9.28.2010

Magic Mom Moments and Muddy Buddies


People ask me all the time if my kids ride the bus to school. When I tell them no, the response is usually the same: "Oh that's too bad. What a pain to go back and forth." And it is a little bit of a pain as I go back and forth a total of four times a day (twice for Dee who is in full-day Kindergarten, twice for Jeigh who is in afternoon Preschool).

But why would I want to send them on the bus and miss out on mornings like this morning?

This morning, like any other morning, I pulled up to the school. Dee was sitting in the front passenger seat. Usually he bounds out the door before I can hardly put the van in park. This morning, he lingered. I don't think he was sad or reluctant. He just lingered. It was a sweet moment, that I didn't want to end, but that school bell has no patience for sweet lingering moments.

I prompted him to go. After a quick hug and kiss, he did. As he ran to the building he turned and waved to me. Ran a few feet, turned and waved. Ran, turned, waved. Ran, turned, waved. The whole way to the gate.

I watched.
I waved back.
I audibly uttered "I love that boy!" to nothing but an empty cold van.
I {almost} cried. How can he seem so big and so small all at the same time??

I clicked a mental pic. I want to remember the grey hood pulled up over his head. The batman backpack, almost as big as he is, bouncing on his shoulders. His big scrunchy grin that helps him keep his broken glasses on his nose. The flailing arms and legs and coat that surely one day he will coordinate. How he pointed to the school when he got close to make sure I knew exactly where he was headed. How small and sweet he is. How big and wonderful he is getting. How much he loves and trusts me at this moment. Why would I ever want to miss out on this?

I'll send him on a bus when he's fourteen and he thinks I am a dork and walks out the door with a sullen look on his face and a surly comment under his breath.

Can we just stay in Kindergarten forever?


P.S. I mentioned Muddy Buddies in my post yesterday. It always surprises me that there are still people out there who have yet to know the chocolaty, peanut-buttery, crunchy goodness of Muddy Buddies (or Puppy Chow or "Tummy Yummies" as my little brood calls them). Here's the recipe. You are welcome.



Muddy Buddies

(This recipe can easily be doubled...Go ahead and double it...you know you want to!)
  • 9 cups of Chex cereal (I like a mixture of rice and corn)
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup margarine
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1 & 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Measure out cereal into a large bowl (make sure you have a lid that fits). Combine chocolate chips, PB, and margarine in microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 to 1 and 1/2 minutes stirring after first minute. Remove from microwave, add vanilla, and stir well. Pour chocolaty goodness over cereal and stir until all pieces are well-coated. Add powdered sugar. Cover and shake it like a Polaroid picture until all pieces are "dusted". (You may want to add more powdered sugar depending on how you like it.)

If you don't have a bowl handy or just want to save yourself some time on dishes later, try using a large Ziploc bag for your shaking. (Unfortunately, this means you can probably only do one batch...at a time.)

I like my Muddy Buddies "aged" in the fridge for a couple of hours or even overnight.

So.darn.good.

12 comments:

shortmama said...

I take Rhiannon to school too and love it...she gets out of the truck and gives me the I love you sign every single day!

Macey said...

I take my kids to school too. It's a 4 time a day trip.
I don't care, people will get all "Well, that's just dumb, they can ride the bus!" with me and I just tell em to kiss it.

Jodi said...

I take my girls to and from school as well even though it's only a few blocks away and they could actually walk. I like the extra time in the mornings at breakfast with them and the extra time in the afternoon for them to play and be kids. I doubt I'll ever look back and say, "Gosh, I wish I would've spent less time with my kids!" :)

Lisa said...

What sweet moments to cherish! Although I don't take Kirk all the way to school most days, I do take him to the bus stop and we share some funny times there! :) LOVE muddy buddies - call them "monkey munch" around here after Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Sami said...

That's so sweet! Roon takes my kids to school in the morning, and then the walk the block and a half home each day. I love it the 2 days a week when I "pick them up" from school, and we walk to go get the other kids at my friend's house. They disclose so much about their days during that 15 minute walk...
And, now I must go make some muddy buddies (we also called it Puppy Chow) and I may even TRIPLE it!!!

Myya said...

Such a sweet lil guy you've got there! I would have started bawling remembering all those things you listed. I am going to be a complete basket case when Amira starts full days & Z is in school too. Oh man & don't even get me started on when my sweet little Liya is ready. Man, I better talk Sammer into another baby huh!!!

Crystal/Scott/Charlie/John said...

That's such a sweet story! And the pic of the muddy buddies makes me drool! I love those things! My sister's in-laws make them in batches so large they have to mix them up in garbage bags. Clean ones, of course. :) When Kirsten had them as part of her wedding reception refreshments and there were a few bags left over I had no qualms about taking one of those bags off their hands. :)

Mamarazzi said...

i came for the recipe and ended up crying...very sweet post. i am going to go and drown my empty uterus in muddy buddies now.

Parry's :) said...

I wish to take my girly to school, but the school bus it is. I don't hardly get to pick her up either, but when I do, I love it! But I love waking up to be with her in the morning, she is the gabbiest little girl ever when she first wakes up, she talks about all sorts of things! I'm also glad that her Daddy gets to to take her to the bus stop or some mornings to school, it's their special time together and I think that is important too, Daddy is not around as much as we would like, so it's good to have some things he gets to do too!

Carrie said...

I can't make them because I eat the whole bowl. Not even joking. I've also heard it called dog food. Which is just wierd.

Alexis AKA MOM said...

Ahhh I say those are the priceless moments. OUr is a drive with a stern talk be good today, listen to your teacher :).

You know I've seen them but never have attempted to make or eat them. Probably because I know I would EAT the whole bag. Aged lol love it ;)

Bethany said...

I love Muddy Buddies almost as much as I love this post! It's those tiny little moments that make me so glad that I don't ever have to take my kids to daycare. I don't want to miss one of them. Being a mom is the best!

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