The boys have been doing really well in school, which has been amazing to hear. It’s nice to know that they can put their life of crime behind them, at least for a few hours each day. They learn about different things each week and the entire classroom transforms into whatever they are studying. Last week it was icicles / winter, another week was grocery store (complete with food boxes, prices, money, and a cash register). It’s always something different and even though they are having fun playing with their friends, they are learning so much! This week, they are studying cooking, pizza, specifically. This has been the biggest hit by far. They are so extremely excited to come home each day and tell me what they did, what ingredients they used, how many slices are in their pizza, P words they thought of, etc.

When I picked them up today, they were wearing adorable chef hats that they made and decorated themselves. They were elated and felt like big shots walking out of school. They begged and pleaded with me to make their own pizza tonight, so I figured, why not? We hadn’t done that in a while, and if they were showing so much interest in it, perhaps they’d eat more than 2.5 bites before falling mysteriously ill with a tummy ailment that only lasts until dessert time. We went to the grocery store and naturally, they wanted to wear their chef hats. I still get stopped very often for people asking if they are twins, but that more than quadrupled today. The hats were magnets. We were stopped every few steps for people commenting on how cute they were and how adorable their chef hats were. They were pleasant with people, but were clearly on the move and more than once said “Sorry, we need to buy things to make pizza now!” I guess that was their way of saying they were done conversing. The amount of joy they brought to people today was incredible, and it was so fun to see. Who would have thought that simple school-made hats on cute little boys would be such a hit?

They could hardly contain their excitement when it was time to make the pizza, and each of the kids put so much work into it! They had to make sure that the pizza sauce was spread in a circular pattern and that every bit was covered. They had to make sure that the cheese was sprinkled just so. They were interested in the numbers on the stove (both temperature and bake time) and had another little learning experience through that. It was so much fun to see them so exited about something so simple. They think they are going to help me cook every night from now on, but I’m not so sure about that.

Even big sister told them how proud she was. She taught them the importance of washing their hands before touching food, and stood guard in the bathroom to make sure they did it properly. And to their credit, each of my three loves ate an entire slice of pizza and can’t wait for leftovers. I’d call that a success!

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and I made sure I set aside the time to do it today, even if it’s only a few minutes. Part of my desire to blog today is because I honestly miss the writing – stringing words together that become our story, to look back on for years to come. The other part is simply because I am so damn proud of my children.

They may still be drawn to the allure of toilet water. They may stay up way later than they should. They may need a punch-pass, train ticket style, for their trips to time out, but sometimes… Sometimes, they just get it right. Really right.

I love looking at the world through their eyes. I know this might sound like a cliche thing that parents say as their children are growing up, but it really holds true in my case. Everything is fascinating to them. While the question “WHY” is asked a million times a day and becomes annoying at times, I also acknowledge that this is how they learn. These little people that I made rely on me to know how the world works; to know what’s expected of them.

The kids were excited to have today off for Martin (or ‘Marvin’ according to Taylor) Luther King Jr’s Birthday, but they didn’t know what it really meant. I tried to break it down to their learning level, and interest level, knowing that I’d lose it if it wasn’t basic enough. I explained to them that MLK was a man who had darker skin and wasn’t treated fairly because of his skin color. He, and his family and friends of similar skin colors, were seen as different and thought to be not good people just because of how they looked. We talked about how many people with lighter color skin thought that they were better, and many of these light skinned people were not kind to others. We talked about good choices vs. not such good choices (something we do often around this house) and the kids decided on their own, that it’s not okay to treat someone different because of the way they look, skin or otherwise. Taylor was even quick to point out that both light skinned people and dark skinned people can be different from other people if they are in a wheelchair too, but even people in wheel chairs have the same insides and we should be nice to them. I love the way her mind works. We talked about content and character and appropriate actions toward people. When we talked about friends and what being a good friend meant, I asked if they had friends with different colored skin. This was something they really had to think about it. It honestly is not something that children just see. They choose their friends based on who is kind to them, who plays with them, etc. At the end of our conversation, the boys walked away saying “everyone has the same heart inside.” Clearly, I know there is much more depth to Martin Luther King Jr. and his dreams and legacy, but for explaining it to a six year old and two four year olds, I was happy with this take-away. They are compassionate and willing learners and I know they will do some good in this world.

This morning, we were enjoying our lazy pajama day. We watched movies, played with blocks, read books, and colored. When we were cleaning up the hundreds of crayons they had scattered about, I had an idea. I asked everyone to quickly grab three crayons that were ‘skin colored’ and bring them to me. I was eager to see what they came up with, and they did not disappoint. I truly believe that hatred is learned, and it’s something my kids are not taking part of. They might know a few four letter words that have slipped out of my mouth a time or two, but since these are the crayons they brought me, I think we’re doing alright.

True to her form, Taylor said “Mom, we all chose different skin colors because there are different people in this world. I wanted to choose a green crayon, but the only people I know that are green are witches and zombies and I don’t know if their insides are like ours because they aren’t so nice.”