It's a bOy's wOrLd
 Imagination - noun the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.
the ability of the mind to be creative the ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful - I believe ones imagination is the most important thing to have and cultivating it at a young age is even more important. Between him and Noah we have a bunch of syringes to administer cough medicine. We have a forehead and ear thermometer and other basic needs. Since We have two of everything Jacob has taken it upon himself to heal everyone else in the house with the extra supplies. While he needs to learn bedside manners for the most part he’s a really good “doctor”. So to help that imagination we brought him a doctors kit for Christmas. I can’t wait for him to open it. in the picture above he grabbed Juan magnifying glass to check out Juan’s eyes aside from him pretending to be a doctor, he's a really great chef and baker. Juan installed a fireplace in the basement and from that alone he found one of his baseballs and an exercise strengthening band. placed the ball in the band and pretended to be roasting marshmallows. There are several sweetkisses to be found here but the most important is to always encourage their creativity Stay sweet ~K Boy, oh, boy!
First, let me start by saying, being a stay at home mom or dad does not receive the credit it deserves! Those parents that do this 24/7 are amazing creatures. This doesn't denote the working parents, as my husband and I are likewise. But being a parent is hard work. It's an expensive, yet rewarding Ph.D. career in Parenting. Being a working parent, I received time off to bond with my boys when they were born - the traditional time off for maternity leave (6 weeks) and FMLA, if you're lucky enough to receive it. NYS implemented a new law called Paid Family Leave in 2018. This act allows individuals to take paid time off to take care of a loved one; new child bonding, ill parent, etc. With each passing year, the allotted paid time off increases as well as the percentage of pay. So, for example, 2018 allowed 8 weeks of paid time off at 50% of your weekly pay. Moving into 2019, the allotted time off increased to 10 weeks, with 55 or 60% of your weekly pay; this will stay the same until the end of 2020 or 2021. Come the beginning of 2021 or 2022, the allotted benefits will cap off at 12 weeks with 65-75% of your weekly pay. So, I'm thankful 1) to live in NYS and 2) to have had Jacob and Noah since the inception of the new act. This allows me to enjoy extra time with the boys. Because let's face it, the US has one of the WORST maternity leave programs in the world! Seriously, what can anyone do with ONLY six WEEKS? In six weeks, my child has looked like a different person 10 thousand times! - Come on Lady Liberty, get it together sista! We'll discuss this frustration more in-depth in another post! So, I was set to use my PFL for all of March and April with a return to work in May. (I forgot to mention this act allows you to utilize the time intermittently for up to a year.) At the very end of February, the beginning of March, the number of Coronavirus cases surged. Ultimately, this led Gov. Cuomo to put NYS on lockdown. Therefore, for the first two weeks of March, the boys and I were out and about at the playground, museums and such. Once implemented, we couldn't venture anywhere but our backyard. Since we had to change our routine, I felt that I was wasting OUR bonding time just sitting at home. Yes, I love being home with the boys, but being able to go to the playground, socialize with other kids, explore and just be out and about was no longer an option. So, I figured why not work and get paid to stay home with the boys instead of wasting OUR precious time?! So that's what I did! and boy is this an EYEOPENER! Now, I have to cut myself some slack here because it's only been 2 weeks and I'm still gathering everything I missed while out last month. But during that time Jacob has managed to give the living room a lotion massage, Noah has exploded in his diaper and I've managed to get one meal cooked (partly prepped) during that time. So my sweetkisses from this experience is that when this is all said and done, I'll have another month to go crazy with my boys furthermore I get to see all these precious milestones. Stay Sweet -K Welp!
Someone decided they couldn't wait just two more weeks let alone a day or two! We would have been a January family! Noah Anthony Benitez came in with a vengeance on December 30th at 6:54p. Weighing in at 7lbs 10oz and measuring 19'3/4. He was born with a head full of hair and completely alert. You're possibly wondering how we went from Jaxon to Noah? Well, I'd been calling Noah, Jaxon, for the longest time. But towards the end of the pregnancy, I was torn between the two and couldn't decide. So, when Noah was born I still couldn't decide what to name him. As I was holding him, later that evening or maybe the next day, I asked him "are you Jaxon or Noah?" - pausing after each one. To my surprise, he ONLY responded when I said, "Noah"! He opened his big eyes and I knew he was Noah. My sweetkisses from this were that, nothing is definite in life and that the plans we may have can change for the better. Noah, was not meant to be a Jaxon, he was meant to be him - Noah. And I can only imagine the wonderful things God has in store for his life. What were the sweetkisses you discovered looking back? Stay sweet -K |
