Archives for June 2018

Purging Toys

06.29.2018 by Kayo Libiano //

My older son recently turned 6. We didn’t have a big party for him, but he got some new toys. Specifically, a way-to-big-for-our-house ‘Sentinel’ military plane. Where am I supposed to put that thing? (I hung it from the ceiing via a hook and handy carabiner clip…)

I adhore military toys. God Bless our incredibly brave soldiers that sacrifice for our country on a daily basis, but I personally am not a war-reinactment, and weapons person when it comes to children’s toys. But alas, it was the one thing he would not let up on… So, in with the new ridiculously large plane, out with some outgrown stuff that I never cared for.

In our shoe-box house, when the kids birthdays and holidays roll around, I like to purge toys. I did a purge in March of all our “baby toys” since the younger son turned three. Now I am faced with purge #2. But this time it’s a little bit harder to purge big-kid toys because, well, the little one could still “grow into” them. But that’s not the biggest problem I have. The #1 problem with getting rid of kids stuff is their damn memories.

Does this happen in your family? You go through bins, baskets, drawers and boxes and get rid of a bunch of useless crap and things you know for certain the children have never played with or haven’t touched in months, maybe years. “Ahhhhh, Halleluea! It’s time to PURGE!” It all goes to Goodwill or in the trash. Then, this conversation happens…

“Mommmmmmmmy! I can’t find that thing!!!”

“Uhhhh, okay? Which thing are you talking about? Can you describe what you are searching for?”

“You know, that white thing with the thing that’s this big, You KNOW!!! That thing!”

(And you, being a mom, and whom is the only person on the planet that understands your child’s non-sensical kid-speak through crafty deduction and careful attention to daily details…)

“Ohhh, you mean that tiny white Minecraft rabbit figureine with the red eyes that creeped me out and you never looked at or played with since the day you dug it out of the sand at Veteran’s Park 6 months ago? Yea… I got rid of that. Yesterday…” (FRICK!)

“Noooooooo mamma! (Sob) Oh no… I really liked that bunny. Why’d you throw it away?”

“Ugh.” (Really kid? You’re killing me.)

Why does this happen? It makes the feel good part of purging turn into insta-heartbreak.

How do they even remember those tiny bits and bobs? Damn kid brains. And why is it always the day AFTER you get rid of something and the trash truck has already come and gone that their incredible memories kick in? Like a damn radar, they desperately need that very particular item like it’s a polio vaccine?

I am at a loss. I like clutter-free. My hands touch a very limited number of “things” on a daily basis and I don’t need the clutter! But children are a different beast are they not? They need variety and their little hands and minds require so much… shit. Anyone out there feel me? How do you purge the unpurgeable? Comments and suggestions needed.

Today, I say, continue to purge away… It’s your house. You control what’s in it???

-K

LEGO Sets

06.29.2018 by Kayo Libiano //

Frickin’ LEGO sets. I just need to get this out because I am keenly aware of my neurosis and I have to type it out and share. My older son is a Star Wars nerd. He geeks out so much on Star Wars that sometimes I wonder if it will all be a phase, or if he will end up as one of those ‘special individuals’ that still goes to Star Wars conventions at age 40. Nothing against those people… really. I know some (ahem, you know who you are.) I’m just wondering what I have to look forward to.

But I digress…

Back to LEGO sets. We have quite a few Star Wars LEGOs and their associated mini figs. Ours line up on Pinterest plagiarized frames which double as wall deco. (Thank you Mr. C.) And the sets themselves (aka. Star Ships, Land Walkers and the like) line shelves in the kid’s room. I know there is so much more out there. (I sadly admit we have an Amazon wish list consisting of just such Star Wars LEGO sets) So I know we have not even scratched the surface of the disaster it could be…

When friends come over to play at our house, the first thing they seem to want to do is destroy the LEGO sets. (Oddly, by shooting at them with Nerf Guns…) ARGH BOYS! Can’t you just sit at a table and do homework or make a craft project??? It’s like a losing battle. I am all for creative free-building with LEGOs, but that’s why we have a whole separate bin full of blocks just for that, damn it! I’ve resorted to “hiding” the sets before play dates, but we have so many that it’s impossible to just stash all of them under the beds or in a closet or wherever. And because of my crazy Type A personality, I am left with gray and white bits of Rebel Fleets and Empire Destroyers that need to be reconstructed late into the night. And I do it. I break out the instruction booklets because I’m that freak. Forget the people that go to Star Wars conventions, I’m the true weirdo here! I blame it on my architecture background and the all-nighters I used to pull. By around 10PM, my husband just shakes his head and plods off to bed.

I want more than anything to Kragle this LEGO shit-pile we own. But I don’t, because then who am I? Lord Business?

But tonight, I just might do it. I just might break out the Krazy Glue and go to town. Because the time I waste putting LEGO sets back together could be spent elsewhere. I could read a book on meditation. Heck, I could just sit and actually meditate!

Meditate on how stupid it is that I care so much about LEGO sets staying intact to the point that I felt compelled to write about it.

– President Business’ alter ego

Our House: The Shoe-Box

06.28.2018 by Kayo Libiano //

Apologies for the hiatus. Life happened… a 200 hr. Yoga Teacher Training happened, a quick consulting job for me, plus mini vacations and school transitions…

But I think I’m ready to get back on track!

I suppose I should have written this post first before anything else. A little glimpse into my life with a family of four in a 1,200 SF house. Here’s how we have been living in the “shoe-box” for the past 10+ years.

Our house was first constructed in the 1920’s. There were some illegal additions and renovations in the 1970’s, mainly the living unit above the garage. For the first 5 years or so, (waaaay before children were even a figment of our imaginations) we had tenants in the rear illegal unit. First, a nice single guy in the aerospace industry who “came with” the property when we bought the place in November of 2003. When he got married and moved out, we rented it to a newly-wed couple with whom we are friends with ’til this day. After our renter friends moved into their new house, my husband used the 2 room space as his home office. To this day, it’s still his home office with a few modifications.

When our second son arrived in March of 2015, we moved all our beds up into this space. It’s a weird scenario because the unit is completely detached from the main house at the rear of the property. Great as a rental or an office, but majorly awkward when you try to use it as an integral part of everyday living… Therefore rain or shine, our nighttime ritual looks a bit like this: bathe the children, go outside through a converted closet, climb a flight of rickety stairs, and put the kids to bed. It’s annoying as $h–, but it works for now. This arrangement also frees up the back room in our 2-room “main” house for the kids. “What? An entire half of your already tiny hole-in-the-wall is dedicated to the children?!?!” Yes. Yes it is… I admit it’s pathetic that an entire 1/2 of the main structure is devoted to the children and their comfort, but such is life at the moment.

It’s tight and super awkward right? Now you can plainly see exactly why building a new house is such an exciting prospect for us. 3 floors of space. It’s still going to be small, but so much more than what we currently live with.

Basically, I am constantly giddy because I am constantly thinking about the new house. With all of the hurdles we have endured thus far and despite knowing full well there will be countless challenges yet to overcome, I can’t wait. We started the City submittal process around July-September of 2016. It is now July of 2018 and we have yet to acquire a building permit. Don’t ask… It’s been a f-ing process. If you have ever submitted a set of plans in any jurisdiction, you already know that an approval on the 1st pass does not exist. There are corrections, then more corrections. Hoops to jump through, etc. etc. I’m hoping for an approval by the end of this year? It’s laughable to think that when we first started the process, our unattainable hopes of demo-ing our shoe-box was by the summer of 2018. HAHAHA!!! A whole 2 years of jumping through said hoops and here we are, still twiddling our thumbs. It’s not all the City’s fault either. We had to get our finances in line, and I admit to procrastinating on some of the corrections due to… you know, life happening. It’s akin to running a marathon. Slow and steady to the finish. With several blisters, cramped muscles and painful chaffing guaranteed before crossing the finish line to retrieve our medals. We’ll get there eventually. We may be crawling across the finish line after all the other participants have already gone to the beer garden for their celebratory drinks, but it will all come to an end someday.

So until demo-day is scheduled, we will continue to live our lives as we know it today. Devoting 1/2 of a house to kids’ crap, and strangely plodding up a rickety set of termite ridden steps to our beds. Laughing and cuddling as we go.

-K