Marathon weekend is in the books! I love how excited the Twin Cities gets for the marathon. So many people come out to cheer the runners on. It’s such a well-spectated course. Here’s how the weekend shaped up.
On Friday I logged off a bit early to take Paul to his first chess club meeting at school at 4. Another dad organized a club at school and there were 32 kids there! We walked over there since it was such a nice day (inspired by Elisabeth's walking club) and I stayed to help out even though I don’t actually know how to play chess. I guess I will learn by volunteering. When we got there, I saw one of the kids that bullied Paul last week at his after school program and wow did I want to give him a talking to. Paul has brushed it off quickly and said one of the kids apologized to him. I’m a bit slower to forgive and forget…
Saturday I was awoken by Taco yelling for me but at least it was 6:30 so not too early. I entertained the boys until Phil was up and then headed out for a windy 5 mile run. Then I took the boys to Target where I needed to grab a few things and Once Upon a Child where we purchased winter coats for both boys and 2 pairs of snow pants for Paul for a total of $58. I feel like Elisabeth would have probably paid a fraction of this amount at her thrift store but it was still far cheaper than buying everything brand new. Now we are all set for when winter arrives (hopefully months from now!!). The boys were NOT GREAT on this shopping excursion. They were so loud and kept running away from me. I must admit I was staring a bit longingly at other parents out with their quiet daughters… I know some girls can be wild, but usually when I see parents out with their daughters, they tend to be so calm and compliant!
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| Enjoying some cake pops at the SBUX at Target. The sugar probably doesn’t help their behavior but it’s a small treat and something they really enjoy. I got a grande skinny vanilla latte! |
Some of my coworkers were out on PTO so for the first time in many months I had to pull data for our weekly newsletter and write the column for the taxable fixed income section (taxable fixed income (bonds whose interest is taxed) is my area of expertise). It is a pretty brief column - certainly less than 1,000 words - and yet it took me over an hour to write it. I used to write it weekly years ago but rarely write it anymore and wow I am out of practice. The guy that usually writes it is back this week so I will be reminding him how grateful I am that he writes this commentary. I bet he does it in less than 30 minutes!!
Having to work meant I lost my nap slot as we left for Phil’s friend’s house shortly after I was done working. The winds calmed so it was a beautiful afternoon. Our friends have a son around Taco’s age and the 3 boys played so well together. These friends are very into Halloween so Paul loved checking out their decorations. Taco was terrified of them and would not even walk by them! This is the first year Paul wasn’t terrified of the decorations.
All that fresh air wore the boys out so I had to actually wake them both up around 7:30. I woke on my own around 6:30 and felt rested. It was so nice to drink coffee and eat breakfast in silence!
We grabbed donuts and then headed to our friend’s house who lives along the marathon course around mile 9 to cheer on the runners. It was a chilly morning (in the low 50s!) and there was much complaining about the cold from the boys but all in all we enjoyed cheering on the runners! My coworker was in such a clump of runners since he was running around a 4 hour pace (9:09/mile) at that point which is a popular pace goal, so he actually saw me and yelled out my name as he was passing by! Often it’s easier for runners to spot spectators than vice versa! I also spotted 2 guys I used to run with when I was in a running club pre-kids.
Swimming lessons went great in the afternoon. Paul made good progress. I had just talked to Phil about enrolling him in private lessons rather than signing up for another session in the winter so now I am on the fence and will see if he continues to improve.
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| Making some progress on his front crawl |
That looks like a really great pool setup. We have no great local options for swim lessons and my kids are woefully lacking in real skill, but thankfully after spending a lot of time at the lake this year they are fairly confident swimmers, but their technique is...not great!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to wake up rested for a change. It's so nice to wake to a quiet house!
Great job on the thrifted snow suits. It is hard to find good quality suits still in good condition, so I think that's an incredible deal. I'm with you though - I'm hoping we don't have to use them for a long time yet!
Wow, the tooth fairy has really been hit hard with inflation! I think we used to get a quarter, or maybe I am misremembering, but I am fairly certain it was not paper. You say she didn't have change, but I am curious, what exactly IS the going rate these days? If you had dollars, would you just leave one? Or is that completely lowballing the poor kid? I am so out of touch!
ReplyDeleteI actually learned something new recently about this though; the French do not have a fairy; they have a mouse! The mouse, like the fairy, DOES give money though! I also was tickled when I learned that they leave out their shoes instead of stockings for Pere Noel, and that he has a donkey instead of reindeer! I am always so fascinated by how these stories start and how they diverge or are different per country.
It definitely cooled down from those highs! In California, it has been over 100 for the past week and right now as I type this (at 2 am PT) it is over 70 degrees in Oakland! Make it stop!
Your Once Upon a Child visit sounds like my last visit there... And Hailey was the instigator. Miles thought it was funny to hide in one of the back corner clothes racks and I couldn't find him... Another shopper finally pointed him out to me. Its like the second we get out in public, listening is out the window and I feel like a horrible parent.
ReplyDeleteWhat a day to run yesterday! So great you were out there cheering!
This sounds like a really busy weekend! But in a good way. Makes me feel like I did comparatively very little this weekend! You ran, went to Target and shopping, to a party, marathon spectated, swim lessons....that's a lot! Sounds like a nice time though.
ReplyDeleteI was just sort of tired out from the intense week in Nashville. We did some cleaning (in advance of being gone next week- wanted to get everything in shape this week), with me doing all the kitchen/sunroom/living room and Ivan did a super deep clean of our bathroom which needed it. (The boys have been cleaning that bathroom recently and apparently their standards are slightly, um, lower. So Ivan finally did a super deep scrub of the tile, grout, fixtures, etc.). We went out for Mexican early on Saturday (missed our Fri night date night!) with Asher, but Ethan was working. Sunday I put up our outdoor Halloween decorations, caught up on some blogs, cleaned out the fridge, unpacked my suitcase and reorganized a few things in my closet (have purchased some new shoes lately and my shoe space in my closet is quickly getting too small...trying to figure out if I can weed things out or rearrange or what.) I made a cream of potato and bacon soup for dinner and Ivan's sister came over for dinner. Then I went to bed "early" for me at just a little before 10.... only to wake up at 2:29 a.m. and I NEVER was able to fall back to sleep.... Argh!! I have a super full, busy week leading up to travel next weekend and I am soooo frustrated/bummed to be starting the week off with a total crap night of sleep.
Note on school issues with peers: I think reframe so you are not calling it bullying-- this implies a power differential that usually is not there. Kids have conflicts, bounce back, make friends, etc, and the bully label is hard to get around.
ReplyDeleteWe were driving home on our road trip this weekend so I missed that Paul was having trouble at school. I hope it's all resolved now. I like Sarah's advice above.
ReplyDeleteYou had such a busy weekend! I cannot remember what we did when the kids lost teeth, I think it was a loonie or something ($1). That was a while ago!
Ha, I think $5 might be the going rate now for teeth. If you try to scale back next time, Paul will probably notice and wonder why that tooth wasn't worth as much as the previous ones.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like GREAT weather for the marathon! Glad your coworker did well. It sounds like a fun weekend overall. Oh, I was in the grocery store the other day and there was a couple with two very rambunctious GIRLS. I could tell the parents were embarrassed and kept trying to reign them in. Whenever I see that, I always want to reassure the parents- I get it, that's how kids are!
$5. Tooth inflation!
ReplyDeleteWe had a busy errand-y day on Saturday and I mostly sat on the couch reading a book and petting the cat on Sunday. I'll take that as a weekend well spent.
It's funny that you say it's easier for runner to spot spectators than the reverse, so true. my family can't find me easily unless it's a narrow path.
ReplyDeletei need your professional expertise about investment, hehehe.... even economists can't make their mind about how the future of the US will go about.
I used to run on the TM when girls were little. Now I feel okay running out the door while they are still sleeping. Parenting will get easier soon.
I would've felt similarly upon seeing the kid that wasn't nice to Paul. Grrr. Hopefully since the staff got involved, the kids learned that kindness counts. It sounds like a really fun, full weekend. I haven't attended a race to cheer someone on. I had no idea the runners could spot you easier than you spotting them. I babysit for a 3 yo who is Halloween obsessed. He asks at pick up every day if he can go to the Halloween store. Apparently he really likes the scary stuff too. He cracks me up.
ReplyDeleteOh wow this reminds me how GRATEFUL I am that we have completed the teeth-losing phase of life. Shudder!!!!
ReplyDeleteYour feelings about those bullies is exactly how I would feel. It's so hard to forgive when someone has wronged your kid. But good for Paul for having such a good attitude about it. That will serve him well.
Your shopping experience sounds so familiar. I was not blessed with the stands quietly next to me varietal of child, and have had many many downright awful shopping trips. Shopping is much better now! Although there is still a LOT of "I want this!" that goes on.
I cannot with taking my kids shopping. They are atrocious and run all over and in and out of racks - so annoying! Even the 12 year old! I know they are just getting antsy and bored, but still... I debate whether to just go shopping by myself, buy and try on at home and return it, but that is so inefficient.
ReplyDeleteMy 7 year old lost a tooth a few weeks ago, and somehow it got lost, so we quietly are letting that go and not giving him money for that one. I did say if he wrote a letter of explanation to the tooth fairy they usually still leave something, but he was not interested in that!
Ohhh, I would have SUCH a hard time seeing a boy who was mean to my kid. I'm glad Paul has seemed to brush it off. That has to be a hard thing to see as a parent, though!
ReplyDeleteI feel like we always got a couple dollars for the tooth fairy so I guess $5 makes sense with inflation. HA.
I will say that seeing your kids in shorts and sandals in October in Minnesota is CRAZY. Climate chaaaange.
Somehow this got put in this post instead of the last one... Face palm.. I promise I'm good at technology
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