I Have The Mind of a 4-Year-Old

My 8-year-old son just told me not to wait to go potty.

I was on my way to take care of business when the Critter asked me a question. Being the dutiful mom I am I stopped to answer his inquiry. The Negotiator says to me, "Mom, I thought you were going to the bathroom. You really shouldn't wait until the last minute." Hmm, I wonder where he's heard that before...

Earlier today I was looking for trinkets for the treasure box in my classroom. While I was going though some boxes of donated items I found a box of mints.
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I could not stop laughing.

Being the completely mature adult that I am, I waited for my boss to go take care of his business and then I left the box of mints on his keyboard. Tee hee. I went back to my classroom to wait. And watch. I could barely contain my school-girl giggle. When he got back to his desk I saw him smile so I went to 'fess up. He said he knew it was me.

I suppose my reputation precedes me.

E

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What Happens When You Leave Your Digital Camera In The Reach Of Small Children

They take their own pictures. This one for example...



Can't figure out what this is a picture of in this shot?

How about this one?



This is a picture of "Catty". The Caterpillar. Yep, the boys went and found themselves one of God's little creatures and brought it's fuzzy ass into my house. The set up a fishing line for the insect's enjoyment and captured the moment digitally.

Want to know the VERY best part? They put the caterpillar in jar, complete with leaves, twigs and other insect accouterments, and didn't close the top securely. The next morning "Catty" was gone.

We never did find him.

E

The Butterfly Farm

We went to visit our local butterfly farm for a field trip today. Aside from the fact it raining, humid and I ticked off the owner right from the start it was a great trip. I learned a good deal about butterflies and now have come to not loathe flies. I'm sorry, but even knowing their important function in pollination that's still all the respect I can muster up the fly.

How did I tick off of the proprietors you are wondering? In all fairness she was not happy with our group from the get-go after the bus drove up too close to the farm. Apparently we were supposed to schlep through the muddy road with 100 children and leave the busses at the gate. Oopsey daisy. Then when one of the owners was unloading the lunches, she told me to stop with our wagon and, thinking she was another parent, I didn't. I was a bad, bad chaparone. Then I wouldn't allow the Negotiator to go into their education room because they have 5 cats that use that room as a bedroom. There was cat hair all over the floor, you know, where the kids sit. Since I didn't have an epipen or even a toot of Benadryl, my boy was not going inside to go into anaphylactic shock. Sorry.

In the end I did enjoy the trip, but I would have enjoyed it more on a cooler day. At least I get another shot in two years when the Critter goes on this same trip.

E

Spring Break In Pictures

I meant to post these earlier, but well, you know...




The Negotiator earned his archery belt loop at Cub World. All the cubs and dads went to a District sponsored event. I can rest easy knowing Boy 1 can bag a water buffalo in a famine.




Spring Break isn't a break without a carnival. We opted out of the official rodeo carnival for the rag-tag outfit about a mile from the house. We didn't have to pay for parking and the wrist bands were only a $1 more than at the Texas Star event. Neither boy noticed the difference so who are we tell them?




I love that they are each other's best buddies. They fight, but they do have a great time with one another. Makes my job much easier - and much harder.




We planted spring flowers. Our yard looks like doo doo. Papa and the boys spent some time getting the weeds out and adding a little color. I'm hoping to add more, but they were worn out with just the clearing stages.

E

Tastes for Two

Why can my boys like the same thing?

It seems I'm usually making two different "somethings". One will want a burger and the other chicken nuggets. One will want fresh fruit and one will only drink smoothies. I know I should put stuff out and too bad, so sad if you don't like it. Still I'm a mommy and seeing my kids NOT eat goes against every fiber in my body.

I'm trying a different approach. I'm sending the boys to cooking camp over spring break and maybe they can learn to cook for themselves since they seem to have such different tastes. At the very least I hope to get some help in the kitchen.

E

Missing The Clothes Boat

I hate it when I miss the season on my boy's clothing. I put away The Negotiator's spring clothes last year for The Critter this year. When I pulled them out The Critter had already outgrown them. How could he?? Moving on.

So I purged The Critter's closet of no-longer-fits clothing and got a bag ready for the clothing pantry at Papa's work. I know all the clothes there go to great new homes and I'm glad. It gives me incentive to keep purging, and believe me I need it since it feels like we are drowning in stuff.

E

Teacher Talks

We had our conference with The Critter's teacher today. She says he's doing great. From what I can tell at the student-led conference, the teacher is correct. He can maneuver the computers like nobody's business. He's whipping through those math manipulatives. He seems to be inclined towards reading and is already at the 1st grade level.

It's all good with The Critter.

The Negotiator has made great strides. His reading has shown remarkable improvement and he's reading slightly above grade level. Whew! As much as we valued the teacher's input we decided to take our own way of helping The Negotiator along with his reading. We started out with us reading to him from chapter books. He had to understand that all those random letters pulled together to make a word and those words in the correct sequence made a story. Once he made that connection he started challenging himself to read more.

This time we didn't meet formally with The Negotiator's teacher, but she sent home a progress form. He kicking mathematics booty. As I said, reading is rocking (a very special thanks to the Harry Potter books). We are told there still a bit of a disconnect with writing, which isn't about handwriting at all, but rather showing your reading comprehension through writing.

I don't think I'm gonna worry about that one. First he's a boy and the physical part of writing is just too hard for them at this age. Moving the brain, the language arts muscle, the hand for actually writing and bringing them all together in concert is a lot to ask. He'll get there eventually. I know he's comprehending the material because he can answer the questions verbally even if he can't write them down in his allotted time. Writing, in the case of this evaluation is, in my opinion, just another bullshit bench mark that only serves to make parents panic about their kid's progress. Which is exactly what I did, panic that is, when I got the little note. Then after further reflection it occurred to me that he's just like me. My mom was told I should repeat Kindergarten and that I was possibly dyslexic because I kept flipping my letters or some such nonsense. So at The Negotiator's age I couldn't show my comprehension through writing either. Today I can say that I've written for the news media (radio, television and print) for a mid-sized market in addition to the many other written documents I've produced over the years.

He'll be just fine. Trust me, teacher, I didn't turn out half bad.

E

Happy Birthday, J-Boy

He turns 8 years old today.

It's just not possible! He was just born, wasn't he?

Time is passing so quickly. I love the independence that having a growing child brings, but I am missing that baby boy! -E

I'll Just Wear A Hat

Lately The Negotiator has taken to wearing hats rather than brush his hair. What is up with that? I tell him to go brush his hair, but he acts like this is just SUCH an imposition on his time. Maybe it is to him, but c'mon, kid, we all crosses to bear.

I'd love to find a compromise, but there doesn't seem to be a middle ground between his idea and mine. I know eventually I won't have a say so, for now anyway, I win.

-E