The Folkers Family Blog: January 2010

So there's this relatively new thing going on in our house. Actually, it's been happening for a while, but it's gotten much worse in the last few weeks. Maybe it's been all the rain we've had these last few months, or the cold weather that's kept the kids indoors. But my children are fighting constantly. I'm the youngest of three kids, and I know that my brother and I fought...a lot growing up. But if I can't believe it was like this. And if it was...well, mom and dad I am truly sorry.

When it suits them, Trevor and Marisa can be the best of friends. We have numerous pictures to prove it. If one of them gets hurt, the other is usually the first to ask if they're ok. They've each come running in the house to tell me someone fell down, or so and so is crying. But they are also very quick to tell me "Mom! Marisa is making faces at me" or "Trevor hit me." I completely understand now why my mother told me not to tattle. Tattling has to be one of the most annoying things kids do. A recent trip to Marisa's kindergarten class confirmed for me that it's even more annoying when 16 kids are doing it!

Rides in the car together, especially on Monday afternoons on the way home from piano, usually end with me declaring that there will be "no more talking until we get home". It's purely for my sanity. And I admit that I have uttered the classic phrase, "Don't make me pull this car over!" I don't know what I would do if I actually did "pull the car over," but, well, I'm sure they wouldn't like it.

It was so bad after the Christmas break that when the forecast called for snow just three short days later, I actually watched the school closings ticker saying (out loud) "Please, not Gwinnett. Please not Gwinnett." I woke up the next morning very disappointed. And then there wasn't even any good snow to play in!

Other moms tell me their kids fight constantly, too. And it does make me feel a little better to know that this is not exclusive to our house. But I really don't know if I can do this for 10 more years (and that's if Trevor goes away to college). Calgon, take me away!

Like everybody else, I always have a few resolutions for the new year. Eat right, exercise more, fit into those jeans I love, etc. This year, I have a few other goals as well:

Spend less time playing Bejeweled on Facebook (already blew that one out of the water, but I'll keep trying)
Get the house organized, and keep it that way (so far so good)
Update the family blog more regularly (a little late, but it's still January, right?)

August was a month of new beginnings. Steve went back to work in outside sales for a company that he worked with for many years. After five months, he's still loving it. Marisa started kindergarten. We had a great first day (no tears from either of us, much to my surprise), but days two through ten weren't so great. Basically she decided that, while kindergarten was fun and everything, she really preferred the shorter preschool day. So she cried every morning when it was time to leave the house, again when she got to school, and then again when she got back to class after recess. This from the little girl who, when she was only one or two, would take off at Kidgits and plop down in all of the other moms' laps. Well, eventually something went off in her little head and she was fine again. She's done very well this year, and we are so proud of her!

The fall had us back in our "normal" routine, with Marisa playing soccer (and mom as her coach...that was funny) and Trevor playing baseball (and Steve as one of his coaches). It was a crazy couple of months, with us going back and forth from one park to another. On top of that, Marisa started ballet and tumbling at a new dance studio and Trevor was back to his piano lessons every Monday afternoon. As soon as baseball was over, Trevor moved on to basketball (with Steve coaching). Whew...I don't know why we do this to ourselves!

September started with a relaxing weekend at the beach with the Behnkes. The swine flu was making the rounds at school at the same time, but fortunately we all stayed healthy. We saw the worst flooding in Atlanta ever that month. Thankfully we didn't have any water damage in our house (unlike many of our neighbors), but our backyard was another story. Our house sits at the lowest point on the block and all of the water from our neighbors' yards above us flows down through our yard and into a storm drain. Every time it rains hard, we have a river flowing through our backyard. When it flooded, there was so much water that it pushed half of our fence down on the side of the yard and in the front. The county has admitted that the design of the storm drain was flawed and are coming out to replace it...eventually.

The holidays were as crazy, as usual. It started with the most annoying Christmas tree ever that fell over the day after we put it up. Lots of ornaments were destroyed, and we had to turn the tree around (after it had been decorated, of course) and I had to redecorate it as much as possible. This was also the year that nearly all of the Christmas lights "expired" and I was constantly changing out fuses on the tree and outside. I finally gave up the week after Christmas. I was never so happy to take down a tree as I was this year! We'll see if I remember this next December...who knows, we might end up with a fake tree :)

Here are some photos from the past few months: