Yestereday before church Daniel started to say something to me. It went something like this:
"Hey Mom...Can I...Can I have..."
and he stopped.
So I followed with, "What?"
And his response was, "Never mind. I will pray about it."
Now isn't that just darling? Aren't we doing a wonderful job raising him in a world of faith and belief in God and prayer?
Curious, I asked him again what he was going to say.
And he followed with, "I want a ripstick for my birthday."
Ugh! He is praying for a ripstick for his birthday! Not for health and happiness or for a friend in need. Nope. A ripstick for his birthday. And he seriously thinks he has a better chance of getting it from God than from me. Ha!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Afro
Daniel: "Hey, there's CJ with his afro!"
Me: "The afro is not like a hat that he puts on and takes off. It is his hair."
Daniel: "Oh. Whatever."
Me: "The afro is not like a hat that he puts on and takes off. It is his hair."
Daniel: "Oh. Whatever."
Monday, August 20, 2012
Innocense
I often think about and discuss with my friends the challenges of parenting a 17 year old and a 7 year old at the same time (with a 15 and 12 year old in between, of course). You know...waiting up for my 17 year old to get home from Great Adventure with her boyfriend then going to bed and having the 7 year old come in and want to sleep with me; looking at colleges with one while teaching the other to read; fighting with her about wearing shorts that are too short and/or shirts that are too low after discovering that he hasn't changed his underwear in 3 days. Having to parent children who are at two polar opposites of the developmental spectrum requires much multi-tasking and the ability to change direction at warp speed. To the outside world I probably seem bi-polar at times.
But what I have never considered until this weekend is how it seems from his perspective...from the eyes of a 7 year old.
I was in the Adirondacks this weekend with my parents, the 4 kids and Brooke's boyfriend. The sleeping arrangements were as follows: Brooke and me in the Queen bedroom, Daniel and Mark in the Double bedroom and Joey and Kevin in the twin beds in the basement. When it came time to put Daniel to bed that first night he asked why he was sleeping with Mark. I didn't comment right away and he went on to say: "Wait. (pause to think) This doesn't make sense. (longer pause to think) I should sleep with you, Kevin should sleep with Mark, and Joey should sleep with Brooke." Wow! I almost choked! But I did manage to keep from laughing. Because really, why wouldn't those be the arrangements? Daniel sleeps with me (and pokes me in the head with his pointy elbow) any chance he gets, Kevin and Mark share a room at home (why wouldn't they here?), and Joey is Brooke's friend. If she had brought a girlfriend, which she has in the past, they would share a room. He has no clue how inappropriate the idea of Brooke and Joey sharing a room is. Why would he? He is 7.
And despite the fact that he knows way more than your average 7 year old, I now know that at least some of his innocense remains intact. Yay me! I am awesome! Actually, I am lucky. Frankly, this has never even ocurred to me. I am raising a child in a world full of teens. And thank God most of the "teen stuff" goes right over his head. So, I just told him, "The sleeping arrangements make perfect sense. Now go to sleep. Good night. I love you." In this case, no explanation was needed. He doesn't need to know. He is 7. And it's a good thing he doesn't need to know. Because damn if I know how to explain that to him! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And I just got lucky.
But what I have never considered until this weekend is how it seems from his perspective...from the eyes of a 7 year old.
I was in the Adirondacks this weekend with my parents, the 4 kids and Brooke's boyfriend. The sleeping arrangements were as follows: Brooke and me in the Queen bedroom, Daniel and Mark in the Double bedroom and Joey and Kevin in the twin beds in the basement. When it came time to put Daniel to bed that first night he asked why he was sleeping with Mark. I didn't comment right away and he went on to say: "Wait. (pause to think) This doesn't make sense. (longer pause to think) I should sleep with you, Kevin should sleep with Mark, and Joey should sleep with Brooke." Wow! I almost choked! But I did manage to keep from laughing. Because really, why wouldn't those be the arrangements? Daniel sleeps with me (and pokes me in the head with his pointy elbow) any chance he gets, Kevin and Mark share a room at home (why wouldn't they here?), and Joey is Brooke's friend. If she had brought a girlfriend, which she has in the past, they would share a room. He has no clue how inappropriate the idea of Brooke and Joey sharing a room is. Why would he? He is 7.
And despite the fact that he knows way more than your average 7 year old, I now know that at least some of his innocense remains intact. Yay me! I am awesome! Actually, I am lucky. Frankly, this has never even ocurred to me. I am raising a child in a world full of teens. And thank God most of the "teen stuff" goes right over his head. So, I just told him, "The sleeping arrangements make perfect sense. Now go to sleep. Good night. I love you." In this case, no explanation was needed. He doesn't need to know. He is 7. And it's a good thing he doesn't need to know. Because damn if I know how to explain that to him! Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And I just got lucky.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Can't hide the truth forever
Brooke & her boyfriend have been going out now for about 7 months, so over the course of that time he has gotten to know more and more about the family and our household. You know, at the beginning when I knew Joey was coming over I cleaned. I picked up, dusted (a little), vacuumed, made sure dishes were in the dishwasher, etc. Then, as time went on, I would straighten up and vacuum. Now, I throw the crap in my bedroom and pick up the globs of dog hair from the hallway.
A few weeks ago he was here and, based on that visit, I think there will be no future effort made whatsoever to try and mask the truth of who we are and how we live. First, we were down to one roll of toilet paper for the 3 bathrooms. So he heard the announcement that the only bathroom with toilet paper would be the main bathroom on the first floor. Then Brooke called me to tell me that Zoey was eating toilet paper in her room (where she and Joey were hanging out). I mean really! We did not have enough toilet paper in the house for her to be consuming it! Sadly, the toilet paper she was eating was from the trash having previously been used by someone to blow their nose or something. Gross! Then, as I went into the upstairs bathroom to throw away the dog-chewed toilet paper I realized, to my horror, that there was dirty laundry on the floor. I had sorted and only gotten to one load...the other load was all over the bathroom floor! Thank God there is no toilet paper in that bathroom and he would have had to use the downstairs! Dammit. He's a guy. He doesn't need toilet paper!
Anyway, he now has TMI and I now just hope that she keeps him around for a while so he doesn't feel the need to blab about our disaster of a household. We certainly can't have an ugly break up that results in lots of bitterness on his part. Hell, if they don't get married I may be in the market for some memory erasing drugs to slip in his drink!
A few weeks ago he was here and, based on that visit, I think there will be no future effort made whatsoever to try and mask the truth of who we are and how we live. First, we were down to one roll of toilet paper for the 3 bathrooms. So he heard the announcement that the only bathroom with toilet paper would be the main bathroom on the first floor. Then Brooke called me to tell me that Zoey was eating toilet paper in her room (where she and Joey were hanging out). I mean really! We did not have enough toilet paper in the house for her to be consuming it! Sadly, the toilet paper she was eating was from the trash having previously been used by someone to blow their nose or something. Gross! Then, as I went into the upstairs bathroom to throw away the dog-chewed toilet paper I realized, to my horror, that there was dirty laundry on the floor. I had sorted and only gotten to one load...the other load was all over the bathroom floor! Thank God there is no toilet paper in that bathroom and he would have had to use the downstairs! Dammit. He's a guy. He doesn't need toilet paper!
Anyway, he now has TMI and I now just hope that she keeps him around for a while so he doesn't feel the need to blab about our disaster of a household. We certainly can't have an ugly break up that results in lots of bitterness on his part. Hell, if they don't get married I may be in the market for some memory erasing drugs to slip in his drink!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
College dreams...are they realistic?
I first need to preface this with the following: "Mark hates to read" It may be a visual thing. Maybe with his poor vision it is just too tiring. But, truth be told, I think it is just that he would rather be doing something else.
This marking period he had to read one book and do a project on it. I encouraged him to read The Hunger Games. I read this book and loved it. It has all of the things that an 11 year old boy should love: action, suspense and a fair amount of violence.
It took him no less than two full months to finish it. Painful!
Anyway, this morning he asked me about University of North Carolina. Both my father and my youngest brother went to this fine institution of higher learning. He asked if he has good enough grades to get into UNC. To which I replied, "Yes, I think you do. But you should start reading more."
His answer: "Why? Is North Carolina a reading school or something?"
After I finally regained my composure I said, "All colleges are really reading schools." He replied, "Oh man! I think I'll be a plumber."
This marking period he had to read one book and do a project on it. I encouraged him to read The Hunger Games. I read this book and loved it. It has all of the things that an 11 year old boy should love: action, suspense and a fair amount of violence.
It took him no less than two full months to finish it. Painful!
Anyway, this morning he asked me about University of North Carolina. Both my father and my youngest brother went to this fine institution of higher learning. He asked if he has good enough grades to get into UNC. To which I replied, "Yes, I think you do. But you should start reading more."
His answer: "Why? Is North Carolina a reading school or something?"
After I finally regained my composure I said, "All colleges are really reading schools." He replied, "Oh man! I think I'll be a plumber."
Friday, January 6, 2012
Flash mob
WSB Flash Mob
Above is the link to the YouTube video of flash mob that I participated in with the accounting firm where I work.
When they first sent out the e-mail regarding this I thought it sounded fun. Then, upon further reflection, I thought that there was serious potential for me to make an ass of myself. I was torn. Should I or shouldn't I? So, I asked the kids. They thought it was cool and convinced me to go ahead and do it. I'm not sure if they really thought it would be cool or if they just wanted to have an opportunity to laugh at me, but whatever.
So, on December 3rd I took a train with a number of my co-workers into NYC and did the flash mob. I had been practicing all week at home in my family room (to the laughs of Eric & the kids) and I was excited. And it was soooo much fun! What a great opportunity to be a part of something like that.
I am convinced, however, that at least Brooke, while convincing me to participate, was somewhat motivated by the prospect of being able to laugh at me. She spent much time last night texting her friends and telling them to watch it. I guess I should be pleased that she actually was amused and not embarrassed. She wanted her friends to see it. Hmmm. Maybe I am a little cool.
Above is the link to the YouTube video of flash mob that I participated in with the accounting firm where I work.
When they first sent out the e-mail regarding this I thought it sounded fun. Then, upon further reflection, I thought that there was serious potential for me to make an ass of myself. I was torn. Should I or shouldn't I? So, I asked the kids. They thought it was cool and convinced me to go ahead and do it. I'm not sure if they really thought it would be cool or if they just wanted to have an opportunity to laugh at me, but whatever.
So, on December 3rd I took a train with a number of my co-workers into NYC and did the flash mob. I had been practicing all week at home in my family room (to the laughs of Eric & the kids) and I was excited. And it was soooo much fun! What a great opportunity to be a part of something like that.
I am convinced, however, that at least Brooke, while convincing me to participate, was somewhat motivated by the prospect of being able to laugh at me. She spent much time last night texting her friends and telling them to watch it. I guess I should be pleased that she actually was amused and not embarrassed. She wanted her friends to see it. Hmmm. Maybe I am a little cool.
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