Now "Blogging" and NOT heading to jail

How do I start out my very first blog? Why am I even starting this? Curiosity, I suppose! Seems like a fun way to share the little stories of my life that make me chuckle and perhaps put a smile on the faces of those of whom I most care! Perhaps I am a bit lonely now that all but 1 of my 4 bordering neighbors have flown south for the winter.... not that I regularly conversed with them, but the darkness of their homes makes it seem as though I live in the very very north woods.... now really that far, I guess. Now for the fun to begin.... Story #1: Friday, on the way home from school, driving over the UWEC bridge over the Chippewa River (to give you a COMPLETE visual), I realize Charles in standing up, very proud of himself, ready to jump into the front seat of the car. Remaining "calm" and pulling over at the first possible right, I said, "Charlie, you HAVE to sit in your car seat! It's the law. Mommy could get arrested if the police saw you!" (Thinking the scare tactic would "suddenly" work with my boys!) My oldest, Max, thinks for 1/2 second and then requests, "Mom, could you call Dad to come pick us up and bring us home so we don't have to go to jail with you?" Wow, nice to know that it would be just NO BIG DEAL for my boys if I had to head to the slammer! Guess my boys are definitely secure:) Story #2: As for Charles, I felt like I was living in the midst of "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" today. When I picked him up at school, he was, in fact, finishing a cookie. Attempting to encourage 1:1 communication with him during as we pull out of his school parking lot to pick up big brother, Max, I said, "Did you like your cookie, Charlie?" Charlie replied in his slushy speech, "Yesh... I'm hungry!" I "calmy" told him we'd get a treat at home in "just a minute." (How many times do I use THAT phrase each day?) One block from the school driveway, and Charlie gets bothered by his runny nose. Being the ever-prepared mom that I am, I have NO tissues in the car. Imagine that! Realizing the nose must get wiped, or this will be 1 LONG car ride, I hand him a basic black scarf that I usually throw around my neck half-hazardly on my way out the door each morning. IT CAN BE WASHED! Charlie wipes his nose... Yeah! However, the soft scarf must remind him of his blankie, because within 30 seconds, he is requesting his blankie.... I tell him AGAIN that it's at home, and we'll get it in "just a minute." (He will have a very INACCURATE concept of what "just a minute" is, I know!) And then, the blankie must remind him of his "boppy" (nickname for the currently-being-phased-out pacifier). Again, not in the car. But this time, I don't tell him "just a minute," because he and I both know that unless it is a VERY special circumstance, such as a MAJOR meltdown, Charlie will not get his boppy until bedtime:) By the time we get to the Max's school car line, Charlie is out of objects to request and is, regretfully instead, repeating his mother and telling the car in front of her to "hurry up!" Yes, slight rage and tension in the school car line... part of it stems from my daily fear of the teacher giving me a less than stellar report of my Max's behavior! So far, so good THIS WEEK! Someday, I am going to remember to pack a snack for the boys to eat during the 10-minute car ride home from Max's school. Otherwise, they inevitabley resort to poking each other, grabbing each other's belongings, and by State St. hill, we are in an all out crying fest by at least 1 of them. And Mike wonders why I would like to resort to a minivan... the ability to distance the boys from each other every now and then has the potential to do wonders for my sanity! What's really funny is that when we pull into the garage, Max says to Charlie, "You are my BEST brother ever, Charlie!" Guess this is what family is all about!