Parenting Tips

So I'm finally getting the hang of this parenting thing. I thought I'd share some pointers:

• When your child asks where his toy is (and you KNOW that you just sold it because toys are taking over your house and you can't stand it anymore), pretend that you have NO IDEA what he is talking about. You can even explain that "this is why we have to be more careful with our toys". Eventually he'll give up and go looking for the toy himself or find something else to play with.
• When you are doing dishes after dinner and your 2 year old is "helping", you can save your breakable dishes by asking them to bring their dishes into the kitchen. Food will ALWAYS end up on the floor. That is when you ask them to let the dog in and put them in charge of guiding the dog to the right area. By the time they herd the dog (who, by the way, is scared to death of being "petted" by the child) to where the food is, you will have finished your dishes and the floor will be "clean" again. Success!
• When your wonderful spouse mentions in front of the children that he wants to take them to a movie at 9 PM, don't be the bad guy. Complain that you are really tired, but if that is what everyone wants to do you'll play along. Walk a few steps behind him and the kids into the movie theatre so that all the people who see young kids out late will give dirty looks to your husband and leave you out of it. Also, negotiate that all potty runs and discipline will need to be done by him since this was his spectacular idea. When the movie is over and the kids are happy (and ready for bed), remind your husband how tired you are. Never admit you had a good time as this will eliminate all chances of going to bed early while he gets put in charge of the bed time routine with the kiddos.

See! Nothing to it!

Happy Birthday Aaron and Marylyn!!!

This weekend we traveled to Austin for a birthday weekend! We had so much fun!!! We ate at the Hula Hut on Friday which was perfect for the little guys after a long ride in the car. There was a long wait, but plenty of space for them to run around (and plenty of people to chase them). Saturday we went to see Tanner play polocrosse. Being out in the country is relaxing for me so I knew I would have a good time. I had been trying to convince Eli and Jax to let Tanner ride around with them for 2 weeks. Eli was firm about NOT wanting to ride. Jaxon told me that he would, but when Tanner came riding up to us and Jaxon wouldn't even look at him I had my doubts. An hour later he was on the horse. I have no idea how long Tanner was riding around with him, but Jaxon wasn't ready to get off when I pulled him down. Eli didn't seem bothered by the idea that Jaxon got to ride and he didn't. Maybe next time...

The birthday dinner was fun. I thought we were in for the typical family get together (which is large, but just because the family is large). I was surprised to find out that several friends would be showing up. We had such a great time! We had BBQ overload, then cake overload, then cobbler, lots of friends and fun. By nine we were all ready to fall into bed, but in true Douthit style we kept going. We will be traveling back to Austin next month for more birthday fun (Daddy, me, Jax, and Mom all have birthdays within a 2 week period). I can't wait!

For now I'm going to have some fun settling into my cake decorating class and my new dance class. Ya, you saw that right. They don't go well together at all. The cake decorating thing is something I've always wanted to learn. The dance class is my comfort zone and I still LOVE it like I did when I was a kid. It is sort of a dance aerobics class, but the teacher is great. The class is really fun. There are about 70 people in the class. The teacher sticks to mostly hip hop and latin. I've already gotten to know a few of the women. None of us are anything alike, but I tend to like situations like that where I'm around a ton of people and everyone is different. I think all the people of this class stick together well because by the end of the class we've seen the best and worst of everyone : )

The Grandparents' House

We LOVE going to Houston. This past weekend we went to Kingwood to visit Brian's grandparents. They are two of the most beautiful people on this planet. Gene was a doctor until he retired a few years ago and Doris stayed home and raised 5 children and 17 grandkids. They were missionaries in Korea. I probably only know a small part of their struggles, but here is what I found out this weekend. They would have liked to have one more baby (going for the 3 boys and 3 girls), but Doris had deep vein thrombosis with her last pregnancy and they decided to stop while they were ahead. Gene told us about the procedure they had back in those days... ugh, I'm not good with that type of stuff so just thinking about it makes me shiver. If you really want to know what happened look it up. Several of the cousins and Gene had a discussion about spanking. Gene piped up and told us that his mom used to keep something to whip them with in the kitchen on her water heater (so that it was warm when she wanted to use it). Knowing Gene now, I can't imagine that she ever used it on him, but then again maybe her methods are what created such an amazing person. I wish I had a water heater in my kitchen to warm up a paddle, but these days that would probably get me arrested.

Doris is really submitting to alzheimers now. This breaks my heart on so many levels. She was a super hero. I'm totally not kidding about that either. When I married into the family she was cooking 3 meals a day for HOARDS of people, and she was a fantastic cook. If you left your room for 2 minutes she'd sneak in and find all your dirty clothes. Before you realized they were gone, the clothes would be folded perfectly on your bed (she did this for the entire hoard too). She was able to keep all the million Douthit children in line with just a single look. Both Gene and Doris have perfected the art of parenting. The grandkids might not listen to a word that their parents say, but if you tell them that the grandparents will be disappointed in them even the surliest teenager in the worst of adolescence will stop and rethink their actions. I am still studying up on how they set up this system and I'll let you know if I figure out their secret.

Anyway, many of the Douthit cousins gathered at the grandparents house this weekend (Colin, Cory, Kevin, Christian and Kendra, Courtney and Dean, Kristin, Brian and me, and Eli and Jax - unless I'm forgetting someone). Eli and Jaxon were in heaven. So many people were willing to play with them and give them everything they wanted for two whole days. They didn't throw a single fit while we were there, and they fell asleep immediatly as we drove off. No matter how many times I go to the grandparents house, I always feel a little bit like I'm in a tv show from the 50s. Everyone gets along SO well that it is almost scary. Most of the family is happy, loving, and energetic so it is a huge break from "real life" when we go there. It seems like our already ginormous family is growing too! I have a guess on which cousin will get engaged next, but we'll have to see. There are at least 3 couples in the race although I'm not sure all 3 would admit to it. I'm so glad that I married the oldest cousin and my kids will hopefully experience this enough as small children to make an impression.

Oh, on a final note. I'm SOOOO mad at myself. We are camera people so we have two cameras and a camcorder on us MOST of the time. This weekend we went to a basketball game to see Kevin play. He scored 5 - 3 pointers in the first five minutes of the game and another 2 point shot right after that. I had my camera (with a video function on it) IN MY HAND! Our camcorder was right by Brian's feet. We didn't get any of it on video (we did get still shots). I can't BELIEVE I did that, but I was having so much fun cheering with the rest of the family that it didn't occur to me until it was over. Sigh...

Life is sometimes stranger than fiction

My kids love to play pretend these days. Sometimes we'll "drive" to McDonald's and order cookies, sweet tea, and toys. Last night the boys decided on their own that they were going to have a picnic. They got a blanket and spread it on my bed room floor. The talked about what kind of food they had and were sharing it with each other. They occasionally would get up and share some pretend food with me. I pretty much eat whatever they offer. Then their dad came in the room. When they offered him a cheeseburger he turned it down and requested a steak. Jaxon was more than willing to play along he turned around and grabbed at the air, turned back to his dad and handed him some "steak". Brian complained that the steak had clearly not been cooked long enough since Jaxon was able to prepare it so fast. He made Jaxon cook the steak and mash some potatoes to go with it. After Jaxon finally got done with all that, Brian asked Eli to put some cheese on the potatoes. After all this, the very serious cook and waiter didn't even get a tip.

On another note, I went to the Galleria at lunch yesterday. I just found out that while I was there an out-of-state diamond broker was stabbed and robbed in the parking lot. Apparently, some men from out of the country have been doing this in several major cities in the U.S. They parked their car behind his, pulled him out of his car, took his clothes off and stabbed him, and got away with up to $1 Million in diamonds. They switched plates on the get away car too. Doesn't this sound like some kind of tv show?!?! Strange to think it was happening where I was and I had no clue at all. I did get some really cute kid's clothes though. There is a great sale at Children's Place right now!

Where to start?

It seems everyone I know has a blog now. I mainly want to use this as a way to record funny stories about my kids, but I'm sure I'll throw other things in since I'm not the most focused conversationalist (or writer). I am calling this Marci Monthly because I'm HOPING that I will write at least that often.

Eli (4) and Jaxon (2) are big boys, but lately I've been so taken back by how grown up they are getting. Eli can do a lot of things for himself now, and he does things for his brother too. He is a fantastic big brother and is protective of other little kids too. Jaxon speaks to me in full sentences and we have some of the funniest conversations.

It seems as if life is flying by. In the past two weeks we've been to the Dallas World Aquarium, the circus, several parks, restaurants, had two different visits from family members, and who knows what else. The kids are in constant state of motion and learning. My kids can remember everything! It takes me a minute of concentration to remember what I ate for lunch. Three months ago at Christmas we created a slideshow of photos and set it to the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. My kids love classical music and often request classical songs when we are driving around. Last night Jaxon wanted to hear this song. When it started playing the boys started talking to me about all the pictures we used 3 months ago in a slide show: Uncle Aaron's blue tongue, Aunt Krissy is sad because she fell in the mud, Granddaddy got a big hot dog, etc. It blows my mind how fast they take these details in and how long they can retain them. Kids are truly amazing.

That is another reason for me writing here. My kids remember SO much, but I don't! Papaw, my dad's dad asked me on Easter if I planted my garden. He told me how his parents and siblings would plant the garden every year on Good Friday. He and my other grandfather have slightly differing opinions on when to plant and harvest, but I would like to remember these tips just in case I develop an interest at some point in the future. I love hearing stories about how things were done in his childhood. I've lost both of my grandmothers so half of these stories are gone.