If we could only vacuum the lawn poop . . .

I'm watching my first recorded Nanny 911 and I already have my house rules written up. Just a few basics: no hitting or kicking, respect each others space and things, and no hurtful words. I think those will do for now. I'm going to put them up on the wall and will be using it for myself, too. I might even put together a bit of a schedule. Or maybe not. I believe schedules are good for stability and transitioning from activities throughout the day, but I'm also hesitant because I believe they have the ability to take away the kids' abilities to adapt to change and one might put a bit of a kink in our spontaneous adventures.

I read an article a while back that's stuck with me regarding the issue of scheduling. I think it was in Newsweek (which I read fairly religiously before kids . . . somehow those issues don't seem so vital to me anymore). It said that kids entering the workplace are having issues with asserting themselves, taking charge of their jobs, making the decisions that need to be made, adapting to issues that arise, etc. Apparently, so many kids are raised with a specific, preset routine, they are not able to make decisions and take ownership of themselves when the time comes. The article really scared me and I've thought about it a lot over the last couple years. I think it relates to the self-regulation article which was also such an eye-opener for me.

On a more fun note, I ordered myself a Dyson vacuum (and an ice cream cake!) for my birthday, this last Friday. The vacuum got here yesterday - wee!! I got a great deal on a refurbished one from a dealership through ebay. It looks snazzy and works like a charm! You don't even have to adjust the height; it automatically raises and lowers to what it senses. No snafoos between the tile and the shag rug and you wouldn't believe all the nasties it picked up. Our carpets were professionally cleaned (with a big waxing looking machine and everything) before we moved in a month and a half ago, so I was particularly thrilled to fill so much of the canister. I can't wait for the floors to get dirty again. Ok, I won't go that far, but vacuuming will be a lot more fun from this point on.

While I was vacuuming the upstairs with my new Dyson, the boys were working on a project of their own: pouring soft face powder all around the bathroom and nicely placing my toiletries in the master toilet. I took a picture that I'll place on the blog so you can see what a lovely masterpiece our toilet became.

Night before last we were playing in the back yard at dusk. Rick was figuring out something with the sprinklers and Nate decided he wanted to strip down and run through them. It was really cool out, so it didn't sound too appealing to me. However, Nate went for it and it generated a lot of laughs from us as we watched his bare, skinny body glowing in the dark, running through sprinklers. I told him "Nate, you don't need a diaper, you can just pee in the back yard like the dogs!". Sure enough he started whizzing in the grass, thrilled at the sight of the spray going left, right, and wherever his little hips could direct it. I turned around to get something and when I looked back thirty seconds later, he had pooped in the grass! He had somehow gotten some on his foot and was smearing it on the patio - gross! We couldn't help but getting a good chuckle before we hosed him down, groady little kid!