Picnic Table Talk: Summer Highlights

Here is the highlight of our summer – who, appropriately, turns one month old today:

We also enjoyed visits from my parents, a cousin and uncle of Mike’s, two of my brothers, and two of my sisters. Emma asks nearly every day when Aunt K will come stay with us again. We spent hours outside, and plan to continue to do so through the fall. I got some sewing projects done. I picked up some bins to use as workboxes at Walmart last night (they currently have sets of 5 for $3.50, if anyone else is looking for them). We aren’t following the standard workbox system; rather I plan to fill the bins with activities Emma and Johnny can complete with minimal supervision. The bins will be within their reach, and they can choose which bin to pull out.

I had Lily and Johnny simultaneously napping yesterday afternoon (first time ever), so I pulled out my sewing machine only to find that the project I started right before Lily is born is not where I thought it was. Nor is it in any of the other logical places I may have put it. So, I have some motivation to do some major reorganizing of our closets and cabinets, which needed doing anyhow. Now to find the time…

Lessons learned this summer:

• Do not put away sewing projects while in labor. You may not put them where you thought you did.
• Do not attempt to stop at a playground with a 4-week-old baby, a 20-month-old, and a 3.5-year-old if you left your baby carrier at home.
• Do not go out without your baby carrier or stroller, even if it is just to meet your husband for lunch. You may want to stop at a playground on the way home and will wish you had the baby carrier. You will also wish you had the baby carrier and/or stroller when you arrive at your husband’s work and find your toddler has fallen asleep and refuses to wake up.
• Indoor climbing toys from grandparents are a lifesaver if you have a toddler who loves to climb, particularly if said child attempts to scale very tall furniture in the absence of climbing toys.
• Grandparents are wonderful.
• So are aunts and uncles.
• So are friends – particularly those who drop by at 1pm with a surprise dinner just when you were starting to realize that your sick children were going to remain high maintenance and that you had no idea what to cook that night.

MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.