Noah has summer homework each year of pre-school.  It’ pretty intense.  We have to make a summer book.  Okay, I’m lying.  We so don’t have to make  the book–they do provide that for us and they should for the tuition we pay, but we do have to write in it and fill it out.  It will be of no surprise that I waited until the last minute to begin even thinking about the book.  I started to print out pictures for the book last night (it is due in school tomorrow).  What happens?  I run out of ink.  My printer has 6 cartridges and I usually have a bunch of extras.  So, I went down to look through my extra 8 cartridges that I have and did I have just one of the photo magenta?  NO.  Of course not.

So now, I am leaving work to run to get a cartridge to finish printing out pictures for the book that Noah has completely lost interest in.  He has written on a few pages and isn’t really that into it anymore because now there is stuff to look at and who wants to fill in empty pages when one particular 4-year-old who will remain nameless filled up two whole pages with superhero stickers.

He will “read” the stickers like a story, but when I ask him “tell me a story.”  He simply replies in the most annoying whine ever “I don’t know any mom.”

UGH!  So, tonight I will torture him by forcing him to “tell” me a story and to write the Spanish words he knows an when his birthday is.  So that we can bring our book in to class.  Ours won’t be the most creative (there are some who take this project/assignment a little too far–I’ll be keeping an eye out for those parents when science projects come around) but it will be filled with sticker and pictures and maybe more than a few words.  But it will be totally ours.

I cannot believe that April is coming to a close.  Time is moving so fast.  Too fast for someone who is in the middle of a research project that she somehow has to turn into a 15-25 page research report due two weeks from tomorrow.  That is only 14 days away and I am no where close to be ready to do that paper.  I am weeks away from being able to write that paper.  It is in this crunch time that I always ask myself “what the hell was I thinking.”  What made me think that getting my PhD while working multiple jobs and parenting 2 small kids was a good idea?  I know it’s a little late to be asking that question since I will be done soon.  I only have one more year of course work and then a semester for research.  But it’s just so overwhelming.  I feel like such an ass complaining about something that I choose to do. It isn’t like I have real problems.  My husband and I both have jobs.  I am going to be a Dr. soon and I have two of the best kids in the world.

Speaking of kids.  Noah. Oh that boy makes me laugh.  At the parks we frequently play at, there are tennis courts right next to the playground.  Noah has become fascinated obsessed with tennis and has been talking about wanting to play tennis.  I talked to my husband about signing him up for lessons (he didn’t even have a racket at the time nor had he attempted to play) and he laughed at me telling me tennis would be too hard for Noah. Noah is a bit of a perfectionist and a bit competitive.  He gets really frustrated if he can’t do something well.  This past weekend we were shopping for a new ball glove as t-ball starts next week and he says

“Mom and Daddy.  You know what?”

“What”

“I know how to play tennis.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  I saw the guys at the park and all I need is a racket and a tennis ball.”

So, we bought him a tennis racket and balls.  We got home and he wanted to play.  So we broke open the ball and set him up in the living room and tossed the ball to him and he hit it back at me so hard I had to duck.  He has not stopped asking to play tennis since and we have been letting him.  He seems to have a real knack for it.  His hand and eye coordination is pretty good.  Better than mine.

We’ve been busy having a lot of fun (which is why I am so behind on my school work) but the kids are just too much fun to not spend time with.