Livspiration

This week, like many other kids at my school, I have the common cold.  I am less than pleasant.  Believe me, I have my days like everyone else.  My voice sounds like I swallowed an old man's voice box.  Yeah, it is that bad.  I am usually a cheery ball of Claireness, but not lately.  To make matters even worse, I try not to cry at school, but I let the tears flow for the dumbest reasons these past two days.

Often times, I feel like I am the friend who helps people through tough times.  I've had my share of rough times, and I wish my friends would have been there a little more.  However this week, only one friend really pulled me out of my selfish, sickly little bubble of grossness: Livi.

Livi and me last year
Photo Courtesy of Mama Claire

Livi is the kind of person who makes you laugh when you want to cry, smile when you are frowning, and giggle at the silly things in life.  I appreciate Livi so much.  She's one of the few people who actually looks on the bright side of life 99.9% of the time. Whenever I am around her, I have a smile on my face.  

Today, Livi was the one who really cared enough to try and bring me out of my awful mood.  To be honest, I don't even know if she was aware that she made me so much better today.  In science and at lunch, Livi was simply herself.  She asked me if I was okay, and even with my response of a thumbs-down, she made me laugh and have a good time. 

99.765658% of the time I am super positive and Claire-y.  But, I am not a "Livi."  Livi just wears a smile and carries it everywhere.  One of her most admirable qualities is how humble she is.  Livi never brags about herself, but there are so many things she could brag about.  For starters, she was moved up to VARSITY lacrosse because her defensive skills are out of this world.  Also, she an amazing ski racer.  She is so dedicated to ski racing and works so hard to be the best she can be.  (And just so everyone knows, she will finish her slalom race this weekend and do a really amazing.)  

I was just perusing her blog and game across a post called, "Healing."  Everything she write is so inspirational and heartfelt.  After reading her entire post, this was my favorite section, 

"Many times in everyone's lives, bad things happen.  

Things that we wish we could avoid, things that we 

wish we could go back and erase.  We look back on the moments 

and the days before these times and think, how could I not 

have seen it?  More times than not with these situations, it seems 

like there were a hundred signs of what was going to

 happen, a hundred signs that we just failed to see.  The truth is 

though, that bad things happen to everyone.  The only truth that we fail

to see is that all we can to is try to heal." 

Overall, I love Livi like a sister.  Every day I learn something from her, and I am honestly inspired.  She's one of my best friends, and I wish I could be more like her.  Livi's energy is so spunky and kind, and by just writing this post, I've become happier.  Thanks Liv :).  

The Hand Swiper

Harry Potter Books 1-7
Photo Courtesy of Lunch.

Ah, Smiley and Pierre; the most pleasant children to babysit.  Most of the time I enjoy watching them. This particular night, however, was absolutely terrible.

It all started off with smiles and happy little boys eating dinner.  Soon after, they gravitated to the television for their two shows.  After burying me under blankets and pillows, they calmed down and watched tv.  I have learned to hate children's shows with a passion.  Honestly, I am sending out an apology to every family that watches Martha Speaks with their children.  I hate that show the most.

When the torture ended, I said to the boys, "Okay, it's time to brush your teeth!  Whoever goes fastest wins!!!!!!"

Both boys responded, "No....  We want to play a game!"

They do this every time I am over.  No parent plays a game at 8:00 because it makes them crazy.  I would be more than happy to play a game before tv, but they never ask to then.

Their eyes filled with tears, but Pierre, being the mature one, stopped himself from shedding tears and went downstairs.  But, at the bottom was Smiley blocking the path.  Too much went down quickly after, so just imagine a lot of chaos.

At last, things had settled down, and it was time to read Harry Potter (not sure which book number).

With sweet little eyes, Pierre asked, "Can I read the first page?"

Being as tired as I was, I said that he was more than welcome to read.  This did not settle well with Smiley.  He started yelling at Pierre and me about how bad he was at reading and la la la la.  Pierre and I tried to ignore him as he started the first page, but he was swiping his hand across the words.  I told Smiley that I would take a marble out of his jar if he didn't stop right away.  Well, he didn't listen.

Remember when I said that I needed to work on following through with punishment?  I did this time.  I walked up stairs and took a marble out of his jar which caused A TON of tears to spill.

Fortunately, I was able to make peace with the boys and we read a few pages of the book.  By time they were asleep, I was quite exhausted.

***********************************************************************************

Now that you have read that story, I hope that you can remember these three things:

1. Sometimes chaos in unavoidable, but you have to role with punches and be the calm one. 
2. Play games before tv.
3. Follow through with punishments. 

Back with the Boys

It's has been a while since I have babysat Pierre and Smiley.  If I am can remember correctly my last time was on New Years Eve.  It was a long, long, long, night.

This past Saturday I was at their house from 5:15-10:45.  I wouldn't call it a late night considering New Years was around TWO IN THE MORNING.  Good grief how long can a person really party???  Anyway, I prefer getting there around 6:30 because the boys are in bed by eight at the latest.  This time, they were barely starting to eat dinner.

Rainbow (their mom) said to me before leaving, "If they don't finish their dinner, no dessert.  They've been pretty naughty tonight..."

Mama Claire at age 5-ish.
Why can't everyone just take a nap once in a while?
(Photo by my mother.)

Well, thanks for sharing.  Truly, I appreciate being forewarned that my evening will be less than pleasant. NOT!!!  After being told this, Pierre was acting like a joyous little boy.  He recited French numbers, finished his meal, and even sat in his chair.  Thank you for making my job just a little easier.  On the other hand, Smiley was having one of those bad days we all have once in awhile.  Let's just say that I don't really want to discuss the rest of dinner.

Later on we played Temple Run and then slowly gravitated toward the television.  This particular night they selected two shows that I don't really remember.  Once the shows were finished, I used my new tactic and said, "BOYS! Whoever can brush their teeth the fastest wins!"  Pierre listened but Smiley was not as convinced of this "winning."

I don't really remember how this all started, but Smiley started screaming and then threw a blanket at my face (check that off the bucket list).  This really put me over the edge.

I got up and said, "Smiley, that is enough!  You're going to bed without a book."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he furiously screamed at me.

At that moment, I realized I had made a blind threat.  There was no way in heck he was going to quietly and obediently go to sleep.  You can probably imagine how the rest of this went.  I don't think I have ever felt so bad for parents before.  Now I know how annoying it is to make a threat and realize that it will not and cannot happen without twenty times more chaos.  I do feel a bit of shame because now Smiley knows that he won't be punished for poor behavior.  Lesson learned.

In reflection, my new goal is to followthrough with what I say.  I will let you know how this goes at a later date....