Friday, September 21, 2012

We Survived Phase II

No pics of the aftermath yet, but we did survive the day and the boys had a great time and are already loving their new room even though we've only made it through the painting, furniture rearranging and locking it all down tighter than a drum phase.

Trust me when I say those things alone were a tremendous undertaking for one day.

The boys' room at 10 o'clock this morning:



And no, we didn't paint ill-formed clouds on the walls at the last minute – that's just some of the spackling paste we needed to cover up a years' worth of wear on their room. Really, we only moved in here last August and the room was freshly painted at the time. We definitely went with a much more durable paint/paint finish this time around – fingers crossed that it fares better. I love how the finished result turned out.

In case you were wondering how this ended up, the boys were so excited this morning that it was finally "Fries-day" we couldn't get out the door fast enough. Fortunately, the Happy Meals delivered everything they promised and in case you need proof: 


They are definitely still "lovin' it™".

• • • • • • • 

I had meant to include something else as a part of last night's post, but it was getting late and I knew we had a busy day ahead of us so I wisely decided to go to bed instead of staying up late for the sake of a video only their Mother could love.

And by love I mean at some point in the distant future where Grackles are long since a thing of the past. Last May I posted a best/worst list of the things my boys say and the #1 spot for worst things ever was about the word du jour that they drive me up the wall with.

Word du jour is a bit of a misnomer. While some words only last a day, others go on for a week or more. And in the case of Grackles, some are also accompanied by actions that would send even the most patient among us around the bend.

I've been accused of being patient, but Grackles threw me around the bend a few times this week if I'm being honest. I don't often raise my voice – at least not to the level I did this week – but indeed my kids occasionally turn me into something a little more than Stern Mommy™. Not that it has any effect particularly – but just in case you were wondering, it happens.

I say that all as a preface for Grackles: The Video in case it sounds like I'm taking it all in stride and letting the kids run wild. The main reason I'm sounding good humored in the video is because they aren't actually doing Grackles and also because I wanted to get a sample of "word du jour" for posterity.

A train could have driven through the kitchen at the time and neither of my boys would have batted an eye – when they're in their own little zone they're very much in it. Doing anything more than letting the camera roll and exchanging a few comments here and there would have been a fool's errand, so I just sat back and went with it.

If it doesn't seem that bad (and it probably won't seem all that bad since it's under 3 minutes long), please use your imagination and pretend you've listened to this video for a solid week non-stop.

A little bit grating then, yes?

For what it's worth, I don't often take videos of my boys when they're out of control for real – partly because who has the time or the hands for that? – but mostly because they are really good kids. I just wish they'd ditch the word du jour already, especially since every single one of them is just code for getting up to no good. That said, it's the relentless nature of word du jour and not the word du jour itself that eventually drives one over the edge.

As things currently stand, we have been 98% Grackle-free for the past 48 hours – and their new room is about to become 100% Grackle-proof. I'm not taking any chances on the other 2%. 

Trust me when I say, you wouldn't either.

Oy.

- L.

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