What's wrong with you, Lego Creators?????

All last year, my kids were really into Lego Ninjago.  Then, one episode had some scary dragon in it and they pretty much ixnayed Ninjago from then on.

But then Lego came out with Lego Chima and the kids really badly wanted to watch it.  I saw one episode and there was some crazy war between lands and I was like, "WHAAAAAT?!?!"  As if my boys need to watch so much violence!  They already get enough violence in all the Super Heroes / Beyblades / Ninja Turtles crap that is on TV these days.

So last night, I decided to let them watch a Lego Friends episode.  It started off really cute!  It was all about these great friends who were really nice and wanted to help each other save the dolphins!  Awesome, right????

But then I started watching more closely....and I noticed that all the girls had perfectly coifed, streaked hair.  They also had perfect little adorable faces.  And their bodies?????  HOLY SMOKING HOT LITTLE GIRLS!!!  They had teeny tiny waists and they took every opportunity to show off their perfect little figures!  These "kids" also were in school and drove a jeep...I'm still not sure what age range they were supposed to be.

Ok, so yeah...I was reading too much into it at that point....

It was hard not to notice the little attitudes and behaviors they started doing, though.  One girl gave the ol' index finger waggle and almost said, "Oh no you Di'nt!"  They flipped their hair around, they shimmied their hips??  WHAAAT?????  Since when are little Lego girls sex objects???

And then came the final fateful scene that spurred this blog post....

They were supposed to go on a boat cruise so they all showed up in rain coats and rain boots.  No biggie!  But as soon as they realized it was a fun cruise, they INSISTED on going home to get changed because they "can't go on THAT boat looking like THIS!!"

Are you for real, Lego Friends???  Get a life!!

But, then they cut to the girls walking down the deck after they went to get changed and holy crap if it wasn't like Charlie's Angels in child form!

Hot little girls with next to no clothes walking down the dock shakin' what their momma gave them!

I'm not even exaggerating!!!!

And you know how my little 4 year old responded???



"OOOOOoooooooooooooooo!!!   Uh huh!!!"



I'M NOT EVEN JOKING!!!!!!!!!!

To say I was stunned, is an understatement.  I didn't even know where to go with that one!  I mean, at least with Ninjago and Chima, the violence is an obvious No!  I can say, "Stop fighting!" and they get it.

But, what do I say to the subtle sexification of those little Lego girls??
"Stop drooling, Small!"??

Or do I start explaining that girls come in all shapes and sizes and that they are all to be respected and valued??

Hell if I know!!

Here's the link to the episode:

Cut to 12:40 for the scene I mean...

And THAT'S what I'm Talkin' about!!!

All it was missing was a Bowm Chicka Bowm Bowm!!

I guess I should be grateful there was no cleavage at least?!?!


Seriously, Lego!!  Why can't we just let our kids be kids??????

Guess we'll be watching Sesame Street from now on!!!

Scream time! Who knew it was such an appropriate name!

About a month ago, I reached a whole new low with Small.  That kid!  Smokes!!  When he's mad, it's like he's possessed!  Like, literally!!  I'd be lying if I said I hadn't considered hiring an exorcist!!  Seriously!  The DEVIL!!

So this one day, I told him he couldn't play on the computer.  After his head stopped spinning around 360 degrees, he went into full on fight or flight mode!  Things were flying, flailing, kicking!!  It was not a pretty sight.  He eventually decided to chuck my computer keyboard on the floor and then my mouse across the room.  Color me UNHAPPY!!!  

Enter phase two of the tantrum.  I'll spare you details.

The next day, the battle started again...as soon as we walked in the door.  "No computer time!"  But this day, I had decided they could EARN computer time by doing workbook pages.  Genius idea, right???  Well, now that meant that I had to HELP them with the damn workbook pages while trying to cook dinner at the same time!  Not cool!  Not cool at all!!!  

Even that didn't work with my little ticking timebomb!  

A couple days later, we had rip roaring tantrum number 2!  This one hit it's breaking point when I moved the mouse to the top of the fridge and he climbed up there to take it back.  I put it in my pocket and he pulled it out and chucked it...all while Big was wailing behind me for dinner...all while I was trying to cook dinner...

Enter phase two of the tantrum while Big continues to wait unpatiently for dinner.  I'll spare you details.

Needless to say, SCREEN TIME (or SCREAM TIME as they call it) and me ARE NOT FRIENDS!

That night, I packed up my computer and put it somewhere were they couldn't see it.  The next time they went to play with it, it was Gone!  Vanished!  

"Where's your computer, Mommy?"

"I'm tired of you kids <and by that I mainly mean Small> not treating my stuff with respect.  So until you can show me you can use my stuff nicely, you won't be using it!"

Mommy- 1; Kids- 0

But, you'll never guess what happened after that??  From then on, they walked in the house from school and not once asked for SCREAM TIME.  They don't even bother asking for TV anymore.  They know I'm pissed and it's not going to happen.  

So you know what they do instead??  They play together!  Nicely!!  Like EVERYDAY!!!  I haven't had a fight with either kid for weeks during dinner making time!  

Admittedly, that was a lot easier than I expected.  I'm sure the time will come when they start asking again.  But until then, I'm going to ride the wave of peace in the house!

Mommy- 2; Computer- 0

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

And so...Chippy has arrived!  <sigh>  Chippy.  What a wonderful thing Chippy is!  The kids adore him.  They talk to him like he's their best friend.  They ask him for advice.  They live. breath. sleep good behavior when Chippy is around.

I wish I had a Chippy for every month of the year!

This morning, Chippy was found stuck in the mail slot.  I guess he had a hard time getting back into the house!  He was busy last night.  He decorated the front door like a snowman.

"Silly Chippy!  You helped us with our decorations!" exclaimed Small when he found him this morning.  

Chippy also left a note for the kids that said, "Now YOU do something kind for someone today!"  Well, heck!  What a nice gesture, Chippy!  You're even instilling good will in these kids!  You've outdone yourself!

Small, "Hmm, do something kind.  What could I do that's kind for someone, Chippy?  I'll have to think about that some more!"

You know what he came up with?  He turned the TV off nicely for Ammy.

Ok...so that wasn't so awesome.  But, at least he thought about it!

Big, on the other hand, decided to draw me a picture of Spiderman trapping Vulture in a web.

Who's it what'sit?  Yeah, I don't know either but it's the thought that counts!

Just think of all the possible notes Chippy can leave:

"Help Mommy by cleaning up the house"
"Stay in your beds tonight!"
"Make dinner!"  or more realistically "Eat what Mommy made you for dinner without complaining!"
"Give Mommy a beer and tell her you'll put yourself to bed tonight!"

The possibilities are endless.....

All they want for Christmas...

The kids have been talking about Santa since...well...we bought their Halloween costumes.

IN AUGUST!!!

Thank you Costco and your damn awesome Ninja costumes that I couldn't resist!!

IN AUGUST!!

So, now that it's not even December yet, I'm kinda already tapped out on Santa talk.  Just sayin'!

Either way, I have been asking for about that long what the kids want for Christmas.

Big has had a pretty standard answer:

Not too much stuff because he doesn't want to be greedy.  He wants a Nintendo DS, a trick scooter and a scooter that shoots flames out the back
(*Shaking my fist at his friend Noah and his darn scooter with a spark!)

Now, there's NO CHANCE in hell that mommy will let a Nintendo DS enter this house.  NOT ONE IOTA OF POSSIBILITY!!  Santa!!  I hope you're reading this!!  NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN!!

And we already have 2 scooters.  So sticking with the not being greedy rule, well, I'd say Big isn't going to get what he's asking for this year.

Enter Mommy trying to switch gears and make other suggestions...

"How about one of those Airhog things?"

Well, hurray!  Big has now decided that all he wants is an Airhog counter strike and an Airhog Battle something or other.

Have you seen any of these around?  No, really.  Have you?  Santa sent me an email that he's having a hard time finding one.  Plus, they're kinda out of his price range.

Big's going to have a rough year, it seems.  I guess he'll just have to suck it up and enjoy the BRAND NEW BIKE Santa is likely bringing!!!



And then there's Small.  <sigh>  Small.  He hasn't had one original thought about his Santa list since...well...AUGUST when we started talking about Santa!

He's pretty much repeated every. single. thing. his brother has asked for.  Come on, Small!  Grow a pair and come up with something yourself!  Aren't you the independant one in this family???

Hmm, remember your mom ever telling you to be careful what you wish for??

Well, here's Small's current list...which, by the way, seems to have stuck because he asked me to write it down so he can send it to Santa.

It goes a little something like this:

- A bat.  A real one.
- Bat food.  To feed the bat.
- A dog, a cat and a bird.  Because he really likes animals.
- An elephant.  For you mommy!
- and a little dragon that giggles when you tickle it.


Seriously!!  Where does he come up with this stuff???

Santa????  Oh Santa????  Are you still reading????  Better work some magic on this one!!!

Now Enter Big.  We've been trying to teach him to read English but it's slow going and sometimes I wonder if he's reading or memorizing books.

Well, he walked into the kitchen the other day, looked at Small's Wish List and without me saying a word yelled, "A BAT???  A REAL ONE???  WHAT FOR???  IT'S NOT SLEEPING IN OUR ROOM!!!"

You've got your work cut out for you Santa!

All I wish for is two happy kids.  So make sure you grant that one, too, huh????  :)  

Can't we all just get along?

Wow!  It's been a long time since I blogged....Life.  You know.  It gets in the way...

So Big is in Grade 1 now.  He's doing great...despite it being in French.  He'll thank me for it some day, right :)

He's got a kid in his class, though, who is a great, big meanie struggles with social dynamics.  He acts out A LOT and the kids get the brunt of his frustrations.  It's been a pretty tough thing to help Big work through.

On one hand, Big is a really sweet, kind kid who wouldn't hurt a flea. So I've been trying to help him empathize with Bully Boy and recognize that he has a lot to deal with in his life.

But, Big is also a really sweet, kind kid who wouldn't hurt a flea!  And MAN!!  Some days he comes home and I want to tell him to just turn around and pop the kid in the face!!

You know what Big says, he says, "But if I hurt him, he'll think I'm a bully!"
Damnit, kid!!  How come you're always so good??

Anyhow, long story short, today at dinner we went through our highlights for the day.  His was that he helped Bully Boy.  I was like, "WHAT???  WHY???"  And you know what he said?

He said that "Bully Boy hurt himself on the playground and I wanted to help him feel better.  Just because he's mean to me sometimes, it doesn't mean that I shouldn't help him when he needs it."

After I picked my jaw up off the table, I asked him how he felt after helping Bully Boy.  He said, "I felt good mommy.  I like helping people!"

If only we all could be as beautiful as that kid!



I tell you, though...if Bully Boy keeps picking on my kid, I may just unleash Small, my little Tazmanian Devil, on him.  You know...to make things right in the world :)

A reality check.

You know those times where you lie in bed late at night (or early morning...depending on how you look at it) and wonder what the heck you're doing with just about everything?  You wonder why you're working so hard, why you're always so tired, will you ever have time to exercise?

Inevitably, your mind always wanders to your kids and you wonder if you're screwing them up with your bad parenting skills...do they listen to their teachers, do they eat healthy enough, will they grow up to be good people?

Well, the other night, my mind wandered to Big.  I had spent a bit of time talking to him about some french words that day and he didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  He's in French Immersion and he's doing great...I think.  He sings the songs like a champ and he seems really happy.  But he had no idea what the words in the songs meant.  I spent that night wondering if he had troubles learning languages, maybe we should switch him to English, maybe we've ruined him....

The next night, my mind wandered to Small.  He's adorable and cuddly and an absolute spit fire of energy!  He's also a demon at times and can work you into a frenzy with his strong will.  He. just. won't. back. down!  That night, I wondered if he'd grow up to be a kind, caring person or if he'd be selfish and inconsiderate, always expecting things to go his way.

Strange that 4am always brings totally irrational thoughts!!


And then I had a day like today...

I had to spend the day at home waiting for a guy to come repair my oven.

...which, by the way, still isn't fixed...

...despite spending 9 hours at home...

...waiting...

...but that's a whole other story...

I sent Small off with a friend to gymnastics.  After class was over, she told him they were coming over for lunch.  He responded, completely unprovoked, with "My mommy is the best mommy in the whole world!"

Of course he did!  Because he's a lovely, thoughtful kid who's bursting with kindness!


Then, I had dinner with both kids...

I had music playing in the background as usual.  Taylor Swift's song, "Never Grow Up", came on.  Small jumped up and down..."My favorite song!  Yeah!!  But, mommy, what does it mean?  I don't get it!!"

So I tried to explain to him about enjoying their childhood, yada yada yada..

<insert crickets chirping>

WAY OVER THEIR HEADS!


But there's a line in the song about taking pictures in your mind.  After a bit of silence, Big started pressing his thumbs and forefingers together near the top of his glasses while making a "Clicking" sound.

Wondering what planet he had drifted off to, I asked, "What are you doing?"

He said, "I'm taking pictures in my mind!"  

Of course you are!


He followed that up with, "Do you know what guns are in French?  It's feusi!"

I have no idea if that's what he was saying but that's what it sounded like.

Then he said, "And my friend has quatre vingt fuesis!"

WHAT??

 Ok, 80 guns???  That's terrifying...even if they are all toys.

But aside from that, my kid SPOKE FRENCH!!!

His grammar sucked, sure!

And he meant to say 84...

but still....HE SPOKE FRENCH...

UNPROVOKED!!!!!

WHAT????



After another little while, Big said, "After school today, I thanked Mme H. for a fun day!"

What???  Completely out of the blue??

Of course you did!  Because you're a sweet, polite boy!



Man!  These boys are great people.  I'm glad they keep reminding me of that and knocking some sense into me.  We must be doing something right :)


I think I may actually sleep well tonight!!

20 kids to ask your kids...round 2

April 5, 2013

1. What is something mommy always says to you?

B: Get dressed!

S: Brush your teeth!

2. What makes you happy?

B: Biking

S: Tickling me

3. What makes you sad?

B: <Small> hitting me  (SAME as last year!!)

S: Falling down

4. What makes you laugh?

B: people being very crazy and people tickling me

S: playing with my brother

5. How old are you? 

B: 6

S: 4

6. How old is Mommy? 

B: 18

S: 39

7. How old is Daddy?

B: 40

S: 40

8. What is your favorite thing to do?

B: Play Lego and bike ride

S: Play Lego with my brother and bike ride

9. Who is your best friend?

B: Noah, Angelo, Alexander

S: Bianca, Sophia, Jack

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?

B: A BMX-er

S: A space guy with a big gun that has so many circles

11. What are you really good at?

B: Putting Lego together, BMXing, biking, Math

S: watching TV, playing with my doggy game and playing with Lego

12. What are you not very good at?

B: not being nice

S: cooking stuff on that stove

13. What did you do today? 

B: watched TV and played Lego

S: played hopscotch, watched TV

14. What is your favorite food?

B: Macaroni and Cheese, Chocolate, All the food at White Spot

S: Brocolli, Strawberries, Vanilla Bunny Ice Cream

15. What is your favorite song? 

B:Whoopa Gangnam Style

S: The Sun Goes Down Song, Never Grow Up, and I just came to say Hello

16. What do you want for (holiday or birthday) this year?

B: a DS

S: A Jet Pack!  A pretend one...for me...so I can pretend fly

17. What is your favorite animal? 

B: Cheetah

S: Cow and a baby calf, baby sheep and a baby horse

18. What is love? 

B: Somebody who you like.

S: Love means I care about you so so so much!

19. What does mommy/daddy do for work? 

B: They work on their computer and the ipad

S: Pie! Bye!  Get money

20. Where is your favorite place to go?

B: The BMX track

S: Jack's house and Bianca's house.

21: What are you scared of?

B: I'm not scared of anything...actually I'm scared of the Ben 10 show.

S: Monsters and Ghosts

We went....we saw....we survived DISNEY!!!

A few months ago my parents brought up the idea of taking the kids to Disney.  It wasn't really on our radar at that point because a) we couldn't afford it and b) we thought the kids were too young.  But after watching so many of my friends get struck with serious illnesses or sudden deaths in their family's, I decided that no opportunity should be wasted!

My husband was a tougher sell.  He hates the States.  He hates commercialism.  He hates crowds.  So, Disneyland at Spring Break, one of the busiest weeks of the year, wasn't on the top of his list of favorite things to do.  He eventually came around, though...and I don't think he hated it...that much....

I was most excited about seeing Small's reaction to Disney.  He's got an incredible imagination and I couldn't wait to introduce him to some real life fairies and princesses...especially before his excitement over fairies gets squished out of him by bigger kids at school.

Neither kid was super excited to go.  In fact, they were slightly scared about the prospect of Disney.  I told Small we'd see all kinds of cool things there...Pirates and tigers and bear, Oh MY!  That kinda backfired, though because he was scared of seeing Captain Hook!!  Then his brother told him there's a castle there where your dreams come true.  Small was even more scared because his "dreams are scary!  <He> didn't want his dreams to come true!"  Some mom, I am!!  I scared them half to death of Disney before we even left the house!!

Our first day there was less than awesome.  We missed out on the Cars fastpass from the get go, our walkie talkies didn't work, we lost my parents for over an hour,  and then we took the kids to see "It's a Bugs Life."

The whole day went downhill from that point.  The sign on the outside of the show said "may frighten children".  Honestly?  I think it should say, "Guaranteed to Terrify the ABSOLUTE CRAP out of your Kids!"  Hello, Disney!!  What's were you thinking????

Granted, it had super cool effects and I kinda liked it.  But, it was like we were constantly being attacked by a bunch of bugs...in 3D!!  

By the time this dude 

came out, we'd been fumed by a stink bug and had a ton of acorns chucked at us (in 3D!).  I checked on Small, who is notorious for not liking anything even remotely similar to a bad guy, and his heart was POUNDING!  I knew it was game over at that point so I picked him up and tried to take him out of the building STAT!  

Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough.  Almost at that exact moment, a dozen black widow spiders jumped from the roof and surrounded our heads...in 3D!!  

Enter Big bawling in his seat....

Followed by me yelling at everyone around me... "OUT!!  EVERYONE OUT!!!  NOW!!!!"

Well, you can kinda imagine how the rest of the day went.  Big was P.O.'d at us for taking him to that in the first place.  In fact, I don't think he'll ever forgive us.  And Small?  Well, he's used to being scared out of his wits...hence the scary dreams...

Anyhow, we followed that up with a delightful show about Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First (who happens to be Big's first crush :) and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  Apart from Captain Hook making an appearance, all systems were go and we were back on track.

But all good things must come to an end....

And it usually starts with Small....

and his impressively strong will.

It's usually followed by an even more impressive tantrum....

and a lack of backing down...on all our parts...

and since he flat out refused to rest/nap, we flat out refused to take him back to the park for the parade.

Poor kid missed out on his first Disney parade :(  I don't think he cared at the time, though because he got to go swimming with his daddy instead.  And that, I think was the highlight of his trip.  I could have saved a few thousand dollars and just sent him to the local pool with his daddy and he would have been just as happy....

But, I digress....

The rest of us were pretty miserable about leaving Small behind, despite the awesomeness of the Disney parade.  So we called it quits early that day.  Figured it was best to count our losses and start fresh in the morning.

The next couple days pretty much ROCKED ROCKED ROCKED!!!  And it only got better from there!

We decided to reduce our stress and not try and fit everything in.  That was a game changer because we could just sit back and enjoy what we managed to fit in.  

My favorite two rides by far were the Star Tours ride and the Cars ride.  They were FANTASTIC!!!  I also LOVED LOVED LOVED the parades.  This was the look on Small's face the whole way through both parades...and the Aladdin show for that matter :)  It was pretty awesome :)  

I wish I could have snapped a pic at the exact moment that Belle blew him a kiss from her float, though.  That moment is forever etched in my memory and it was truly Priceless!!  I'm pretty sure he blushed :)  If you ask him, he'll tell you that the parades were his favorite part of Disney...and Belle blowing him the kiss was a highlight for him, too:)  Awesome!

He also really liked TOON TOWN.  I swear, that kid could have spent all day there!  Not surprisingly, though because it's totally suited for his personality.  Silly.  Busy.  Bright Colors.  Crazy.  Fun.

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come....

Hello?  Police???  SuperSmall here.  I need help over here on Goofy Avenue!  Some toddlers are picking their noses and eating it!  Come quick!!

Even Super Heroes need a break sometimes!  Calgon, take me away!!











What made me smile most about Small, though was how we'd wait for upwards of half an hour for him to meet <insert any other Disney character here> and he'd be excited beyond belief...Until he got to get up close to them.  And then he was all like, "Hell no!  Stay away from me scary dude!!"  After walking away, though, he'd be all like, "Woot!!  I met Goofy!!  That was cool!!"  and we'd be like, "What???  You barely gave him the time of day????"

Case in point:

The kid cracks me up :)


Big's favorite part by far was all. things. Star Wars.  Did you know they have a build your own lightsaber bar there?  Well, Big found it.  And we didn't hear the end of it until we caved and bought him his own lightsaber.  He spent the next 2 days rebuilding it and taking it apart....wash, rinse, repeat.  Totally how that kid rolls!

Those lightsabers are going to be the death of me...and my living room!!!  Just saying...

Big also really liked the Buzz Lightyear ride.  I mean, who doesn't love a ride where you can spin around and shoot at neon targets all over the place.  I was sitting next to Big so I didn't get a shot of him, but this pretty much sums it up....

Final scores:

Daddy (56,000)    Mommy (26,000)   Ammy (19,000)   Big (11,000)  Small (4200)  Papa (1900)

Nope, those aren't typos.

I'll just let those scores sink in for a bit....

<insert Jeopardy theme song...>

Oh hey, Papa!  I booked you an eye test...just because...well...you know...you got your butt kicked by a 4 year old....

ummm....moving on...

Final Thoughts:

- The Goofy Flying School Ride was terrifying...in a good way...not like the bugs show!!  It is essentially the Wild mouse ride that I've ridden a hundred times and I knew exactly what to expect but riding it with your 6 year old brings a whole new scariness to it.  Getting to the edge and almost rocking over the sides when you go around the corner is super scary, no matter how you cut it.  

- Disney in 3 days is too much.  It's too much for sure for a 4 year old but it's also too much for the rest of us.  Spreading it out over 5 days or more would have been much more enjoyable because there would be more time to rest and enjoy some quiet times in between.

- 6 is surprisingly my favorite age to bring a kid.  I thought watching Small would be my highlight but as much as I loved watching his face during the parades, I found it just as if not more, enjoyable watching my 6 year old wave to all the characters and ask questions of the characters and get totally immersed in the awesomeness of Disney.  I didn't expect that so I was pleasantly surprised.

- I've heard many awesome stories about the Make A Wish foundation and kids with cancer wanting to go to Disneyland.  But, I guess I wasn't expecting to come face to face with it.  Especially not during spring break when the crowds were at maximum capacity.  I am a terrible judge of numbers but I'd say there were easily millions of people filing through there daily.  Either way, we happened to sit beside a 4 year old little boy to watch one of the awesome parades.  Turns out he's a cancer survivor of 2 years.  I don't know much more of that story.  It broke my heart too much to find out more.  Not to mention the kid on one of our shuttle buses that was taking some mickey mouse ears home for his younger cousin who was terminal.  This kid was about 8 years old.  I didn't ask how old the cousin was.  But, his mom told me how he keeps making friends with other kids in the oncology ward of the hospital but when he goes back to visit, they're not there anymore...they hope that his friends are happy at home but the reality is more like they're not.  Again, I couldn't listen to much more of that story but I tell you, I hugged my kids a little tighter that night and was grateful for all of Small's tantrums and Big's grumpiness....I also don't want to imagine how many similar stories there were going on at Disneyland that week we were there.  It weighs my heart down too heavily to even think about it.

- Overall, we had a great trip.  I'd definitely go back...maybe not at spring break...and probably not anytime soon.  What surprised me most was that although Small's response to the awesomeness around him was almost exactly what I had been craving, Big's reaction was so much more exciting.  Perhaps it was because it was unexpected or perhaps it was because he was more capable of dealing with all the overwhelming things going on there.  Either way, it was really amazing to see his face light up at the Jedi training show and watch Darth Vader fight a Jedi (albeit, he was slightly scared) and to get to go on some of the more exciting rides that Small was too little for.  But at the same time, he was waving to the characters in the parades and he was excited to see Sofia the First in puppet form and he even yelled out and cheered for Crush, the animated turtle that was talking to all the kids.  He was pretty much the best of both worlds and it was really cool :)

Speaking of Crush....one last thing...we seemed to constantly choose rides that either broke down while we stood in line waiting or while we were watching/riding.  I tried not to take it personally and chalked it up to the business of Spring Break week...but it was hard not to think we were a bad omen of some sort.  The most disturbing breakdown was at the Talk with Crush show.  Crush was this animated turtled that talked to the kids through some dude in the back doing voiceovers.  My kids were totally believing it was a talking turtle, though so they were doing something right.  But right when Dori the fish came out, a whale came out from behind and smooshed her against the glass....and that was how it ended....with Dori smooshed up against the glass by a giant whale...Umm, can you say malfunction??? They quickly shoved us out the door so they could "send some divers down to save Dori" which otherwise means, "unstuck the animation reel".  But, man!!  Every time we walked past there, Small kept wanting to go in and see if Dori was saved yet.  I mean, if it wasn't the Scary Bugs, Captain Hook or the Castle that makes his scary dreams come true that gave him nightmares, I'm sure Dori smooshed against the glass by a giant whale probably didn't help!!!


And that, my friend's, is how the Magic Begins :)

Stop. Look. Listen...

The other day, I was smack dab in the middle of my daily morning battle with Small to brush his teeth.

That fight is really. getting. old.

Big, on the other hand, was busily getting ready for school... dressed, breakfast, lunch, backpack, teeth brushed...seriously...I'm grateful for that kid!

...until he threw his backpack down the stairs and hit me square in the back of the head!!

Not to mention that I was just about to Full Nelson Small to ground and jam the tooth brush in his mouth!!!

Ok, I wasn't really...

I mean, we've grown out of that phase.

...for the most part...

THANK GOD!!!!

But,   I was pretty much done like dinner on the tooth brush battle.

Have I mentioned how annoying brushing Small's teeth is every morning???

Just checking...


So, as I turned around to almost rage at Big for pummelling me with his backpack, I managed...through gritted teeth...to say, "GET. IN. THE. CAR!!!"

He did.  No questions asked.  Smart kid!!  I think he even muttered an apology on the way past me.

After another 5 or so minutes of the teeth battle, I finally got Small in the car.

Phewf!!!  Another day, done!!

I went around to Big's seat to check his buckles and he said to me, "Mommy, I'm sorry I didn't get in the car really fast.  I stopped to listen to the birdies singing for a little bit."

And it all just stopped right there.

What??  There are birdies singing??  I can't hear them over the blood pounding in my head!

So, in that moment, I took a deep breath and said, "You know what, buddy?  Why don't we all just stop and listen to the birdies sing for a minute!"

And we did!!

Well, as much as you can hear them sing over Small constant yelling, "I can't hear the birdies, mommy!  Where are the birdies??  What song are they singing??  How come I can't hear them mommy?"

But the point was...we stopped.  For a moment.  And listened to some birds....together....




And then we got back in the car and raced to school because we were SOOOOOOOO LATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



But it was SOOOOOOOOOOO WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I hope you take a moment and listen to the birds today :)

Food Fight?? Not quite!

A few weeks ago, my hubbie and I were talking about how we should get the kids to start doing chores around the house.  They are pretty good at cleaning up their toys (when we threaten bribe ask them to), they sometimes put their dishes in the dishwasher and they sometimes make their bed in the morning.  But they definitely could be pulling more weight around the house.

Big didn't hear us having this conversation but literally two days later, he said, "Mommy, I think I should start making my own lunches for school!"  Well, heck!  That was going to be the first chore I was going to make ask him to do!  So much easier when it's his idea!!!

Every day since then, he has not only made his lunch at night, he has also packed it in the morning, packed his backpack and he even loads all his stuff for school into the car.  I just say in the morning, "Have you got everything you need for school?"  He lists off his sweater, his lunch, his backpack, his jacket....CHECK!!  "It's all in the car, mommy!"

I swear...that kid could raise himself!

Fabulous Fours!

Small recently turned 4.  PHEWF!!  I've been waiting for the 3s to be over! Smokes, that was a tough haul!!  Sure, he was cute and cuddly and adorable...but he was also a disaster when he didn't get his way....OFTEN!!

If I hear the word, NO yelled at me once more...!!!  Well, I can't finish that sentence because it's probably not legal...and besides, I was saturated with it by 3pm today so it's not like it just magically disappeared when he turned 4.

But, the 2 hour tantrums and hissy fits have definitely subsided and MAN!! Is that ever a relief!!!

The best part, though, is that he WANTS to be a big boy and he WANTS to act like a 4 year old.  It's like a little piece of heaven to have something to dangle over his head...

Case in point:

The other day, he was flat out refusing to eat dinner.  No problem.  Go to bed hungry.  It's not a new one for me!

He didn't get the answer he wanted so he gave me the full on stink eye, arms folded, shoulder shrug, 'I'M NOT GOING TO DO WHAT YOU SAY!  HARUMPH!!!"  followed by the chuck of the plate across the table.

<sigh>  Back to square 3 year old!

So I responded with a not as awesome stink eye, arms folded, shoulder shrug, "THAT'S WHAT 3 YEAR OLDS DO!!  FOUR YEAR OLDS EAT THEIR DINNER!  HARUMPH!!"

And I waited....

And I waited...

And I waited...

The whole time, I could see that little brain ticking.....and slowly....very slowly....the stink eye (which I have to say, this kid has PERFECTED!!!!), loosened up....the arms started to unfold....and he said,

"Ok, I'll eat my dinner!"

And he did!!  Every last bit of it!!

Trust me, I'll be using the 4 year old status quo Every. Chance. I. Get!!!!  Survival of the fittest, baby!

A Sea of Pink!

Yesterday was pink shirt day.  I bought Big the cutest pink shirt and fully expected him to revolt against it!  He probably would have if I hadn't asked his teacher to tell him she wanted him to wear it.  I was pleasantly surprised when the first thing he did that morning was run around screaming, "Where's my pink shirt??  I need my pink shirt!!"

On the way to school, I decided to tell my kids the story of the pink shirt.  If you're not aware of it, it goes like this...

A boy went to school one day wearing a pink shirt.  A group of kids decided to pick on him and make fun of him for wearing said pink shirt.  Another group of kids watched the kid get bullied and decided to take a stand against bullying.  They started a protest and encouraged as many kids as they could to show up at school wearing pink shirts.  They even went out and bought as many shirts as they could the night before to pass out to kids in the school.  I'm not sure what the final tally was on the rally day but it was definitely over 50 and more than enough to make a point.

After I told my kids the story, I asked them a bunch of questions about bullying and why it's not nice to say mean things to people.  We talked about how the original kid felt when he was made fun of and how he felt after he saw all the other kids wearing pink shirts.  We also talked about how the kids that organized the protest felt for helping their friend, etc.

But after I was done making my points, I decided to ask them who they would rather be like.  Would they rather be like the boy who was bullied, or the bullies themselves...or would they rather be like the kids that organized the protest or the kids that followed along with the protest?

They both thought for a minute and then Small said, "Mommy, I'd rather just be me!"

Point taken, little man!!  Well said!

But then Big said, "Actually, I'd like to be like the kids that organized the protest.  Because I'd want to stand up for my friend who was getting hurt and I wouldn't want him to feel sad.  I'd want to stand up against the bullies!"

And you know?  That's exactly what I expected him to say.  He's cool like that!

After about 5 minutes of silence in the car, though (it's a bit of a drive to school :) ), Big said, "Mommy, do you think the bullies might have worn a pink shirt after that day, too?"

I said, "I'm not sure, buddy.  What do you think?"

He said, "I think they felt bad about making the other kid sad and they probably realized they were being mean and maybe they wanted to stand up against bullies, too!"

Wow.  There are no words.  That kid is wise beyond his 6 years....

Stuff it!!

Big was worried about wearing this shirt to school one day because he was worried one of the other kids would get upset at him for wearing it...  Don't ask!

So a week later, I managed to sneak the shirt on him without him realizing it...just to show him he's being silly and the kid could probably care less.

But as I drove him to school, i gave him some words to use, just in case the kid did say anything.

Me: "Hey!  Tell me you don't like my shirt!"
Big: "But I do like you're shirt!"

Me: "Just pretend...so I can tell you what to say if anyone says it to you."
Big: "Ok...Mommy, I don't like your shirt....<whispers> but I really do like it!"

Me: "Well, you can just stuff it because I like my shirt and I don't care what you think!"
Big: "That's funny, mommy!"

And then he practiced it and I sent him off to school feeling like I'd taught my kid to stick up for himself.

Fast forward a few days later...

Big: "Mommy, how come you told me to say bad things?"
Me: "What do you mean?"

Big: "Mrs. O at school told me that <Stuff it!> isn't appropriate!  Why did you tell me to say that?"
Me: "Why were you saying it to Mrs. O at school????  Yikes!!  I meant it only for you to say if someone was being really really mean to you.  It's not something you normally use in conversation.  You know what?  Maybe you just shouldn't say it."

Big: "Yeah, I don't think I should say that."

*****************************************************************************
Can I blame my dad for that one???

It's so obvious now!!

For the last year, I've watched Small have these AMAZING tantrums!  Like, I mean, EPIC tantrums!  As frustrating as they are, I've always been hugely impressed with how he'll stick to his guns NO. MATTER. WHAT!!!!  He's determined, strong willed and totally awesome!!!

Big, though, is the complete opposite.  It wasn't until he mentioned something about the kids at school over Christmas, that we realized he wasn't enjoying Kindergarten as much as we originally thought.  Don't get me wrong, he's doing great!  But, he's got some stuff going on that we had no idea about!  He is not like his brother.  He internalizes everything.  If something bothers him, he keeps it in because he doesn't want to get in trouble or make us upset.  The only exception is soccer...he'll happily tell us how much he hates soccer :)

It's funny how your perspective changes as time goes on. What I originally saw as Small's pain in the ass trait weakness, I now see as a huge strength in him.  He couldn't give two hoots what people think of him or what he has to do to get his way.  He will stick to his guns and not back down regardless.  There's something hugely admirable about that....of course, I can only see that now that he's starting to come around and be more pleasant to be with....but that's besides the point :)

While I originally saw Big's willingness to do anything to get along with others as a huge positive, I'm starting to see some downfalls to it.  He doesn't seem to have the same strength of his convictions when he's dealing with the kids at school.  If they tell him to do something, he seems to do it whether he wants to or not so that he doesn't upset the kids.  That's not awesome.  Although, he's very kind and friendly and is well liked by his friends.  That's awesome :)

I guess there's some pros and cons to both personalities.  They are both equally incredible boys in their own ways...I'm just wondering if some day, they'll rub off on each other and reach a happy medium :)