault.  I couldn’t have been any prouder!  Then he does another… and another all the way to the end of the mat, at which point it’s someone else’s turn. 

Well, C is just having so much fun that he doesn’t stop.  He won’t move and just keeps somersaulting in any direction he pleases. 

The moms are all still snickering.  I had walked away at this point to put B in the playroom but I heard the moms asking Anthony how old he is.  Then they tell him how cute he is. 

I’m still wondering what kind of ‘cute’ they meant.  Do they mean, “He’s soooo cute!” {as in adorable} or “He’s so 'cute'” {as in he’s a brat and if he hits my kid again, I’m gonna slap YOU with a lawsuit.}

Anyway, after being forced to move so the next child in line can perfect his somersaults, he decides he needs to pee.  I know I should say ‘use the bathroom’ but c’mon, he’s three and he says, “Mom, I needa pee!” so pee it is. 

He pees, goes to class, pees again, goes to class, attempts to pee again but is distracted when they say it’s time for a water break.  Heads to the drinking fountain and as all the good little children line up behind the teacher to head back to class, C is nowhere to be found.  Neither is the teacher’s assistant. 

Anthony and I shrug our shoulders as we realize that he didn’t walk by like a cute little duckling behind the teacher.  I head off in the opposite direction for some clues.  A lady in the waiting area informed that he had gone upstairs where the poor TA was chasing him.  I was finally able to get him to come back down after threatening time out and straight to bed when we got home.  Little did he know he was headed to bed for a nap as soon as we got home anyway.  Ha!  I win!

He went back to class and proceeded to play with the stereo and some mats that were leaned up against the wall until the end of class.  The TA was chasing him all over the room.  She may have looked a little annoyed and frustrated but honestly, I can’t say that I blame her.  Poor, poor girl!

So, it SEEMED like a good idea to put him tumbling.  I’m not so sure now.  Will it get better?  I so wish that I had taken my camera so I could record it all and show you what I mean.  Next week I will NOT forget.  

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OH!  And now I have to tell you about the other night.  Remember when I said that we had never asked a teenager to babysit?  Well, we did this past Wednesday.  The girls had their first dance lessons at the new studio that day and Anthony had plans.  I refused to take C and B to dance with me.  I didn’t have any clue how anything worked there. 

Anthony asked the neighbor across the street to babysit.  She’s offered many many times but we’ve never taken her up on her offer.  She’s 12.  It turned out that she couldn’t be here the whole time that we needed her but her sister, who is 15, would take over for her when she had to leave. 

I was reluctant to do this in the first place.  The boys are hard.  They just are.  There’s no other way of putting it.  And it’s not that I don’t trust the babysitters, I just don’t trust C. 

The girls and I were gone only a couple of hours but as we drove home, it was just beginning to get dark.  Dusk, I guess you would say.  As I turned onto my street, I saw a bright orange shirt, very low to the ground, walking toward me.  Upon closer inspection, I realize that it’s C!  But where is the babysitter?  C was a few houses down from ours.  The babysitter was IN my house, unaware that he had escaped! 

Now, like I said, I don’t blame her.  C is very sneaky and knows the right times to make a break for it.  But THAT is why I don’t get babysitters!  Anthony and I know his patterns and behaviors.  Other people {even close relatives} don’t understand.  We know where to look for him when it gets quiet and what he might be doing.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s tricked us plenty of times.  Just a couple weeks ago, he and B both walked over to the neighbor’s house without us even noticing.  SCARY! 

But seriously, what would have happened if I had not come home right then the other night?  It’s scary to think about!  I laughed about it when I saw him walking down the street because it really was cute to see this little independent child of mine walking with such purpose.  Luckily, I was able to get him to get in the car without a fight. 

I think we’ll go back to the no babysitter thing for a while.