Thursday, September 3, 2009

mars vs. venus vs. mars


so yesterday gillian decided she wanted to take some old mags and rip them to shreds to make "paper dolls," which really just amounted to a stack of torn-out women she could shuffle around and play with. i have to say, i am proud of her selection: some brown hair, some blond, some white, some black. i always think it's interesting who she relates to in pictures, and i chalk up her multicultural mindset to attending a preschool where almost every child and teacher was Cuban. maybe it's just the world we live in now, but i certainly wasn't like this when i was a kid, living in rural Arkansas... :)

of course, when aedan saw gillian doing this, he wanted to get in on the action. poor guy: there's not much for him in a real simple mag. so here's what he found to tear out for himself:

**2 pictures of cars (which i had to confiscate this morning because he wouldn't eat his breakfast or get dressed. boo.)
**a super close-up picture of a chocolate chip cookie with macadamia nuts (the boy loves him some chocolate--when he was 3 he sneaked into the kitchen before anyone else was up and took an entire pan of brownies to his bed with him...too bad that story happened before i started blogging!)
**and this picture:


i don't even think this needs an explanation. here's the funniest part: gillian confiscated this from him and crumpled it up. told him that it was inappropriate. ha. i totally have help on the mom front. now, outwardly, i told her "i'm in charge. let me be the mom." but on the inside, i was thinking "yay! i have help watching out for this boy." you KNOW in high school she's going to be saying to him, "what the heck, brother?! you are trying to get with HER?! she's a skank!"

so then i noticed that gillian had a picture separate from her pile of paperdolls:


and then guilt was all over me: does she wish we had these moments more often here? does she think the mom in the picture seems nicer than me? does she look at this and think, "oh, how peaceful. one child. no brothers running around like crazy people, annoying the heck out of me."

of course, she probably just liked the picture. i hate how this mother guilt comes at me constantly. i feel like i'm being battered by it day in and day out. i think, if i could JUST do everything right at least for one whole day, maybe it would help me feel better. but let's face it: we CAN'T. it's just life.

and let's take a look at what the other little mars fellow has been up to:


this pretty much sums up how the last 2 weeks have been since school started. i swear, it's like, "yippee! i turned TWO! now, i'm TERRIBLE!" you know what i mean. he was my source of sweetness, and now, look out. everywhere i turn, he's pushing me away, telling me "mo, mommy, mo" (mo is no in rhys-land). he even goes in his room and shuts the door now to keep me out. seriously.

i have to say, i'm looking forward to a long weekend out of town with dad around to help.

happy labor day! may you not do much laboring and instead do much relaxing!

4 comments:

Hannah said...

That picture probably reminds her of you two! Your gorgeous dark hair, her pretty blond hair... You should ask her to tell you about her pictures. I am always surprised what my kids line of reasoning is. (Hint: usually it is not a line so much as an interesting smattering of loosely related topics...) H

glisteneyes said...

I am 20 months older than my brother and we went to the same school (Hillsborough High School) for two years. It was the first time in our lives that we started making friends and really talking with each other about important things. Driving together to and from school was a very special bonding time for which I am still so grateful. I hope those two will develop a similar relationship of trust and respect as brother and sister.

krystal said...

i had the same experience in high school with my brother as glisteneyes! Driving to school together was the first time we actually talked rather than arguing, it seemed like. I really started to appreciate him as an ally instead of just that an annoying little brother.

Amelia Plum said...

don't feel guilt about that picture, i'd think that's how gillian thinks of your relationship with her - it's really sweet. the part about her confiscating the racy kiera knightley pic from her brother is hysterical. and i totally feel your pain about toddlers suddenly becoming difficult to tolerate just when you though you might be able to catch your breath. it's a very funny and very relatable post.