Family Friday (vol. 64): Sisterhood and Podcasts

I think one of the most enjoyable parts of parenting is hearing what others have to say about your children, especially the ones who have the privilege (and chore!) of spending so much time with them. Without you around. Like…teachers.

This week, I ran into Shea’s teacher, Mrs. Tina, who gushed over my little 3-year-old. She described Shea as smart and confident – with a little naughty thrown in. She said that when Shea’s doing something that perhaps she shouldn’t be, she gives “puppy dog eyes” and bats her eyelashes. I am pretty certain this is something that she learned from someone other than her mother. It was so enjoyable to hear about Shea from Mrs. Tina. At home, Shea has been talking non-stop about wanting to resume gymnastics and she continues to love ice-skating. It took only one time of having hot cocoa after ice skating for her to draw that connection and now she wants hot cocoa every time she skates. Sometimes it’s hard to determine if she loves ice-skating, loves hot cocoa, or in fact, loves both. Stay tuned. She’s also able to spell her name. We found this out on accident. For whatever reason, Mark said to her last weekend, “Shea, can you spell your name for me?” Not the first time we’ve asked, but not something we’ve been working on specifically. She QUICKLY came back with, “S-H-E-A. Shea.” We were dumbfounded and tickled to death. Mrs. Tina is working wonders.

Then there’s Piper, not quite 1 ½ years old. She continues to sleep through the night, roughly 7:45pm to 6:45am and unfortunately, doesn’t take super long naps. But, I’ll take the 2 hours we usually get. Her teachers recently shared that Piper “runs the classroom”. I have no idea what this means! It’s no secret that Piper is extremely vocal about her unhappiness at times (I mean, cry-it-out sleep training was a total no-go with that chick), but I thought the comment was interesting. I’m not getting incident reports for biting, pinching, pushing, etc so I’m just going to go with Piper is being Piper. She is also described as being “the toughest one in the class” which comes as no surprise. Unlike her big sister who cries at the drop of a hat, Piper is not one to be phased in the least by a bump, bruise, or fall. She really is tough!

The good news is that while my blonde beauties couldn’t be any more different, they have started to play together SO well. I mean, most of the time. They absolutely love singing “Let It Go” from Frozen and they dance (ahem, spin in a circle until it makes me nauseous just watching) until they literally can’t stand up. While Piper tends to follow Shea’s lead as the big sister, Piper is super independent and is very capable of making her own fun. I’m not sure if it’s the Montessori approach they’ve both been exposed to or what, but they are both very happy to play independently and Shea’s dramatic play and imagination are so fun to watch develop. Dare I say that the past month or so has been a very enjoyable time in sisterhood and motherhood alike.

On a COMPLETELY unrelated note, I’ve started listening to podcasts! The year is 2018 and I decided it was time to figure it out. I’m a millennial that will be shamed for this! Some nutrition podcasts bore me, but I’ve listened to some really interesting ones on ketogenic diets (I was just curious – don’t even think about it, people!) and the role of protein spaced throughout the day. I’ve also been nerding it up with leadership podcasts because my life is inundated with leadership activities while I am in the process of completing an 18-month long leadership cohort through work/the hospital. It’s almost like an MBA in the workplace – or something like that, as I really don’t know the first thing about MBAs other than toying with the idea of getting one 😉

So, my question to you: do you listen to any podcasts you’d recommend? Do share!

I’m off to start the weekend – hope you’re doing the same!

Be well,