Monday, July 18, 2011

An Afternoon at The Roses

Well it seems that another blogless week has gone by. Where does the time go? In the meantime, summer has been rolling merrily along, or maybe it has been rolling around on the floor, hitting its sister. Either way.

We are now in our 3rd week of kaytanah, otherwise known as the second to last week of camp, or the final full week, since next Tuesday marks the last day of camp. Then it will be Camp What Are We Doing NOW? for two weeks, then VACATION! followed by another week of Camp WAWDN.

Yes, kaytanah is sadly very short in this country. And the children are not in tzaharon, so their day is very short as well. They've been entertaining themselves in Tzaharon Shel Ima. Here's how a typical day goes:

1:10 I walk in the door with Yaakov.

1:10 - 7:00 Yaakov eats.

1:30 - 4:00 Yaakov wanders around the apartment, sucking his thumb with Blue Blanket over his head, completely uninterested in any of the hundreds, nay thousands, of age-appropriate activites we have lying around. (Unless it's a designated Movie Day. On those days, Yaakov sits, sucking his thumb with Blue Blanket by his side, glued to the tiny portable DVD screen. But only Yaakov fully understands the complexities of movie-day designation.)

1:30 I put Nadav in for a nap, because everyone, especially Mommy, needs some Quiet Time.

1:45 Ariella walks in.

1:45 - 7:00 Ariella eats.

2:00 - 4:00 Ariella finishes another "Minheret Hazman" book, which is a shame because we were just at the library yesterday and she's now finished her allotted 3 books. (2 for Yaakov, 3 for Ariella. She reads one on the way home from the library, one that night, and one the next day. I exaggerate. But only a little.) I suggest reading an English book. She suddenly decides it's time to cut her nails.

4:00 - 5:30 Time to Do Something. Pool, playdate, buy Nadav shoes (hey, it counts as an outing!) Doing Something usually involves packing a very large bag full of everything, except the one thing we desperately needed.

5:30 Ariella sighs dramatically, "What do you want from me??!!!" (The events that precipitated the declaration change from day to day.)

5:45 Nadav climbs on a stepstool (from which the only way down is Falling), eats a fuse bead, tries to escape through an open door, empties the contents of his dresser onto the floor, eats wipes, toddles around the house shrieking (it's his War Cry), gets his fingers caught, tests the theory that the sippy cup is 100% spill-proof (it's not), eats something he found lying around somewhere, and then is very, very quiet because he's busy coloring all over the floor.

At some point, there is dinner. Don't ask me why.

6:00 Yaakov and Ariella get into a screaming/hitting match. Which is amazing, because neither of them started it.

6:15 Something I do or say is "Not Fair."

6:30 Baths, maybe?

6:45 The children sense that bedtime draws nigh. Suddenly, everyone is calm. Pajamas are put on, teeth are brushed, and Yaakov decides he wants to get into an intense game of Cars and Trucks, the same Cars and Trucks he refused to even look at during the afternoon. Ariella sits down quietly to do an art project. Nadav happily plays with blocks and kitchen toys.

So that's a typical day at the Roses. Times and activities are subject to change without notice. Yesterday, for example, I surprised them with Play-Doh. "Why don't I do this more often," thought I, as they entertained themselves happily, making Play-Doh creations. Then I saw the Play-Doh stuck on the floor, their clothes, and a box of seltzer. Nadav was picking off the Play-Doh Yaakov had squished into the table and eating it. And then I remembered why.

8 comments:

Dorona said...

Hatehatehatehate play-doh. Whoever created it was clearly not a parent. It should only be sold to preschools.

Your afternoons seem eerily like mine. Well, except mine are in tzaharon. You are a brave woman to undertake entertaining them every afternoon with this heat.

Anonymous said...

If Blue Blanket gets capitalized, then I think Thumb should as well.

Risa said...

As usual, another funny post. Wow, you deserve the mommy of the year award for all that you do. I can totally empathize with the screaching. It's Elan's forte unless it's something very important, like "Mommy, meek and cookies peaz!" ("Mommy, milk and cookies, please.") I am convinced that the hitting matches are how siblings show their love. (Just you wait until Nadav is old enough to express his love by placing his arm in the way of a big sibling who has just swiped the toy car with which Nadav was happily playing only to run and hide in your skirt when said big sibling retaliates.) And don't even get me started on play-doh.

OneTiredEma said...

I am distraught that your vacation time overlaps exactly with our time of Camp WAWDN. Next year we will have to coordinate better.

Anima said...

I LOVE your posts! Sounds like at my place, only that we have one child less - doesn't really influence the amount of noise and disorder, however.
You should publish all this in a book!

Anonymous said...

Ctayola Model Magic is the answer to play-doh. zero mess- but it's really expensive
http://www.crayola.com/products/splash/model_magic/index.cfm?n_id=58

Gila Rose said...

Dorona - that's the problem - I am not really entertaining them very well....

Momz, as Wife of DADZ, you think EVERYTHING should be capitalized.

Risa - if Elan would like to send some extra words to Nadav, we would really appreciate that.

Tired - next year, you, me, the kids and our tzniut bathing suits, poolside.

Anima - thanks! Look out for my upcoming book on child-rearing, "Leave Me Alone So I Can Read the Paper."

Anon - and probably super-duper expensive in Israel. But sounds interesting....

Kathleen said...

Yes, once in awhile I forget and bring out the playdough. And then cleaning up the mess I remember.
Sounds a lot like the goings on at our house...