How fast things will change...

It is Spring Break right now, and Andrew has been playing with Maddie, our neighbor across the street. She is also in 2nd grade so the two of them get along quite well. Yesterday, the weather was lousy. It was a snow/rain mix (yes, I did say it was Spring Break), so they decided to stay inside and watch High School Musical 2.

So, that night at dinner, Andrew said that Maddie had told him something gross. Maddie told Andrew that Gabriella (the actress from High School Musical 2) had taken a naked picture of herself and sent it to boys. Both her naked front and naked back, and Andrew thought that was gross. Dana asked if he thought it was stupid to take naked pictures of yourself and he said yes.

Flash forward ten years and I am guessing this conversation is a little bit different...

Are children considered body parts?

Today is one of those days where I wish the policies on EBAY allowed me to sell body parts. I know they are trying to prevent me from selling a kidney to the highest bidder, but today is one of those days when I would be happy to offer my children on EBAY to the highest bidder, and I would pay the shipping. How can they be so frustrating and so precious all at the same time. Yes, I always said that the lifespan of puppies and babies would be much shorter if they weren't so cute. Today that holds true.

So tonight, when I tuck them in to bed and kiss them good night, I will say a prayer that I can show them how to be loving and kind and to laugh and to enjoy the simple joys of each day. To smile, and appreciate everything that they have in their lives. I don't know how to make a seven year old and a four year old understand that just because I wouldn't let them watch cartoons this morning that their lives are not ruined, and that words they say to even big grown ups like their father can help more than anything else they can ever do. But all I can do is pick myself up, dust myself off, and try again with a new day tomorrow. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day."

The brilliant 4-year old!

So, Andrew and his friend Ben spent 40 minutes yesterday trying to do battle with the evil video game villians so they could advance to the new level. Yes, Nintendo battles of all kind were happening in our basement yesterday. It is Star Wars Lego, the new fascination of Andrew and Ben. Each of them have a Jedi knight character and in the past week have started at Level I and overcome their enemies, rescued princesses, found hidden jewels and other treasure to progress to Level IV. Unfortunately, they were stuck and could not get by oone of the Darth Maul looking characters and through the last door.

After 40 minutes of playing inside on a sunny day, Dana did what any good mother would do and shooed them outside to play football or basketball or tag or any game that involved running and exercising more than their thumbs pushing buttons. After dinner, Andrew decided to try one more time and we asked that Delaney play with him. The game had been paused, so they picked up where they left off, well, almost. Delaney started playing before Andrew got there and manage to complete Level IV and move on Level V. When Andrew asked in disbelief, "Delaney, how did you get by that guy?" her reply was, "I don't know. Do you want to play princess Legos now?"

The frustration of a four year old younger sister.

"High" but achievable goals...

We finally watched a movie last night! Yes, that doesn't sound like much, but we have had a DVD movie sitting around the house for about a week and we were always busy doing something else. We had a Cub Scout meeting, or we needed to do laundry, or help Andrew with homework, or we were tired from doing yard work, there was always something that seemed to be more pressing or needing to be done. The last two movies we had never watched and given up and sent back, so we were very proud of ourselves for sitting down and watching a movie from start to finish.

Yes, times have changed. I remember weekends in college or when I was single where you would go out with friends on Friday night, wake up the next morning, watch three or four movies throughout the day as you lazily lounged around the house, and then get ready to go out again on Saturday night. I remember those days, and yes, sometimes I miss them, but on the other hand, if I was still doing that it would be a pretty pathetic existence. The next movie is Night at the Museum, so maybe we can make two movies in a row. A new record!

One more cute kid story...

So, Dana was talking to Andrew the other day as they were making dinner. They talked about his friends and what happened at school, what she did, the normal conversations. She mentioned that she had talked with my sister about his cousin Tyler who is a senior in High School and looking for colleges. She asked Andrew if he wanted to go to college.

"Why is everyone bugging me about college. Do I have to go soon?"

It seemed early for 2nd grade, but Dana had thought that maybe they had mentioned it in school or maybe in a story they were reading. So she ventured on for a little more detail, "who has been bugging you about college?"

"Dad. Every time he watches football he asks if I want to go to college and I don't want to play football because I am not very good."

Dana assured him that he did not have to play football in order to go to college, and in fact, if he did not want to go to college at all, that would be OK, too. She said there was an audible sigh of relief from Andrew.

Cute Kids Memories

I know that I am not the only parent who thinks their child is cute, adorable, and the perfect angel-- most of the time, but it is amazing to me that all those cute memories that I once had go so quickly. Last night after dinner we had cupcakes for dessert. In our never ending food negotiations, I told Delaney that if she had three more bites of broccoli, then she could have a cupcake for "bessert". This was the cute way that she used to talk. Her "b's" and "d's" always being mixed up when she was younger and learning to talk. Instead of the reaction I was looking for with her consuming broccoli as fast as she could get it on her fork, she lectured me that the correct way to say the word was "dessert" and that she knew this because her teacher had told them in school and she was surprised a Dad didn't know this already. After I showed her the pink frosting, she did eat her broccoli.

There was a time that we were going to write down all the cute sayings that my children had when they were younger. I had visions of a fancy scrapbook with fancy writing and accompanying pictures and stories so we could look back on the good times when I was old and sitting in a rocking chair on my front porch. Instead, I was busy and time marched on and I can barely remember the cute things that Delaney used to say, let alone Andrew five years ago. I guess, all I am saying, is take the time to enjoy them and write them down so your memories are still there, even a few short months ago.

On the lighter side...

Ok, I have had my rant and now we can move on.

Christmas with kids is a wonderful thing! If that isn't a happy topic I don't know what else could be except for puppies or cupcakes. Anyway, there is something about the amazement and wonder in their face when they see the tree and present and stockings on Christmas morning that makes all the running around and non-stop craziness for the last month worth it all.

The kids were up at 6:30am in disbelief that we were not already awake and begging for us to hurry up so they could go see what Santa had brought them. Like almost every other family did this year at the start of December, we swore that we would not over do it this year. Although I do not think that the number of presents decreased this year from previous years, we were smarter about our gift giving and ultimately, it made for a much more enjoyable and satisfying Christmas than in years previous.

Last year, the year before that, and probably the year before that, about 11:00am on Christmas morning, I look over the piles of boxes and torn wrapping paper and find an explosion of new molded plastic, made in China toys that will be played with for the next three months before they break, lose pieces, the batteries die, something newer comes along, they are relegated to the back shelf, or all of the above and become clutter for the house and garage sale 25-cent items. The kids excitedly ask you to open each box and play with the new toy for 5 or 10 minutes before clamouring for the next box to be opened. Of course, it took you 20 minutes to open the last box because you had to use scissors and blow torches to blast a hole in the plastic sealed packages and then unwrap three twisty ties around each side of the toy just to get it outside the box. We always end up feeling overwhelmed with stuff on Christmas morning and dreading the next week trying to find new places to store the toys in closets and bedrooms throughout the house.

This year, we did things differently and I must say I enjoyed Christmas a whole lot more. The first thing was we bought the kids clothes for school and gift cards to restaurants that they always ask to eat at. It was money that we would have spent anyway, but now the were gifts unwrapped at Christmas time which was more fun for the kids. We made gifts for people who asked for things in the past. Dana's mother had been asking Dana to make a quilt for her since last February and Dana made a scrapbook for her father so he had a place for his family pictures other than the shoebox in his hall closet. It also let the kids help and feel a part of the present. Admittedly, Andy helped sort paper the same color and used a gluestick, but he felt like he had made a scrapbook for his grandfather. We made cookies for the neighbors. Maybe it was a little Martha Stewart or Stepford Wife type of a thing to do depending on your perspective, but all of the neighbors appreciated it and none of them needed another Christmas decor knick knack to store in their house. We gave my sister and her husband a gift donation to a charity (http://www.modestneeds.org/) where they could decide who and where to donate the money. The kids gave their aunt movie tickets so she could take them and spend an afternoon together.

We still gave the kids toys, but instead of ending up with a bunch of stuff, we worked with everyone to get something that went together. Audrey wanted a baby doll. So we got her the doll and someone else got her doll an outfit and someone else got the doll a stroller and someone else got the baby a bottle and food. We took a picture with Audrey and her baby things and included it with each thank you note. For Andy, it was similiar, but with a video game theme. Instead of two piles of clutter on Christmas morning, we ended up with things that went together and made sense.

There was also one gift that was plastic, probably made in China, and had no redeeming or educational value of any kind. It was a "Sizzler" race track that I gave my brother and his son. Steve's kids are finally at the age where they understand Christmas. To help him, I sent the same race track that Santa had brought the two of us when we were that age. He remembered it right away and set up the track and raced the cars on Christmas morning. Yes, it was worth it even if it cost more to mail the present to him than it cost to buy it.

This year Christmas was fun. Instead of fighting with crowds at the mall and only finding sweaters in XXL or sweaters the right size but only in black, charcoal, and dark brown that loooks alot like black, we put a little bit of thought into each gift and had fun giving people gifts that we wanted to give them.