Archive for the ‘The Kids’ Category
July 14 2011
“Will you please give it to me?”, Jedi whined, though politely.
“No. I’m not telling you my password.”
Jedi is on the computer a lot. A lot. Whether it’s to play games or watch silly videos on YouTube. But he was suddenly no longer content with being a spectator. He wanted his own YouTube channel to upload to. And to sign up, he needed my Google password.
He wasn’t giving up and I wasn’t giving in.
I’m rather lenient with what he can do online. He jumps from site to site and I’ve even set up a Facebook account for him, though it’s rarely used. None of this I’m extensively worried over because I supervise and feel in control. A YouTube account is where I drew the line, however. He’s a good kid, but there’s a bevy of temptation there. No one needs to see 30 clips of his butt.
Noticing my feet firmly planted, he went to the cabinet and brought down his money jar, setting it in my lap. “Here, tell me your password and you can have all my money.” I could tell he thought this was it. Bribery is the answer. He raced back to the computer and stood with his fingers at the keyboard, ready for when I’d recite each bought letter. Surely, I couldn’t turn down his bundle of saved birthday cash, it was like handing me the world. A very small, cheap world.
Because bribery is only effective if it’s not offensive.
“You have less than $10 in here”, I rebuked my son. “I’m worth a lot more than that.”
July 13 2011
Jedi, November 10 2003, after 29.5 hours of labor.
Buzz, April 26 2006, after 6 hours of labor.
Abby, July 24 2008, after 2 hours of labor.
Even though I sometimes miss them being this small, squinty-eyed and screaming, and can’t believe it wasn’t yesterday, I’m more fond of the little people they’re growing into.
Then, there’s this:
Buzz at 1 month, giving 2 year old Jedi a piece of his mind. Some things never change.
Linked up with Rockin’ the Baby and Wordful/Wordless Wednesday.
July 11 2011
“Yay, Mommy! You did it! So awesome!”, Abby clapped her little hands together and praised enthusiastically. She even gave me a double thumbs up, her biggest compliment and a gesture recently learned. Then, just because she thought I deserved it for a job well done, she came up and gave me a congratulatory embrace.
Yay! I did it! I must be the best mom, ever. It’s time someone finally took notice of all my hard work, dedication, perseverance, and…
Wait… What did I do?
It took a moment to look around. But there were only towels in front of me that I had just taken out of the dryer. I knew she was watching as I folded each and stacked them against one another, but I didn’t realize she was that captivated. So I gathered another, and again she cheered. “Good job, Mommy!”, she beamed.
Yay, Mommy folded a towel!
With that kind of support system, I can scale mountains! Dance on the moon! Sport a pair of skinny jeans with confidence! Leap tall buildings with a single bound! No, nevermind, that’s Superman.
Or, you know, fold bath linens. Because apparently I’m pretty great at it. According to my daughter, though, I may be able to drape the moon. I’ll take the boost to my self-esteem for as long as I’m lucky enough to have it. Because I know that all too soon, I won’t be able to do anything right at all.
July 07 2011
With the summer season here, I’ve been trying to get us outside more to ease my mommy guilt. Especially when I read on twitter about all the fun things others are doing. I don’t have any of these fun things at the ready, however. Which means we’ve been going for a lot of walks. It’s not the most exciting outing, I admit, but it provides sunshine and fresh air for an hour.
My oldest is not a fan of fresh air, though. He fights as we’re getting ready, he asks when we’re coming home as soon as a single foot steps outside. If he’s not complaining about the heat or boredom, he’s terrified of the little amount of traffic we encounter. I have tried to reassure him otherwise, but he insists the cars are trying to run him over. So, this last time, he decided to be proactive. He armed himself with a plan.
“If anyone tries to run me over”, he said frankly, “I’m going to give them the middle finger.”
“You’re what?!”, I questioned in shock. A valid reaction to be sure, but not for my 7 year old. Jedi never says curse words. He turns his face in embarrassment whenever anyone else does. This wasn’t like him.
In a softer tone, he repeated, “I’m going to give them the middle finger”.
“Do you know what that finger means?”, I asked him. Because surely he couldn’t.
“No.”
“It means the F word.”
“Oh”, he assented, turning his face down toward the road for only a moment. Until he got an even better idea.
“Then I’ll give them the middle toe.”
June 30 2011
The plan was always to have at least two children. Siblings weren’t the only reason, but it was a main consideration. I didn’t want my firstborn to grow up as a singleton, because I thought he’d be lonely. I had a big brother and, even though he’s many years older, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to go through life without him. Because of our age difference, we weren’t as close as I would have liked as kids, however. Which is why, when I became pregnant with my younger son almost 2 years after my first, I figured that would be perfect. What a great gap, we couldn’t have picked it better if we’d tried. The younger will learn so much from my older and they’ll always have each other to lean on. They’ll be the best of friends. Hold hands. Sing Kumbaya.
Yeah, that.
It’s not exactly how I pictured.
I know Jedi cares for Buzz. I’ve seen him watch out for him. He gets worried when Buzz gets hurt. This is only when he thinks no one is watching, though. The rest of the time, their treatment towards one another is intolerable. Buzz is too rough with Jedi, I give him that. They don’t play the same. Still, Jedi’s not shy about his aversion to his brother.
“He’s gross.”
“But I still don’t like him.”
“I don’t want to play with him!”
Best friends aren’t even close.
I’m still hopeful, however. Because the thing with family, you may not realize until later, but somewhere down the line you’ll be thanking your lucky stars you have them.
