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My 4.75 year old teenager said this to me this evening..."Well if you don't like anything at McDonald's why do you just go home and cook yourself something."Excellent suggestion. Thank you.
Check out TC's new stroller. He's VERY happy riding in this buggy. It's a reversible, floating seat. It's so nice to be able to have him face us without him having to be in an infant carrier to do it. Thanks M&D.
"Um, mommy can you please come in here and turn off this gentlemen's show and put on a kids show"
YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!
Tyler even went out front and rang the bell after the game! So exciting! I'm sure that my neighbors think I'm not all there. I mean I was sitting at the desk in the kitchen office in front of a laptop screaming and jumping and actin' a fool...can't even imagine what that looked like from the back windows...
I'm crossing my fingers for a bowl bid, preferrably Shreveport or Memphis so we can go!!!!
In Texas the only way to watch the game is on the computer on ESPN 360...but who cares - at least it's on.GO STATE!!!!!!!!!
So, this year as an extra incentive to really step up the behavior game I'm doing a modified version of Elf on the Shelf. By modified I mean, I didn't order that elf, I got my own and invented my own story. I sent my mother on a wild goose chase to find a 'realistic elf' (I know) and she finally found one at Garden Ridge...on a wreath. So she got the wreath and took it home and pulled the elf off only to find that he had a little rod in his back that was holding him to the wreath. To fix that she got some 'patches' of brown felt and glued them all over. The elf totally looks like the hardest worker at the North Pole... Anyway, she also sewed his name (Willie) on one patch and sewed that to his chest. I had already been building up the "scout elf" story and how Santa sends an elf to kids houses and the elf reports back on their behavior, etc., so Tiki was ready. I put Willie on the piano and told Teeks that his visitor was here.To say that Teeks was skeptical of Willie would be an understatement. He was like "That is NOT a real elf". I said "No, I know. It's the North Pole law that elves CANNOT interact with humans, so when we come in the room he turns into a stuffed elf." And to that he replied "You are telling a lie." So I let it go for a while and then right before bed (a truly horrific time for us each night) I brought Willie back up and asked "Where do you think Willie will hide tonight and where will we find him in the morning?" And this is what I heard from inside the closet as he was getting undressed "Listen, I believe in Santa, but I do NOT believe in Willie."That kid is lucky he's cute :-)
And I can't stop poking myself in the eye with it.I allowed a very keyed up 4.75 year old to go to 'Garden Bridge' with my today and then I okayed a suggestion to follow that up with dinner at a restaurant...good thinking on my part. So, why was I surprised when it got so bad that I had to leave over 1/2 my meal on the table and spend the rest of the time in the parking lot scolding, wiping tears, explaining the problem ad nauseum, scolding more and wiping more tears. Oh, I wasn't. What I am surprised about is that my limited math skills tell me I should weigh much less than I do if I end up skipping 1/2 of my dinner every night. Seriously. I'm so thankful that 5 is just around the corner. I'm certain that will be a turning point or the point where I freecycle a gently used 5 year old.
TKW: Mommy, can I have this candy?Me: No, no candy, it's late - close to bedtime, no candyTKW: Awwww, how about this candy?Me: No, NO candy tonight. You had a cookie earlier and that's enough sugar.TKW: Awwww, come on mommy, all I had today was protein and some grapes. I'm really ready for candy now.So, mother's take note, when all you've given your kid is 'protein and some grapes' their bodies will be really in need of the candy food group.
So yesterday TK and I had a little mom and me time and part of that time was to go see Bee Movie (great, by the way). After the movie we had to use the restroom and although I'm sure he could do it by himself, I'm too paranoid to send him into a public restroom by himself, so into the ladies room with me he goes. We went to the far back handicap access stall and per our normal arrangement, he runs into the stall and says "gentlemen first" (we are still working on that etiquette). So, he finished using the restroom and it was my turn. This is the point where he would normally start messing with the door lock or examining the flush mechanism so this next thing wasn't totally unexpected... He goes to the feminine box and start pushing in the little door tell him to leave that alone because it's yucky. He asks what it is and I tell him it's a special place for lady bathroom things that can't go in the toilet and be flushed, etc. He didn't understand so I said - like a baby diaper - they can't be flushed, right? He gets that so we are all set. Let's just finish and get out of here...
The next thing I hear is "tuh-am-puh-aw-enn... ta-m-paw-n... tam-p-on... tampon... tampon... tampon... is that right, is that what that says?" I said "Yes, shhhhhh" and he was like "What is a tampon, what is that, what is a tampon?" By now I'm starting to laugh and still shusshing him and trying to get out of the stall and redirect. He's still saying that same thing over and over again except now we are walking toward the sinks and he's being very dramatic, playing up to my laughter, using his very theatrical gestures "What is a tampon, why won't you tell me what a tampon is?" So the folks waiting in line for a stall are howling with laughter. Nice.
We get to the sinks and I say "Shhhh, okay what does that spell?" and he says
"SOAP...I already know that, but what I don't know is what a TAMPON is!".
Seriously - this is why I had kids...:-)
Saturday morning walks are becoming more frequent now that it's cooling off some. We normally pass more than one garage sale in our neighborhood and each one is an opportunity for Tiki to prove that someone else's trash really is someone else's treasure...This particular Saturday, Teeks sacrificed $2 of our hard earned money for a small floor pinball machine and an original VHS 25th anniversary edition of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory...As we were watching Tiki was eating a small box of Nerds from the Halloween bucket (I know - it's the 20th) and realized that Wonka candy is real. "Mommy, Wally Wonka is real. This is a real show about a real candy maker.""Yes, TK, there really is a WILLY Wonka candy company.""So, then are those Oompa Loompas real?"
It's my 6th wedding anniversary today! Todd and I were just discussing how we can't believe we have made it 6 years. I know you really should say that on your 25th or 50th, but I think we actually say that *each* year that we celebrate an anniversary...and frankly I think we will keep doing that. I have more than one friend that was divorced inside of 5 years, so every year that we're here it's reason to celebrate!!!!
Has it really been a month and 15 days since my last post? Before I had my second child people used to tell me (when I asked) that having 2 kids was NOT twice the work. What they forgot to add was that it's actually 15 times the work. But that may be because I leave my house at 7:30 every morning and arrive at work approximately 1 hour later and do the same thing at night - which leaves about 2 hours of the day for me. It's becoming a very big struggle for me personally to continue at that pace with a new baby that would like to see me more than that.
On to more upbeat topics.
So we have been dealing with the start of a new preschool year for Tiki and it's been quite interesting. They are on the light system at his school and every day when I'm driving to his school to pick him up I find myself repeating this silent prayer - let him be on green light, let him be on green light...Then I get there and actually have to take a big deep breath before walking in and hearing the verdict. Most days this year it's been poor little Teeks hanging his head and saying "Mommy, yellow light" or "Mommy, red light". I make a sad face and then have to ask "What happened" and the standard reply is "I just wasn't listening during ________ (insert any given activity)" And I say "Well, we are going to have to work on that, aren't we?" So imagine my suprise when on Wednesday I walked in and heard "Mommy, red light". I asked what had happened and was completely surprised to hear "I punched Coby in the stomach, that's why I'm on red light." I was like "Huh?" It turns out Coby was bothering him and would not stop as Tiki asked him to do. Huh? Did I accidentally teach him that? And when I say accidentally I mean - seriously, accidentally? I don't recall ever demonstrating that kind of response when someone is bothering me...but perhaps I have unknowingly punched a few folks in the stomach a few times and Teeks has just picked up on that...
I guess the dilemma here is where in the world to kids learn all of this stuff from? We don't watch punching stuff on TV and we don't have friends that punch so I'm just wondering where in the world my sweet bespectacled child picked this up from...
I'm currently struggling thorough "Raising Boys". And by struggling I mean I can't read it at night because it keeps me awake from all of the "OH MY GOSH - that's the explanation for that" moments I experience. I hate to chalk this up to being a boy, but I know that gender does play a big part in how kids (and adults) relate to one another, but I'm not sure the teachers of Pre-K III are going to accept that as an answer. For now it will just remain one of the mysteries of childhood - sort of like why some kids bite at school and make their parents crazy while the *girls* in the class just do what they are told and never give their parents a moment of trouble (haha).
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