Independence

I’ve figured out the secret to raising independent kids — have more
children than you can reasonably manage on your own and then you have no
choice but to make them do things for themselves. Sink or swim! The kids are
getting loads of practice this summer. Yesterday I made Calvin call
the orthodontist because the rubberbands for his braces were too big
and kept popping off. (Yes, he got braces. I keep meaning to write a post about that experience.) I had reached my limit of doctors, dentists,
orthodontists, and receptionists so I gave him the business card and
told him to figure it out. The receptionist said he could come in on a particular afternoon, but to double check that he was putting them on the correct brackets. It took Calvin a mirror and about 5 minutes to figure out that he had been trying to loop them around a bracket that didn’t have a hook. Yay for self sufficiency! 

I also make the two younger boys walk themselves to and
from sports camp on base because it’s way too hot to be walking around outside (please ignore the fact that they are walking outside) and even though they are technically supposed to be signed in and
out, Carter is 12 and he can handle walking his brother back and
forth. (I did get permission from the director on the first day so it’s not like I’m completely neglectful.) Besides, one day Camille and I started walking over to the gym
to meet them and 100 yards in Camille put her foot down and declared
it was “too hot to walk!” so we retreated to the air conditioned
halls of the main base building and sipped our drinks while we waited for the boys to arrive, all hot and sweaty.

The other night Carter wanted shwarma for dinner so I
made him find the phone number and call for delivery. I’ve also adopted an “every man for himself” approach to dinner since Josh is gone. They’re happy eating cereal, apples, and bagels and cream cheese (When the Paleo is away, the carbs come out to play!).

When we go to base
for lunch they all want different things from the food court so I’ve started handing over my debit card and tell them to go order what they want and sign their
names to the receipt. It saves me from having to stand in 3 different food lines when I could be sitting down with my lunch and an iced tea. Right before Josh left they all got their own bank accounts with their own debit cards so they can even pay for their own food if I’m not buying snacks that day and they don’t want to wait the 10 minutes to drive home where they can get lunch for free.

And when they have places to be? They better set
their alarm clocks and let me know when they want to leave. Bedtimes?
Ain’t nobody got time for that. I told them they should go to bed at midnight and said “Adios,” to them an hour ago.