MacGyver has nothing on moms

A couple of months ago, each of the school aged kids needed treats on a particular day. These were not your run of the mill treats. They needed to answer to a continent. Z needed treats that spoke of Asia. I made Krispie treats dipped in dark chocolate with jelly starburst centers to look like salmon rolls. CW needed European treats. I made sugar cookies with chocolate iced centers to look like chocolate crepes. CE needed Antartican treats. I made round sugar cookies with cream cheese frosting: snow balls. Bam just needed halloween themed treats for his preschool class. I made 13 spider cookies.

The kids' school values creativity (if you hadn't already guessed from the theme intensive treat needs). This year already, we have made a pyramid (complete with mummy, Cleopatra, jars for organs (I don't remember what they're called--go read your National Geographic--and workers on the outside) out of Legos. We have made a scene from Ratatouille out of Model Magic, a Hopi Adobe dwelling with toothpick ladder also out of Model Magic and a diorama about the life of Geronimo out of Legos. This is in addition to the solar system model and the more run of the mill book reports and time lines. And we're only half way through the year!

I cover up scuffs in my black boots with a Sharpie marker and my brown boots with brown cake eyeliner. I have used a clean diaper to soak up spilled orange soda in the car. Baby Wipes clean up almost anything.

But these outward signs of a mother's creativity are the easy stuff. The really tricky stuff, where mother-creativity rubber hits the road, is how we actually parent. How do I get my kids to practice their piano enough that they actually learn to enjoy making music and developing a skill? How do I get them to stop fighting with their siblings long enough to feel the love? Thing is, this part is really not so much about MacGyver tricks, but about listening and being there.

Shortly before I (probably) broke my toe, I was frustrated with the build up in muscle lactic acid that my boys' seemed to be displaying (crazed behavior, inability to keep from jumping, fighting, running everywhere). So, on a Saturday morning when DH would be home, I told both of the big boys that they were going running with me--one at a time. There was grumbling, but there was a little bit of excitement there under the surface: Running is something mom does alone, or with other adults, but not with kids.

CW came first. We took off at a reasonable 6 yr old pace. I told him he could choose long and flat(ter) or short(er) but hilly. He chose the hillier option. We made our way up a somewhat steep hill which he immediately said was too hard and too steep. But we kept at it; his muscles warmed up and he started to have fun. He started to have so much fun that when we reached my predetermined stopping place, he wanted to continue and so we did for a bit longer. Now CW begins things grudgingly. He does not like to do things that might be difficult. But once he begins a task and can get to a bit of gravy, he doesn't want to stop. He was this way with reading--hated to do it, it was laborious, just too hard. But slowly, he has begun to see the patterns, to find the love of story and he is slowly becoming unstoppable.

Next was Z. He too chose the hillier option. But he wanted to race. This kid must have a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers because when we were sprinting, I could NOT beat him. He said I was letting him win, but I wasn't. He is FAST! But, within minutes of finishing the sprinting, he wanted to quit. He had no capacity for pacing and the designated finish line was worlds away, worlds beyond his ability to keep going. Z loves to read. He reads every book club selection within hours of receiving it (handy he has a good memory and can remember what he reads until the next month's meeting). But he is quickly daunted by "long" books (whatever is long at the moment) and just wants to quit. I have to coax him into just reading a chapter, or another page, or some digestible bite that will hook him so that his sprinting tendencies can be overridden in favor of the love of story. We're still working on an answer to the piano practice dilemma. That's no sprint; it has endurance race written all over it. Currently, his eligibility for screen usage (TV, movies, Wii, computer time) is tied to successful piano practice. Some days this works, some days it doesn't. MacGyver mom hasn't figured this one out yet.

I loved this running Saturday with my boys. I had great plans to do it every Saturday but a broken toe, holidays and bad weather have stalled those plans for now. The one universal thing about both boys and their runs with me that Saturday morning was that they both wanted to hold my hand as we ran. And so we did. I ran hand in hand with my boys for a mile or so one Saturday morning, which taught me that, at least for another moment or so, they are little, they are my boys and they, despite all their beginning protestations of maturity, have not passed the point where it is cool to hold hands with your mom. I know that day is coming sooner than I can imagine, so I'll hold on to this one for as long as I can!