Bickmore Buzz April 27, 2020

By Lesley - April 27, 2020

Hi family!

We're just sailing along in the quarantine. Most days are pretty good. Some days are a down right doozy. I find the doozy days are me feeling bad about not doing enough with my kids during this time. I know it's crazy thinking, but it's just what happens in my brain. Today, I was trying to clean up our computer by going through files and came across so many old videos and pictures of the boys. It was a proud moment for me as a mom because I was able to reminisce all the fun things I've done with Will and Van over the years. In that proud moment, I also had an epiphany that I think the reason I'm struggling lately with mom guilt is because "preschool to first grade" age is my jam and I could be all kinds of creative and fun during those years. Now, my boys are growing more independent and their interests are changing. It's hard for me to watch "Amazing World of Gumball" and play video games with them. It's just not fun for me. I'm trying though. William all day Saturday was asking for me to play his levels that he created for our family in Super Mario Maker. Things kept coming up, like Isaac buying a fire pit and our family making s'mores (so fun!) and we didn't get around to playing his game. He was being unusually snarky during the campfire and I realized on Sunday that we never did get around to playing his game. The thought came to me, "William is really excited about this and you should show him that you're interested and excited about it too." So, that's precisely what I did. I made sure the family got together on Sunday afternoon and played Will's Mario levels. I put forth my most enthusiastic self, which helped me to have a good time.

Another thought came to me last night, "Use the new personal development to set goals for each week." I'm very much a goal oriented person so I felt encouraged when I had this thought. The new program focuses on four areas--spiritual, physical, social, and intellectual. This week my spiritual goal is to read the Come Follow Me lesson by myself everyday. My physical goal is to walk and/or do yoga each day. My social goal is to face time with family members I don't get to talk with often and my intellectual goal is to do science with the boys each day. I feel like these goals are attainable and will help me stay grounded.

Isaac and I hem and haw about a lot of things and consequently neglect to plan and make things happen. Well, we finally did two things. The funny thing is we hardly planned, we just went and did. 1) Isaac went to Lowe's on a whim and bought a fire pit. Okay, we actually did hem and haw for two hours before he went and did it. :) 2) We finally recorded Ann Druyan's Heartbeat. This is a song Isaac wrote years ago and we've been meaning to record it. Isaac decided to enter it into NPR's Tiny Desk concert. The deadline was today so it motivated us to dress up, clear out the clutter on our desk, and film the song. We submitted the second take and just like that, the song is on YouTube. Finally.

Overheard at our house:

We've been watching old episodes of Jeopardy! a few nights a week. One time, Will answered, "What is No Man's Land" and was shocked that the person said something else and got it wrong. Since then he's mentioned it a few times. "Mom remember when I knew the Jeopardy answer, 'No Man's Land' and the person didn't?" (It is truly satisfying when you are wiser than the Jeopardy contestants or whenever you know the answer.)
Van is still saying, "Mom, I love you." or "Dad, I love you." or "Mom, you're the best." Sometimes he'll say it as a sigh and lay his head on my shoulder. He also repeats your name extremely loud if you don't answer right away. i.e. "William....WILLIAM!"