behavior modeling

This one's for you, Marci. Back in the days of papers and studying, I learned a concept called behavior modeling. This is a pretty basic idea, which says that most behavior is learned by observation and modeling. I had a great reminder this morning that my kids are watching my every move.

I woke up this morning feeling a little woozy, a little bit off balance. I got the kids off to school and started up the Backyardigans and actually allowed myself to crawl back in bed. After Caroline's show ended, she headed upstairs. I tried to get her to lay down with me and failed, so I decided it was indeed time for Dr. Pepper and Aleve (thanks, Traci). I was not going to sleep this migraine off.

So, in a cloud of fog, I went out to the garage and got myself some "medicine" (Dr. Pepper), grabbed Carrie a Capri Sun, pulled out the Utz Cheddar and Sour Cream potato chips (you gotta have something to go with Dr. Pepper) and planted myself at the kitchen table. There I sipped my soda and ate some chips.

Then I looked over at Caroline. She was sitting there swaying her head back and forth with her eyes closed, savoring the taste of the chips and drink. I laughed at her for a second, thinking she looked very much like Stevie Wonder singing a slow, love song. She silently looked very pleased with herself.

After this continued for the next few minutes all of a sudden it struck me: THAT'S WHAT I MUST BE DOING!!! A bit startled by the revelation, I watched myself through the eyes of a 2-year-old as I threw back my head and slowly swayed, trying to ease the headache away. Nice.

tired

I'm tired of seeing pictures from July on my blog. You probably are too! So much has happened that it's hard to know where to begin to catch up. We've had a great summer with both family's reunions, swim team and a weekend in Williamsburg. The kids are growing like weeds. And yet, we're really beyond the summer break mentality here.

School has started up for four of us: 1st, 3rd, 5th grades, and James' first two classes for his master's. It's a bit overwhelming at times. We're having to rethink things a little in regards to how we run the household. I've taken it upon myself to mow the lawn and realize what fun it is to spend time in the yard. Who wouldn't love two hours driving a go-cart around the lawn, listening to their ipod alone? Awesome!

Other than that, we're staying up later than usual, waking up later than we should. I've already missed the bus once due to the crazy schedule we're on. It's just not normal to have James get home from his day at 11:30 or midnight. Hopefully we'll find the balance in all of this.

Meanwhile, I'm just tired. I hear it in my voice. The need for sleep and routine. We'll get there!