Getting over fears

I'm impressed with how far our two oldest have come with getting over their fear of "water in my face"!!!! It all started with a water party at daycare, with water balloons and a sprinkler. G even drove a trike through the sprinkler, playing carwash with a friend.

We've been setting up the sprinkler and the slip & slide in the backyard pretty regularly to practice. L is still pretty timid around the sprinkler, but she likes to swing or slide through it. M loves the sprinkler. She has absolutely no issues with getting her face wet, which L quite enjoys... she loves to splash her in the pool (or in the tub, for that matter). We actually have to hang onto her every second at the pool, because she falls on her face and doesn't try to get up. G is getting braver every day.

G has been having way too much fun trying to spray ME with the hose every time it's out. I was cleaning up the pool the other day, and suddenly he was giggling and shrieking, "I'll get you Mommy," and he got me right in the face!! I'm looking forward to the day when I'll be able to spray him back, and know that he'll be able to handle it ;-)

Over the past year or two, I've been longing for a floor plan that allows me to overlook our back yard. There are so many days when the kids really want to play outside, but I need to go in to get lunch or supper started, or to put M down for a nap. The problem is that we don't have a fenced in backyard, and I can't see into our back yard from the kitchen window... so I just don't feel comfortable letting them play out there without me there. I'm trying to decide whether this is a rational fear, or out of control over-protectiveness. There have been a few days, though, when I've let them swing for a few minutes (like 3 or 4.... does that count?) while I've taken M inside and into her high chair....after being very clear and emphatic about the rules ("You can swing, and then come inside, through the back door. You may NOT go on the driveway or in the front yard"). I probably need to lighten up, but I can just imagine G deciding to go for a walk uptown...

It's getting to be that time of year when I need to get over another issue... my intense disgust with mosquitoes (and, I'll admit, a fear that one of those little creatures is going to infect one of my babies with West Nile Virus, encephalitis or some other nasty disease). I know I shouldn't complain, because (so far, at least) this year is not as bad as many others. I hate dousing my kids in chemicals to keep the mosquitoes away, but all of them have a nasty reaction to the bites, so I don't have much choice. It's been dry, it's been pretty cool, and so they seem to be a little late this year. I know it's just a fact of life where we live... but seeing my beautiful baby with a swollen eyelid makes me want to start chemical warfare on those pests!