i find that the only television i can watch is family guy. i watch kid’s programs so often that when i try to watch “real” programming, my interest wanes, the comedies aren’t funny and the dramas are just depressing. perhaps this will change as i watch new CSI’s but i doubt it. although i’m really curious if sarah makes it.

My boy turns eight years old today. In ten short years he will be an official adult capable of joining the military and voting. He is growing so fast that his clothes only fit for a few months and I’m lucky if he can wear his shoes long enough to wear them out. I was sorting his socks earlier and realized they were almost the same size as my own. If he wanted to, he could wear my t-shirts but I don’t think that would go over well in second grade.

Every Monday, he brings home the previous week’s spelling test with all of the words and bonuses spelled correctly and rarely misses more than one answer on any assignment. He is a voracious reader who likes chapter books, non-fiction and reading Sunday’s comics. He reminds me of myself but is a better student. He has other habits similar to mine as well- he likes to sleep in, doesn’t like sports, refuses to ride his bike (I didn’t learn until 3rd Grade) and is sensitive to teasing. He is protective of his baby brothers and sister and watches out for them even though their arrival royally changed his life as an only child. He is good to them even when they try to destroy his toys and books or bite him (oh he yells but he doesn’t hurt them). I am proud of how well he has grown as a person since becoming a brother. It hasn’t been easy on him watching me take Lily to the hospital over and over again. He worries about his sister and dotes on her even though she has taken so much of my attention away from him.

This year has been somewhat hard on him because of his ear surgery last June. He has another ear operation coming up in November and hopefully his ear will look “normal” after that procedure. He has been living with a half formed ear since he was born but this year he had to return to school with a long Z shaped cut in his head and a dark red skin graph scabbed on half of his left ear. He has been self conscious about it but handled it surprisingly well. I wish I had a magic wand that would make the pain go away while transforming his ear to match the other one and granting him hearing in both ears. Even after his cosmetic surgeries, he’ll never hear out of the right ear. He is used to it and speech therapy took care of any language issues while he was in preschool. He takes it all in stride but I know his lack of hearing makes life a bit harder.

I get annoyed with him, he gets annoyed with me but it never lasts very long. I can’t stay mad at him and it kills me when I have to ground him or send him to bed early. Like most boys, he acts tough but is still soft on the inside. If someone hurts his feelings, he crumbles and my heart aches to see him hurt. As cliche as it sounds, my big boy is still very much my baby and I love it when he snuggles up to me on the couch and puts his head on my shoulder. I look at my two year olds and realize they will be his size in the blink of an eye. I want them all to stop growing, stay young and home with me. I want to protect them and appreciate them even when they are clingy, whiny or cranky but I know they will get hurt and sometimes they will bug the heck out of me. Such is life. I just wish it didn’t go so fast.

Eight years ago, he made me a mom. He made my world much smaller and shrank my ego by making me realize I wasn’t the most important person in my life. I have learned as much from him as I have taught him and I’m lucky to be his mother. Happy Birthday buddy, I love you.

We survived the 8th Birthday Bouncing Party Extravaganza. After baking, icing and sprinkling oodles of cupcakes and profusely thanking my Mom for buying and assembling goody bags, we headed off to the massive, indoor, inflatable playground with kids in tow.

The oldest and his fellow 2nd graders bounced and slid down the giant slide over and over again. I still don’t understand how kids have so much energy- just watching them made me tired. Mike and I hauled the triplets to the top and “wheeeeeee’ed” our way down the slide with them. They loved it until they were so worn out that they started running into each other and howling in pain.

The kiddo received many boy-errific hot wheels, transformers and legos. I look forward to stepping on them soon. His actual birthday is Tuesday so I get to infuriate him by saying, “It’s not your birthday yeeeet” when he demands whatever he wants because it is his birthday. 8 years old- where did the time go?

We have leftover cupcakes and snacks from the party- this is bad. I make very tasty cupcakes.

I am listening to NPR’s Democracy Now discussion on the “Jena Six“. The former Jena High School football coach just said he doesn’t think that young black people understand what a noose signifies. He said three nooses hanging from a tree on high school grounds was a joke and the young folks don’t understand- it was just “jesting around in poor taste”

Thousands of people are descending on this small town tomorrow to protest the six being charged with attempted murder for a school yard fight. I would join them if I could.

Things you never want to hear from a mechanic:

“The transmission is utterly and completely destroyed.”

“I’m surprised you got here and didn’t catch on fire”

This is eldest son’s 53 line birthday wish list. I wanted to watch the Emmy’s (why?) so I let him use my laptop to look up “toys he was interested in” and write a list. A page and a half of college ruled, single spaced notebook paper later, is his extensive list. It is heavy on Legos (hate stepping on them) and Star Wars (so proud). He knows he isn’t getting these things. He’ll get presents but this was more of a “If Oprah gave me a shopping spree at Toys R Us, kinda like Supermarket Sweep with toys instead of groceries, this is what I would grab.”

His birthday is next week. Eight years ago, I went to Dave and Buster’s Restaurant with friends and rested a vibrating machine gun on my belly while I shot arcade aliens. The next day, I went into labor but didn’t know it so I sat around watching Ghostbusters 2. The day after that, I was in a training class and in full labor. He wasn’t due for two months and I was a first time Mom who didn’t know she was in labor. I went to the hospital, pumped full of drugs and put on bedrest where I was in and out of labor for a week.

This year, I told him to make me a birthday present because I didn’t want him to buy me anything. This morning, he gave me my present- his school assignment. It is construction paper with a pattern of snakes, elephants, pigs and mice glued to it. It is rather well done but kid, I was in labor with you for seven days. Next year, you have to give me something besides your school work. He didn’t even write Happy Birthday on his work. Now, he would lose his 8 year old mind if I wrote him a note and gave it to him for his birthday. Ooh, maybe I should do that first and make him think that is his present. No, that’s mean. I don’t think he realized he was supposed to think of something himself and hey, he happened to make an animal pattern in math class so…

Did I mention I was in labor with him for a week?

1787 – Members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final draft of the Constitution
1956 – Television was first broadcast in Australia
1972 – The first episode of M*A*S*H premieres on CBS.
1974 – I was born
1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel is released to the Internet

My parents got married.

I was born 367 days later. Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Just found out we are going to be losing one of our favorite nurses which makes me feel a mixed bag of emotions. As the triplets get older, I would like to have a more “normal” situation in our home where we phase out the non familial adults in the house. It is an odd life to have someone in your home taking care of your child. It means that I am sometimes stuck with some nurses that make me uncomfortable in my own home and left with a vague feeling that someone is always watching me. (I always feel like somebody’s watchin me… Ain’t go no privacy whoa oo oooooo). That said, having triplets plus having a child with disabilities and complicated care isn’t “normal” either and I still need help at night and some days. I am incredibly fortunate to have that help paid for and I don’t know how I would have made it through these last 25 months without it. Even the crazy ones were a saving grace in the midst of the repeated sicknesses, surgeries, drama and sleeplessness.

Not to be cliche but the only constant in life is change so I just need to go with the flow and remember to be happy and not worry. Hey another cliche, or maybe just an odd saying, “Worrying is like a rocking chair. It takes energy and gets you nowhere.” Or like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Or something. The other day someone told me it is bad luck to go back into a house right after you left and if you do, you are supposed to go through the same door. I always forget things when leaving and have to go back in the house, usually multiple times, so I don’t think I can embrace this superstition.

On a completely non related note; Everyday, I wish I hadn’t seen the Mythbusters episode testing the theory that germs spray on your toothbrush , if it is out in the open, when you flush the toilet. It turned out that no matter where your toothbrush sits, even in cabinet, it will get more germs on it than you want to consider. Now Mythbusters made me consider it and I curse the show everytime I brush my teeth. Ewwwwwwww.

Hey! It is Joy’s Birthday! Feliz Cumpleanos! Virgos rule.

Mike: “Do you think C. is 53 inches tall yet?”

Me: “So he can ride Batman at Six Flags? I don’t know, he was 51″ at the beginning of summer and I bet he’s grown at least an inch, maybe two.”

Mike: “Guess the only way to find out is to take him to Six Flags”

Pause

Me: “OR! You could try a tape measure!”

Mike: “Oh, well I guess there is that.”