One night back in April, while I was cleaning up in the kitchen, Jack came downstairs from putting Ethan to bed and told me that I should, if possible, delay going downstairs in the morning.
“Um, not really an option for me, honey,” I replied. “I’ll have two little mutants begging for milk. Why?”
He told me Ethan had something “planned,” and deduced that the two of them could achieve the goal in the dining room if I stayed in the kitchen and playroom.
“I have to set my alarm so I can get him up early,” he said. “He’s pretty excited. You need to know that this was all his idea.”
The next morning when I came downstairs with Henry and Miranda, Jack and Ethan were sitting close together at the dining room table, heads close in concentration. (Yeah, of COURSE I peeked at them!)
“DON’T COME IN HERE, MOMMY! Um, PLEASE!”
I went about my morning routine, preparing breakfast for the kids and getting Ethan’s school lunch ready. I had just gotten the little ones in their high chairs with sippy cups when I was presented with this:
The front
Jack told me Ethan dictated what he wanted the card to say so Jack could write it out for him to copy. Then Ethan came up with the idea of having Jack make the checkboxes.
Needless to say, I started crying. Ethan hugged me, looked up at Jack, and said, “Awww… Mommy’s crying happy tears.”
One year ago today a nineteen-year-old came into my house and truly changed our lives for the better. Her experience with kids had been mostly limited to pre-teens and up, but there was something about her that struck us when we interviewed her — something that told us she was the one.
And we were right.
During her interview, Christine was quiet and reserved. She told us her mother was outside waiting for her in the car, “for safety reasons.” That alone put a huge plus in her favor, as that is exactly the kind of thing my mother would have done with me, and the kind of thing I will do for my children. When we decided to look for a nanny, Jack and I knew we wouldn’t be happy unless we found someone with a strong sense of family. Yes, there were cute, sweet, bubbly girls who came to interview who got down on Ethan’s level and asked him questions (um, yeah, he ate that up), but I never got a sense of family and responsibility from them.
But I did from Christine (who is cute and sweet, for sure), and when she first started, she was ready and willing to learn how to handle twin infants. Since I work at home, she started out more as a mother’s helper, but I was very quickly able to resume more hours of work, which was a tonic for my sanity. During the time of night-feedings and wakings, I was able to take a break in the daytime to take a nap, knowing that my babies were in good hands.
Christine has become part of the family, and will likely still be long after her two-year tenure is over. Ethan will often request to have time with her that he doesn’t have to share with his siblings. Henry and Miranda adore her and she them. They light up when she walks in in the morning, and they often throw fits when she leaves. She doesn’t baby them any more than they need to be babied (baby talk gives me hives — something I’m sure I will expand on in a later post). She is flexible with her hours and her outlook, and she can handle the occasional watching of all three kids at once — with no nervousness. She is, in short, our perfect nanny.
Thank you, Christine, for helping to make this past year run as smoothly as it could. Here’s to one more year of fun and surprises.
What is it “they” say? What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger? Do you think that includes eating food off the floor? How about for kids who eat Cheerios out of the pile you’ve just created by sweeping up after lunch? You turn around for a second to get a dustpan and whammo! Like bees to a flower, they are there, ready for an after lunch snack.
Not really MY choice, but I suppose they could be putting worse things in their mouths.
Henry, where’s your cup?
Blank stare.
Henry, where’s your cup? Go get your milk, please.
Gibberish in return, as if to say, “Dude, I just hide them. I don’t find them.”
Keeping track of all the STUFF involved with raising twins is a constant effort. Spontaneity is not in the mother-of-toddler-multiples vernacular. Lucky for me I am a planner.
I plan how to get into the car for everyday: around-the-town trips:
Make sure Henry and Miranda are appropriately dressed and sun-screened for wherever we are going.
These velcro straps are ESSENTIAL items for even the shortest trip.
Prep two sippy cups with water. Make sure I have the no-throw straps to go with them.
Cheerios, crackers, dried fruit… do I have enough snacks in case we take longer than expected?
Double-check the diaper bag for diapers, wipes, my wallet, cell, etc.
Bring it all to the car while the kids are penned up in the playroom. Start the car if it is too hot. Open the automatic door on the passenger side. Are there toys and books already in the car? Separate the keys and put house key in door lock.
Open the bathroom door for the cat. Capture toddlers now attempting to get into the bathroom (that cat food is way tempting).
With a kid on each hip, inch the front door closed and attempt to lock it in the shortest amount of time possible — before little hands get a good grab at the keys.
Plop Henry down on the floor of the car, blocking him from falling/escaping out of the car with my body while strapping Miranda into her seat. Grab Henry, go around car, put him in his seat.
Add in about three extra steps if Ethan is in the mix (Did he go to the bathroom before heading out the door? Does he have his lunchbox/book/toy/etc.? Does he have his coat/shoes/etc.?)
We’re ready to go. That entire process takes at least ten minutes.
If it is a longer trip with all three kids, there is a whole different level of planning involved, and I’m usually better off prepping much of what we will need the night before.
I am now gearing up for our trip next month to Seattle. This will be the first airplane ride for the little ones, and I’ve already started making my lists of what to bring on the plane, what to pack in our checked bags, how to manage all our stuff in the airport. I have a plan already for how to handle car seats and the stroller. My mother has very graciously offered to pre-shop for us on the other end for diapers, special foods, etc., so I’ve started making my lists for her.
So, no spontaneity for us yet, but I don’t think even attempting to be spontaneous would end with good results. What fun would a spur-of-the-moment trip to a park be if we realize too late we have no diapers?
I was maybe nine or ten years old, somewhere with my father and cousin (and others? I don’t remember). A man walked up to us, timid and hesitant.
Kami then.
“May I have your autograph?” he asked my cousin. “I’m a big fan.” She smiled and signed her name for him. I was in awe.
My cousin, Kami Cotler, eight and a half years older than I, starred for nine seasons on the award-winning TV show, “The Waltons,” as Elizabeth, the youngest Walton sibling. With her thick mane of red hair, she is instantly recognizable to anyone who followed the stories of John-Boy and his family over the years.
Kami grew up — from age 6 to 16 — on the set of the show, but unlike the myriad child-stars of her day, Kami did not travel down that road of child-actor gone bad. She didn’t make headlines due to drugs, or worse. Instead, she became an educator, at one point moving to and teaching in the very area those Walton kids grew up.
Kami now.
Kami is now the principal for a new start-up middle school charter school, which is an expansion of Environmental Charter High School of Lawndale, CA. She is passionate about education, so it was no surprise to me when she activated the Cotler Cousin Network (okay, she made that up on the spot — but it worked!) to let us know about ECHS and their race for the top. Right now, through midnight Thursday, April 29 – there is a competition among six very deserving high schools to bring President Obama to deliver their commencement address, and ECHS is one of those six schools.
All six schools are putting forth excellent efforts to win. Environmental Charter High School (ECHS’s application video is below, along with some press from the nightly news), is the most deserving, in my opinion, because:
ECHS is the only environmental school in the finals.
Compared to the other finalists, ECHS serves the highest percentage of socio-economically disadvantaged students.
Not all the schools have random, open enrollment– ECHS does.
And for those of you on the West Coast, FYI, ECHS is the only west coast school in the running.
You can help Environmental Charter High School bring President Obama to graduation. Voting is open RIGHT NOW at www.whitehouse.gov/commencement
View the 6 videos (you can vote and press next to move on to the next video)
Rate each video from 1-5 (5 being best)
Please give ECHS a 5!
Learn more about ECHS:
Please forward this voting information!
About ECHS in their own words: ECHS is alive. We’re blocks from the world’s most congested freeway, yet we step onto campus with fruit trees and a running stream of reclaimed water, which was once asphalt, and we know we’re in an environment designed to envision a better life. As freshmen evaluate community health, sophomores debate the sustainability of progress, juniors examine the American dream, and we ask, “How are we powerful?†In our urbanite amphitheatre, we showcase art, host composting workshops, and train freshmen for success at ECHS. We give tours and present solutions and best practices, so 98% of us feel comfortable public speaking. With more graduation requirements than schools nationally, we pack our schedules with AP and college courses and exceed service requirements. ECHS is challenging; but, we thrive – we’ve learned education is empowerment and graduation is a milestone on our journey to a better world. We are 68% Latino, 20% African-American, 78% low income. Arriving 2.5 grade levels behind peers in math and English, by graduation we outperform national averages. 92% of us were accepted into universities in 2009 and most are first in our families to attend. We’re prepared to redefine the American Dream, rewrite our futures and heal our planet.
To quote my sister, Kami “COULD have been another washed up, depressing story in Us Weekly, but no, instead she has devoted her life to education, especially for underprivileged kids.”
