Shannon Yee

Stay-At-Home-Mom. I sometimes feel like this is the wrong title for the position that I’m in. First off, I rarely stay at home. Being a mom sort of requires that you not stay anywhere for very long. If we don’t have errands, classes, meetings, appointments, etc. then we have grass, trees, flowers, bugs, etc. to explore. Even if we are at home all day, we are pretending to be somewhere else, doing something else.

I also feel like SAHM implies one who is not working, but in fact the opposite is quite true, as I find that this is much more exhausting and demanding work than any other that I’ve done – emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I, of course, had a busy (very fun) day not staying at home as a mom. Maybe, I’m just feeling a bit like going out and being the kid and regretting the title that says I’m not…

I mostly love having boys, but sometimes the fascination with gross stuff is more than I enjoy. I know that my boys are still really young and this is only the beginning, but today was about my limit of bugs and boogers.

Thaddeus is teething or has a cold or both and has a constant stream of snot that stretches out from anything he touches, including me. You should be thanking me that I decided not to post the picture I considered. I used less than 25 words to describe it to you, imagine what the picture would’ve said…

Very early this morning, as I am getting out of bed, Josiah starts talking: Mom, I just saw a spider ant.
M: Where?
J: Right here, but he went away. He’ll be right back. He just went to get dressed.
M: Ok. (leaving to go to the kitchen)

A few minutes later…
J: He’s dressed. There’s the ant spider!
M: What?
J: Come see. Look!
M: (coming and seeing that it’s a centipede, then grabbing the nearest book and smashing this bug.) Oh!
J: What’s that? Oh, he pooped. That’s him poop.

Later in the day, Josiah and Eila are on the porch letting ants tickle their arms.
They open the door and come running in.
Josiah, proudly announces: An ant went up my nose!
M: What!?!
J: It crawled right up here. (sticking his finger in his nose)
M: Did it come out?
J: Yeah!
M: Good. How did it feel?
J: Tickles. Him was trying to eat all the boogers.

Not too long ago, I cleaned the windows – inside and out. I know, I know, this isn’t really blogworthy info, but I’ve never actually cleaned all the windows before, so this is big news. And, I didn’t even do most of it. I had my kids do it. Well, actually they were begging me to clean them, so I finally gave in.

They sprayed my mixture of white vinegar and water in a dollar store spray bottle all over and mostly rubbed it clean. It only took about 30 minutes and now we’re all set for the next eight years.

Systems of organization used to be my forte, but now I feel like I’m in a perpetual whirlwind of piles and things to do. And yet, I choose not to do most of those things piled up and waiting to be done…

Today, my excuse was that the weather was too nice, so we had to go outside and play. The same will be true tomorrow. We are playing and growing and learning and sometimes doing the other stuff.

I like to think that I’ve changed in some way and matured – choosing to do the important over the urgent, but I still like to control everything and one day I hope that I’ll have it all under control too without doing any of the work…

I talk about sharing a lot during my day. For the most part, we all share pretty well. But, the kids apparently are no good at not sharing.

Eila got a stomach bug last Wednesday and by Sunday afternoon our house was a hazardous waste zone. All five of us were sick and feeling lousy. Unfortunately, Josiah got a nasty cold at the same time so he was coughing and running a fever in addition to his stomach flu. The next day, TJ had a fever and lots of cold symptoms and of course, the following day, Eila joined her brothers with a cold virus. Eila found it very funny to cough on my head. She was cracking herself up until she saw that I was not laughing…

On Monday, I will be fulfilling my civic duty and reporting downtown for jury duty. I am most distressed about this. I am still mostly exclusively nursing, since TJ doesn’t really eat any solids (although he does seem to like guacamole, pinto beans, and pancakes, so hopefully he won’t cry too much from hunger). I am really disappointed in this clear NO answer from God in my request to not go. I shouldn’t be surprised since every other avenue that I pursued (yes, I talked to my dr and this already a delay from last year’s summons) in getting out of this came up empty, but still I am. I’m also irritated at myself for being so selfish and ungrateful since jury duty is something that I should be proud to do, to serve in this simple way. My thoughtful husband tried to encourage me to recognize that I have something to learn from this all. I suppose he is right, again.

Some people seem to be big fans of a certain TV show that I personally find to be interesting, but far too disturbing and unresolved at every turn to enjoy. Brian and I watched the first season a while back and then decided to give it another chance since so many of our friends and family are addicted. I definitely enjoyed the one-hour recap better than I would’ve watching the entire 5 seasons. Am I the only one?

are good for all sorts of things:
-making noise (LOTS of noise!)
-jumping on
-learning to share and take turns
-mastering cooperation & teamwork
-teasing
-teaching survival skills (how to fight off the big, bad toy stealer)
-entertaining on boring car rides
-torturing on car rides
-blaming each other
-hugging
-dressing up & pretending
-making messes (LOTS of messes!)

At least, that’s what they’re good for today in our house.

My house smells so good right now, like warm honey and almonds. I think that there are few things better than homemade treats. My favorite sweets include freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls and granola. I couldn’t wait until breakfast and had a bowl while it was still warm!
Here’s the recipe:
3-1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups almonds, smashed/cut in pieces
1/4 cup shredded coconut
small handful of brown sugar (about 2 T. probably)
1/4 cup honey and a little extra
1/4 cup oil
Mix together, then spread on cookie sheet and bake at 250 F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Stir occasionally while cooling to prevent clumping.

But I’m definitely getting older. I cannot believe that today we celebrated my daughter’s fifth birthday. She really is growing up and while I am very much a part of her every waking moment, I’m afraid that somehow I’m missing it. The days are often a blur of household chores, shopping, or even fun outings, but still going so quickly as to all jumble together. I am so grateful for Eila and all her spunk. Her name is perfect for her and her joie de vivre. She is sensitive and smart with a laugh that makes everyone around join in. It is my great privilege to be the one who kisses her scrapes and bruises, who sings her lullabies and tickles her until she begs for mercy, who stops her bossing her brothers around and teaches her to set the table, who reads to her without end and loves her even more than that. Happy birthday to my sweet baby girl, who will always be my little girl – just like she promised me this week!