Holes in the Floor are Fun

I was down in the basement, doing laundry, and I heard Justice's voice just above me. "What you doing Mama?" He was looking down an old pipe hole in the bathroom floor. We had fun with me poking him in the nose, and him dropping things down on me. It reminded me of how fascinating I found a similar hole in the floor, when I was a kid. I did not however poke him in the eye with a broomstick.

A Classic Example Of Learning With Love and Logic

A certain child of mine, who we will call David, is having a learning experience that I'm glad that he is having. I'm not glad that it happened, but I'm glad that he will have the chance to see the consequences of his actions and learn from them.

I babysit one of his friend's after school. Today the kids all got out of school early. My other two school age children had friends over already for the day, so I was expecting these two boys to try to get a play date going when the other mother came to pick him up. When she came, my son David rushed up and asked if he could go over to their house. She was mulling it over, and I could tell that she had a lot going on today. While she was willing for "David" to come over later, she looked relieved when I suggested that her son stay at my house for a while, while she ran some errands. David had run to the basement while the grown ups did the negotiations. His friend was excited to be able to stay and play with David for a while. His mother left, and he ran downstairs to tell David the good news. My son was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go to his friend's house, and started pitching a huge fit. I tried talking him out of it, pointing out that he was hurting his friend's feelings, and that he had a choice to make: 1) Get over it and enjoy having his friend over to play, or 2) Cry, act like a baby, and ruin the time they had together. Unfortunately, he chose #2. His friend felt so bad that he too was in tears and insisted upon calling his mother to come and get him right then. I tried talking him into staying, telling him that David would get over it in a minute, but he was frantic to leave. He ran upstairs and called his mother before I could stop him. This all happened so fast, that his mother couldn't have had time to do much more than to drive around the block.

In consequence, David now has no friend to play with for the day. The other mother did offer to let David come over later (not in front of him, thank goodness). I declined, he doesn't need to be rewarded for behaving that way.

I am sorry that this happened. But ultimately, I'm glad for the learning experience he is having.

Another Mystery to Solve, This One Not So Pleasant Though

I was working with Justice on using the potty, when I got distracted by a phone call. I let Justice go, and didn't put a diaper back on him for a few minutes. I smelled poop. I checked Justice, who had gotten off of the potty when I got on the phone, and he had poo on his legs. Crud! I asked him where he went poo poo at. "Couch." He says. I could find no poop on the couch. I asked him "Where is the poop, Justice?" He walks over to the dog, points at her mouth, and says "Chloe eat it." I guess she did, because I never did find it. I haven't even found any evidence of it on the couch. I Lysoled the whole thing, and the surrounding areas just to be sure. I hope I don't find it by accident in the future.

I've Been Pranked By Brad Carter

HA HA HA!!! It couldn't be anyone else. I was just scrolling through my caller ID list, looking for someone's phone number, and I noticed a few oddities. John Sever (from Colorado Springs, CO), Jason Nesmith (Galaxy Quest), Santa Claus, and someone with the exact same name as my husband (from Plantation, FL) have all called me with in the last few days. Hmm, seem odd? I actually noticed when "John" called me a couple of days ago, but he hung up before I got to the phone. I thought "That's weird, did John get a cell phone and not tell me. I wouldn't put it past him to get a cell phone and never tell anyone, since he hates to answer a phone. But the area code is not Peoria. Weird." Well on a whim, I called John Sever (the new one) yesterday, and had a short chat. He was a real person named John Sever, and he didn't seem to know who I was. "Weird." I thought. Today when I scrolled through the ID, I realized that there were too many weird things in there to be coincidences. So, I got on my computer and looked them all up in the yellow pages. Yes, they all exist, and they are all legitimate phone numbers. I only know one person who could have done it. Fess up, Brad. I knew I jinksed myself. It could be a lot worse, I'm sure. Do your worst, I ain't afraid of you!!!!!! Okay, maybe I am, please don't do your worst. You could do it to John, then I could have a laugh, and not have to suffer the consequences. On second thought, I don't think I'd wish that on John either. Love ya Brad!

To Make Liz Smile

Currently John is out house shopping. Liz is at home recuperating, because she's been deathly ill. I've got their children Erik & Jonni for the day. The kids were playing, and I was making a lot of noise on my piano. (I often have noise wars with my own children. I play the piano loud, (I happened upon a steal on a wonderful, old, baby grand piano early on in our marriage, before we had the sense not to just spend our money. It is my absolute favorite material possession. I'd sooner get rid of my wedding ring than my piano. I can still be married without a ring. Anyway, it can get really loud.) while they are watching TV in the next room. They can't hear the TV over my piano, so they turn it up REALLY loud. In fact sometimes they turn it up so loud that I have to play louder to drown them out.) ANYWAY... We aren't currently having one of those wars. Most of my children are at school right now. I was just playing, and Jonni brought me up a note that made me laugh. Here it is:

Now That's What I Call LAZINESS

I was just as WalMart, and as I was looking for a place to park, the car in the closest parking space to the building (other than the handi-capped spaces) started to pull out. Now, I am not one of those folks that will circle a parking lot looking for the most optimal space, and will sit there and watch people walking out to their cars, just so I can take their space. On the whole, I think that's a bit silly. What's a few more feet to walk? However, if the opportunity presents itself, I will park in as good a space as I can get. Anyway, I was just about to pull into another space, much farther back, in the same lane as the great-space car was. But, as he was pulling out, I figured "Hey, it's my lucky day, I'll park there." Well, the person in the exact next space to Mr. Great-Space started to pull out too.
"Wow!" I thought, "two of them." As soon as Great-Space pulled out, the guy from the space right next to him took his spot. I just laughed at that doof, and parked in his spot. Can you imagine, reparking to gain one space?! Okay, whatever!

Justice Experiments with the Microwave

No, he didn't blow anything up. I'll bet by now, a lot of you must think that Justice is a holy terror. I don't think he's much more troublesome than your ordinary 2 years old. He's definitely more of a climber than any other I've had, but that aside, he really is a sweet little boy. I am truly loving having this one around (most of the time). I don't know if it's because he is four years younger than the others, and it's been a while since I've had a really small one alone to enjoy. Or if it's because I'm older / more mature, and just enjoy this type of thing more, but I am honestly truly enjoying him even more than I think I did when the others were this age.

Again?!!

Another note in the Kindergarten folder. This one from a different girl. Oh man, am I in trouble?

When Boys Comb Their Own Hair

Here's Mark before school this morning. It cracks me up they way he and Ross comb their hair. Unfortunately, he had already been outside and messed the front up a bit, by the time I had taken this picture. The front was perfectly combed, and looked great, but look at the back. Funny!

Spread the Word

To those of you in my area. (You know who you are, and you probably know how to contact me.) I have been giving it some thought, and I've decided to start teaching piano from my home again. I haven't done that for a while, because I felt I had too many little disruptions to be able to provide a quiet, learning environment. However, things have changed somewhat. Most of my children are old enough, now to be able to stay clear of my piano room for a time on their own. I have made a bargain with my oldest daughter to keep the others out of my hair. She will make one dollar a lesson, to do so. We REALLY need to extra income, so any help you might give to spread the word would be appreciated. FYI, I have an Associates Degree in Music Education, with piano as my major instrument. (Yes, believe it or not, I can actually play pretty well. Any flubs you may have heard from me in public are mostly due to horrific nerves.) I can teach beginning, intermediate, or semi-advanced piano. My lessons will also include simple music theory as we go. I plan to teach out of my home, and there will be recitals twice a year. Anyway, if you, or anyone you know of (in my area) would be interested, I'd appreciate the referral. And as I said, I'm not big on putting my contact info on the web in general, but if this applies to you, you probably already know how to get ahold of me.

Thanks a million!

Mr. Negativity

Ross is a chronic pessimist. He's a wonderful boy, full of love and creativity. He does, however have a serious streak of pessimism. He can have just a wonderful day, full of all of his favorite things, but one thing goes wrong, and he'll complain about how it was the worst day ever. I'm actually afraid that he gets at least some of this from me.

Yesterday, he was complaining about having to do his homework. I was getting frustrated, and tired of listening to his whining. I pointed out that he could have been done long ago, if he'd just quit complaining and do the work. I said "Honestly Ross, I don't know anyone who complains as much as you do." To which he replied "I do. You. You murmur all the time." Touche Ross, I do need to work on that one.

Mr. Defiance

My Justice is going through a phase where he is always testing the limits. I haven't had such a clear cut case before where a child was so obviously trying to see just how much he can get away with. He'll do things that he knows that he's not supposed to do and watch me with this mischievous smile as if to ask "Are you coming to get me?"

Today we picked Mark up from school for a lunch date to McDonald's. Justice was walking along the booth bench. I had asked him to sit down earlier, but he'd gotten back up. He looked at me and says "Sit down?" I said "Yes, Justice, please sit down." That little stinker looked me straight in the eye, casually took a sip of milk, and said "No." Maybe I should have spanked his little bottom, but I didn't. It's just too hard to punish a child when you have to stifle a laugh.

Why Does Pa Wear a Hat?

Ross and Mark have recently been having a debate. Yesterday Mark decided to settle it once and for all by going straight to the source. We were at Bruce's parent's house, and Mark asks his grandpa "Pa, Ross wants to know if you wear a hat because you like to wear hats? Or do you wear hats to hide your bald head?"

Mark, the Ladies' Man

I knew we were in trouble when, at his Thursday School graduation, his teacher introduced Mark as the "boy with the most girl-friends in the history of Thursday School." Now, Mark is a regular kid, he doesn't try to be a ladies' man; but come on, what kindergarten girl could resist him. He is one heck of a good looking boy! Here's what I found in his folder after school yesterday.