Helpful Reminder

It's been a tuff two days with the boys.  You know those days when you have a bazillions tasks to accomplish and errands to run and you just need the little ones to quietly obey and stare blindly out the sides of the shopping cart without moving BUT because of the bazillion tasks the little ones are slightly neglected have NO intention of staring blindly out the shopping cart on a good day let alone on a day they are seeking extra attention due to afore mentioned neglect.  I just finished two of those days.  We've made it past.  Past Will climbing up the employee ladder in Bed Bath and Beyond, past Matthew tucking himself in between 50 huge house plants in very breakable pots at the garden store, past Joseph screaming down one isle after another and throwing umpteen paci's on the ground.  We've.  Made.  It.  Past.  

It is these times when I stare at them and think:  I was a relatively calm child . . . WHAT IS HAPPENING!  I wonder if there is any part of me in their little bodies or is it all just mania.  But then we make it past, I find a quiet moment at the end of the day, and it is helpful to remember that they are, in fact, my children.  This is how I know:

• MATTHEW  Matthew sleeps like me.  I'll check on him before I go to bed and see myself staring back at me.  Staring back at me with eyes half open.  Yup, he got the freakishness.  Sorry Buddy but is makes me smile to see it.  Just warn your roommates before they have 1/2 hour conversations with you.
• WILLIAM  William sticks his tongue out when he concentrates.  He squints his eyes a little bit and the tip of his tongue starts peeking out between his lips.  I can't tell you how many times my piano teacher whacked my mouth with a sheet of music (nicely of course, she was a great teacher) to remind me to not stick my tongue out.  Here's hoping he gets his under control a little sooner than I did.
• JOSEPH  My boys are very good eaters.  They eat most vegetables and I haven't found a fruit yet they will pass up.  But not Joseph.  Joseph is a very PICKY eater.  He did NOT get this from me.  However, even though most of his meals consist of waffles, oatmeal, and macaroni and cheese, he does like a few other things that one would not guess are on the menu of a picky eater.  Joseph likes very dark chocolate, unusual gourmet cheeses, AND, the best of all . . . V8 juice.  A boy after my own heart.

So, after all the chaos and confusion, it is reassuring to me that whether through nature or nurture, at least a little bit of me made it into those crazy little bodies!