Apollo turns 9

In a group conversation a few years ago, a friend cut me off when I said, "having children is a sacrifice."  He told me that he didn't feel that having children was a sacrifice at all...A labor of love but not a sacrifice, That comment stuck with me, and I find myself pondering it often. I ponder it because I cannot disagree more. At first, I thought that maybe I was looking at things the wrong way and I tried to look at it from different perspectives. My conclusion was always the same; having children is a sacrifice.  I even had to analyze myself, concerned that maybe my way of thinking was flawed...what a silly notion that was.
  Truth-be-told, everything about having children is a sacrifice. Here is a short list of some of the things that I have sacrificed:

1. Privacy
2. Sleep...lots and lots of sleep
3. Time
4. Savings 
5. Spontaneity 
6. Selfishness (with time, money)
7. Opportunities (that do not have your family's best interest in mind)
8. Quiet and stillness
9. A clean house

I could go on and on. If it sound more like a list of grievances, well, I guess that is not too far off the mark. I am frequently faced with decisions, and the choices that I make, are different than my pre-child self would have made. I do not begrudge my children for any sacrifice that I have made to have them in my life. In fact,  I would have them a million times over knowing what I know now.

9 years ago, Apollo turned my world upside-down and inside-out, erasing any and all preconceived notions that I had about having an infant. 9-years later, not much has changed.

This year has brought on 3rd grade, Oral surgery, Orthodontia, and an increased love for math and science. You stand 4'7" tall now. Yiayia must have shrunk from her original 4'11" because you are nearly as tall as her. You are fascinated with optical illusions, origami, science experiments, animals and insects. You pick up the snails from the sidewalk in the morning and move them to the plants so no one steps on them... So much compassion for living things.

You don't buy into the norm and walk your own path. You have my sense of humor...Sorry Melanie. You excel in math and help others in class to solve math problems. You are bright and curious. Stubborn and wise. Passionate and obsessive. I love the way your brain works...I am fascinated by it. I love to hear your take on any topic you choose to discuss. You are a great debater and fervidly defend your opinions and observations. You have such a quick wit and you are very animated and funny. You are still shy and reserved in front of strangers and adults, but you are making progress in that area. You speak Spanish beautifully now but refuse to speak it when your mom and I prompt you to. You mimic and impersonate everyone, and I am your favorite victim. Thanks to you, I now know what I look like and sound like when I laugh.

  Happy 9th Birthday to the funniest kid I know.

I love you Apollo!

Love Dada

Up with the Sun

"Dada!" a hushed but enthusiastic voice whispers in my ear, "Let's get up! It's starting to get light out!" I slowly grab my phone from the nightstand to check the time. Forcing my eyes to focus, I read the time on the display; 5:55 a.m..
  It's Saturday morning. The whispering is not for my benefit. It's not intended to wake me slowly or gently. Nor is it intended to be sweet. It is an exercise in caution on Orion's part for fear of waking up his mother. How does the saying go? "Hell hath no fury like Melanie awakened too early." Close enough.
 I close my eyes and roll back into my pillow's, in a futile attempt to fall back to sleep for just a few more minutes.
"Dada! Get up!"

I'm not one for sleeping in, but another hour of sleep would be appreciated once in a while. Still, I cant be angry with Orion. My reaction is quite the opposite. I find myself smiling, eyes still closed, letting him tug at my arms trying to pull me out of bed. Most weekend mornings, it is Orion that is the first to rise, but Apollo is usually not far behind. On the rare occasion that Orion sleeps past 6:30 a.m., it is Apollo that will be trying to pull me out of bed. I feel fortunate that Apollo and Orion want me to get up with them so we can spend time together, I'm sure I have only a few years left before that changes. I will gladly give up a little sleep in exchange for these mornings.

I have to admit that I love daylight savings time...yes, I am the one. I like waking up with the sun and finishing the day with the long evenings before the sun sets. It's spring time now and daylight savings has begun, so it may have been getting light out at 5:55 a.m., but certainly not that light. I think we all have a bit of spring fever. The rain was relentless this winter and besides the never ending and record setting water falling from the sky, it was dark and gloomy for months as well.

You can tell it's been a long winter when your 8-year-old has become an origami master and your 5-year-old kindergartner in a Spanish immersion school, learned to spell s-h-i-t not only forward but backwards...in mirror image...in the condensation of a freezer glass door in an upscale grocery store, so when he closed the door, you could read the word from the outside. Yup...that's my kid. Of course Apollo and I thought is was hilarious as well as ingenious. It may have been at that point that Melanie left us in the isle alone and denied knowing any of us. There were some looks of disapproval to be sure, but they obviously couldn't see the genius behind it like I could. Yes, I did explain to Orion that what he did was inappropriate but I also had to give him kudos for creativity. 

When questioned, Orion was quick to point out that Apollo taught him how to spell that word. Apollo denies this, but he's not fooling anyone. 

"Dada," Orion begins, "there's another potty word, but I don't know how to spell it yet...It starts with an F."

...Time to head outdoors...