First Love?? So Soon??

Big came home the other day with this book of pictures.  There was a girl's name on the book and the pictures were all drawn with mostly pink marker.  I looked through it and instantly thought he'd taken the wrong book home.  There was NO WAY Big would make anything with PINK MARKER!!  So I put it in his bag to send back to school the next day.

For some reason, though, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of that book...There was a heart on the front page...and every picture had two people in it...and the second person ALWAYS had green glasses!!  The person was mostly pink...with the exception of the green glasses!

And I thought, "HOLD THE PHONE!!!  Could this be his first love letter????  WHAT???  IN KINDERGARTEN????  

WHAT???"

So first thing in the morning, I showed it to Big and asked him where he got it.  He said a girl at school gave it to him.  I asked him if she made it at school or at home.  

He sheepishly hung his head and said, "At home...she said she thinks she's falling in love with me...Ohhhh, man!"

I ALMOST FELL OVER!!!!  

WHAT??????  FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM????  IN KINDERGARTEN?????  

WHAT?????

I kept my cool, though and asked him if he thanked her for the book....I mean, what else are you supposed to say to that??

Anyhow, I am TOTALLY in love with the pictures.  The little girl obviously put a lot of thought into them.  I'm totally keeping it for their wedding day :)  

Here's some of the highlights:

Wedding cake perhaps??

She even drew them riding bikes...I think?

 

I mean, honestly??  This chick's a total keeper!!!

Radio killed the Censorship star!

I'm sure our parents were horrified by the words used in music when we were younger, too but I've just gotta say that hearing, "I'm Sexy and I know it" coming from my 3 and 5 year olds is not my idea of a good time!

Top that with "Can you blow my whistle, baby?  I'll show you how to do it, and we start real slow?"  I totally had NO IDEA what that song was implying until I heard my kids singing it at the dinner table.

So I started downloading songs that I thought were pretty benign from itunes.  I chose Maroon 5's Payphone.  The kids sing along to it in the car so it must be pretty harmless at dinner....until I realized I downloaded the non-radio version and it was chockablock full of F this and F that!

But even the radio versions aren't safe.  Sure they're "censored" but what does that really mean?  You've got Nicki Minaj singing about Starships being "higher than a Mother Bleep-er!"  I'm sorry but that doesn't leave much to the imagination right there!  Especially when you're 5 year old is trying to sing along and asks, "Mommy what's a Mother Bleep-er?"  Literally...he said, "Mother Bleep-er!"

And then you've got Pink talking about having a SHhhT Day.  She says SHhhT Day 3 times in a row!  Obviously, they're going to wonder what a SHhhT day is.  Thankfully, though...the radio censor gods completely bleeped out the whisky D$CK line.  I don't know about you...but I'd have an easier time coming up with some kid friendly explanation of what a whisky d$ck is over what a SHhht day is.

Now, if they'd just completely bleeped out those vulgur words, we wouldn't be having this problem.  But in the great big scheme of things, bleeping out just the vowels is really just drawing attention to the bad words so that my 5 year old is left to wonder what's so special about that word???

Awesome!!

So, since I've been left to think quickly on my feet numerous times in a desperate attempt to preserve my kid's innocence over all things nasty on the radio, I've decided to put together a handy Quickipedia (for when you need a definition QUICK!!)  to help in similar awkward moments.

Note: These are all true stories...and yes, I made up the term Quickipedia!  I'm crafty like that :)



I'm sexy and I know it....means that you are really proud of yourself.

SHhht day...actually stands for Shoot day, which is when you stub your toe a lot and say, "SHOOT!"

Higher than a Mother Bleep-er!... refers to R2D2's mom being hoisted up in the sky.

I've got a passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it...is a special flavor of yogurt tube and he's not worried that his friend is going to steal it from him!


Come on, play along!  Have you got any to add???

Awestruck!

Somedays I look at my kids and think, "Man!  How did you grow up so quickly?"

Take Big for instance...

Last year, I lost many nights sleep trying to decide if he should start kindergarten or not.  He has a late birthday so we could have easily gone either way.  When the registration due date came and went and I still hadn't dropped off the 10 or so forms that I'd agonized over filling out, I realized I'd already made the decision.

He would have been fine last year.  He would have had some adjustments to make.  He would have clung to me for a few weeks and then got over it and probably would have been happy at school eventually.  But, he would have most likely been the youngest in the class...forever...and that would have sucked when he was older.

So we held him back...and as it turns out...I'm so glad we did!!

Because this year when he started kindergarten, he was so ready for it that he really didn't need much of an adjustment period.  He was a little nervous on the first day but ever since then, he literally runs into the car to go to school and he barely even acknowledges my existence as I yell, "Bye, buddy!  I love you!!" over and over again in the hopes that he may still need a hug before starting his day.  Most days, he doesn't.  I keep reminding myself that that's a good thing :)

But what really blows my mind about that kid is that he's also started a new daycare and didn't know any of the teachers or kids before his first day there.  I was nervous about how that was going to go.  Not because I was worried that he wouldn't make friends...man!  That kid makes friends no problem!  But I was worried that he wouldn't like it or would be nervous or scared or would maybe have too many new things going on and it would be overwhelming for his 5 year old self.

Turns out, it was only overwhelming for his mommy!!  He didn't even have a regular routine for the first month...one day, he'd be at daycare, the next day he'd be at his friends place, the next day I'd be dropping him off...the kid was all over the place!  And yet, he'd just ask me in the morning, "Where am I going today?" and would take the whole thing in stride with a giant smile on his face and only so much as wave at me as he went on to his next adventure.

I don't know what happened to my mildly anxious kid but I sure am in awe of how mature and well adjusted he's become!

And then there's his brother...that kid has wanted to do everything himself..correction, his own way...since he was born!  He's never had any anxiety issues and rarely clung to me out of fear of trying new things.

He just started a new program the other day that was in a completely unfamiliar area and with kids and teachers he'd never seen before.  He strolled in, picked up a toy, said to the kid next to him, "Hi!  My name is <Small>.  What's your name?", and didn't even look at me when I said Bye a couple hundred times.

I sat outside the class for the whole two hours anyway...I'm not sure why.  The kid has never once ran out of a program like that screaming.  I guess I just wanted to make sure I was there in case there was ever a first time.

They say that letting go of your children is the hardest thing to do as a parent.  While I realize my kids have a lot of growing up still to do, I am amazed that they are already starting to leave me behind.

I'm so proud of them and the amazing people they are becoming...I just wish they would hurry up and slow down this growing up thing :)  They are still my babies after all :)