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| Wednesday, April 16, 2008 |
When Your Child is the Instigator |
I remember when my older son (OS) was just a tiny baby. When I looked at him, I imagined that he would always be gurgling and sweet. Alright I knew that he wouldn't remain like that forever but to be honest whenever I saw kids melting down I did secretly believe that OS wouldn't ever do such a thing. Come on, you haven't ever wondered if it was the parent? Be honest.
Over time, I have come to accept, begrudgingly, OS's temper tantrums. Today however I had a big realization: OS is an instigator. There I said it. It's true though.
Sally HP and I were getting ready to drive back from the Magic Wings aka the Butterfly Museum. She had bought butterfly lollipops for the kids. She even commented on how great the sticks were because they were plastic and thus wouldn't dissolve and get all gross like regular lollipop sticks do. I was impressed with her thoughtfulness. I was also impressed with the size of the sticks. I worried that OS would use it to poke at his brother or Sally's son. Fortunately the kids were all excited about the candy and quietly ate it.
Or so I thought. Then we heard a noise...kind of a scratching sound. I was baffled about what it could be. Then Sally asked OS to stop scratching the ceiling of her car with his lollipop. That's right, OS quickly figured out that the nice long lollipop pole stick could reach the ceiling. Oh, and he didn't finish eating the candy first. Of course, the other two boys wanted in on the game and before we knew it all three of them were scratching the ceiling with their wet sticky lollipops. I believe Sally indicated that this is what she should have expected from giving kids lollipops attached to the end of fishing poles. I can't say for sure because I was laughing so hard.
Of course OS stopped doing the scratching while YS continued. In fact even after YS finished his candy, in between ceiling scratches (hope Sally's car ceiling is cleaner than mine), he still was waving the stick around oblivious to the fact that the game had been over for a while.
I'm sure that OS has been an instigator before today. In fact, I would bet it's even happened more than once, particularly with his younger brother. I just wasn't as aware of his new status as that kid. Since as the younger sibling, YS always follows the trends after his brother is done finished, it appears like they are his idea
Sally HP's Lesson Learned: Do not give children lollipops with long sticks when enclosed places.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: At some point your sweet baby will become that kid.
To read about our trip to Magic Wings, (gotta love that name) click here.Labels: From the Mouths of Babes, Outings and Playgroups |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:11 AM   |
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| Friday, March 14, 2008 |
Pride, Pet Rocks, and Alex Elliot: Annoying Parent |
Before I became a parent, I vowed that I would never be one of those obnoxious parents that would boast about their kids left and right. You know what that's like...you politely ask a mom (or dad) how her kid is doing and she gives you a list of the kid's top 50 achievements...in the four months that have passed since his birth. I would never ever do that!
Who am I kidding? I have yet to find a pre-parent declaration that I've kept. There may, and I stress may, possibly have been some blatant subtle bragging during the past five years. I do know one thing for sure though, I just have to take a moment here to talk about how impressed I am with my older son (OS). Yes, I know I am just like am one of those annoying parents. Come on though and cut me some slack! My most recent post was about how both my kids were playing in the toilet yesterday, not how they were finding the cure for cancer.
OS is really into ocean life. Some kids are really into trains, dinosaurs or pirates for example, and they can tell you every little detail about them. That's how OS is about marine life, in particular dolphins and whales. He can recognize many sea creatures, and even explain the differences between various types of dolphins and whales.
This morning when I dropped OS off at preschool, his teacher handed me a pet rock that he made in class. She told me that most of the kids chose to do bunnies, kittens, or puppies for their pet rocks. Not OS. He made a whale pet rock. It was the only whale pet rock in the class. After school I asked OS to tell me about his whale pet rock. First he specified that it was not just any pet rock, but was specifically a blue whale pet rock. I noticed two cotton balls on the rock. OS matter of factly told me that the two cotton balls were for the two flukes of the whale's tail. Six months ago, I didn't even know what a fluke was! OS actually ensured that his whale had them.
Yes, I know I know. I'm totally bragging here, but I was just so proud that he took an interest and carried it over into a school craft. Alright now I'm off to slink away. Did I mention that my kids bathed a cloth doll in the toilet yesterday?
 
I still can't find my camera and had to rely on my cell phone.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: It is no fluke that I am proud of my children.Labels: Crafts, From the Mouths of Babes, Preschool |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:50 PM |
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| Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
Today Went into the Toilet |
Our dog Gandalf is not allowed to run in the yard by himself until he is healed from his surgery. Our vet also warned us that he would be "backed up" for a few days after the surgery. The Big Giraffe was happy to report Gandalf's first "delivery" yesterday, but we were not convinced that he was all clear. The Big Giraffe even did a couple extra laps around the yard with Gandalf this morning in the hopes that there would be more to follow. In the end, he gave up, leaving the boys (canine and human), the girls (feline only), and me to our Thursday routine.
Thursdays tend to be our days to catch up around the house. Fun times over at the Giraffe household! I started upstairs by cleaning the bathroom, even putting out a newly cleaned bathmat. Then I undertook the role of Sherlock Holmes in order to solve the mystery of my missing lap suit. I like to call the suit "Grimace" because with it's eggplant purple in color, so I feel like Grimace from McDonald's when I wear it. My suspects were two small boys who are constantly taking things out of my gym bag no matter where I hide it. I searched the house high and low for Grimace, but it was nowhere to be find. The boys were working on puzzles up in their room. I decided to go check in the basement to see if Grimace had been caught in the dirty laundry pile.
I wasn't down there for more than a few minutes. I remember hearing the toilet lid upstairs fall twice and calling up and asking my older son (OS) if everything was alright. He said it was, so I proceeded to make lunch for the boys. When I went upstairs and picked up my younger son (YS), his clothes felt slightly damp to me. I asked OS if he was playing in the sink. He said no. I had just washed my hands so I figured I must not have dried them all the way, and didn't think any further about YS's clothes. I should have.
After lunch we went upstairs for quiet time, and I saw a giant wet spot on OS's bed. I asked him the obvious question: did he have an accident. He said it was water. Oh, alright. What water? Water from the sink? Silly, mommy. Of course it wasn't water from the sink, he told me. Sigh of relief. It was water from the toilet! Trying not to lose it, I asked the obvious question in a strangled I'm trying not to yell at the top of my lungs voice. How did it get there? I figured they used a cup or their hands. It was worse than I thought. After careful cross-examination, I learned that they had bathed OS's cloth doll in the toilet. While I'm pretty sure that the toilet water was clean, OS did mention that he had also used the toilet.
I am baffled why they did this. We have a stool in the downstairs bathroom so that they can fill the sink and bathe their toys. OS does this at least once a day. There was also a stool in the bathroom sink upstairs that they could have used. OS is 4.5 and has been potty trained for a year. He knows what goes in a toilet.
Of course the worst was still yet to come. When asked, OS told me he didn't know what happened to the doll. I was in complete disbelief at this point. How hard is it to find a sopping wet doll? I was worried that she was buried under a couch cushion. We finally found her on the dining room bench. She had been sitting next to OS during lunch! Let's not dwell on that one too much or I may see my dinner again.
I confiscated the doll and we all went back upstairs to clean the bathroom. Yes, the one which I had just cleaned earlier that morning. It looked like a monsoon hit! Even the shower was wet with toilet water. The not yet used bathmat was sopping wet.
After bringing order to the chaos, I went back downstairs to try not to hyperventilate. That's when I got hit with the second surprise. Gandalf had apparently cleared the rest of his backlog...right in the middle of the hallway.
As for OS, I told him he wasn't allowed to use the upstairs bathroom for the rest of the day. It was soaked from both the monsoon and the post-monsoon clean-up. I believe he thought it was a punishment, which is not what I had intended. It actually had way more of an effect than taking away the dolls and other toilet bathing accoutrements that I found.
The Big Giraffe brought me home dinner.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: It never rains, but it pours...toilet water.Labels: From the Mouths of Babes, Pets and Animals, Toys / Clothes / Gear |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:35 PM |
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| Tuesday, February 19, 2008 |
Someone Please Give Me the Instruction Manual |
Because we spend a lot time discussing the birds and the bees these days in our house, we had yet another sex conversation today. Except that today I seriously needed my parenting instruction manual that I just know that they must have forgotten to give me at the hospital...twice now. I even double checked under the couch, in the hall closet, in my husband's closet and any other place we stash things right before guests come over to our house. No luck. I checked on-line to see if perhaps the hospital had an electronic copy that I could download. No luck there. I really needed help on this one. I just know in that instruction manual that surely came with my baby there was a section explaining how to find the location of merfolk genitalia . Isn't it obvious? I mean that should be right after how to change the baby's diaper. I'm sure the writers would be able to foresee the following type of conversation that I had with my older son (OS) today:
OS: Mommy, Ariel is a girl!
Me: Yes, she is.
OS: That means she has a gina! (We're working on getting the "va" in there)
Me: Yes, she does.
OS: Where is it?
Me: (Feeling under pressure here as I know nothing about the gentalia of merfolk because apparently my anatomy pre-med course I took left that one out). I'm not sure...(based on numerous parenting articles saying it's fine to admit you don't know as well as a personal stall tactic for me), but I think it would be on the back of her tail.
OS: That's right! It's just like the cats' ginas!
Me: That's right. (Eyes darting back and forth performing a catscan to make sure unsuspecting cats were in a safe location before any "veterinary examinations" occured.)
OS: I like cookies in preschool.
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Pre-med anatomy may not be sufficient for answering preschoolers' anatomy questions.Labels: From the Mouths of Babes, Humor (at least Attempted), Pets and Animals |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:21 PM |
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| Monday, February 18, 2008 |
Where's My Instruction Manual? |
In case none of you have noticed, parenting is really hard work. I'm not talking about the whining, the temper tantrums, the dirty diapers or throwing up (you or them). I'm also not talking about the mounds of clothes, the meals, or the cleaning. I'm talking about the emotional aspects.
It's always been important to me that my boys are exposed to both so called boy toys as well as so called girl toys. In fact, if there's fighting going on between my boys, I can almost guarantee that it's over a My Little Pony or a Groovy Girl. My boys love playing with them, although I have to admit that they play differently with these alleged girl toys than I did with my ponies and dolls. For instance, the latest thing has been to put the ponies on our big Lightening McQueen car and let them go for an out of control joy ride throughout the kitchen. This usually seems to occur when I'm trying to cook dinner. The ponies also enjoy taking swim lessons and baths in the bathroom sink. However, the more traditional routines that I used to enjoy such as feeding the dolls, changing their clothes, and putting them to bed don't seem to be part of their play. In fact the dolls are almost always naked. (It's not a big deal; Groovy Girls are not anatomically correct.)
We've co-existed nicely with these allegedly female toys. Fairly recently though, my older son (OS) has gotten into Disney Princesses. No, he hasn't gotten into watching the movies because the only princess movie that he has seen is The Little Mermaid which despite owning, he never wants to watch. I believe his princess interest began when a friend had a princess birthday cake. She's very into princesses. As a result, he picked a princess birthday cake for me. Now both of my boys love playing with the princess figurines that came on my cake. Fortunately those figurines stay at home, or at least they are supposed to.
Last week, the boys and I went to a daytime moms group meeting. While I was taking off my younger son's (YS) coat and boots, OS apparently went into the living room and announced to a couple of moms that he was made from his daddy's sperm and his mommy's egg. He proceeded to tell them that he grew in my uterus, then the doctor cut a hole in it and pulled him out, and then he was born. Of course I found this out about an hour later. The mom who told me about it complimented OS on his precociousness. I felt a sense of pride. OS is down with the birds and the bees.
I am embarrassed to admit I was thrown for a loop, when OS whipped the princess dolls out of his pants pocket. He then offered a lengthy description of each princess. Once we all got home, I reminded OS that we don't bring our toys into other people's houses because we risk losing them. OS kept talking about how he wanted to take the princesses to preschool. Finally, in a moment of not so great judgment, I told him he couldn't because his friends might tease him. As soon as I said it, I wanted to clamp my hand over my mouth. I don't want my son to think that I think there's something wrong with his interests. I don't want him to think that he can't talk to me about his interests. Most importantly, I don't want him to think there's something wrong with his interests. At the same time, there was a part of me that felt that potential teasing is just as real as the birds and the bees.
Today the Big Giraffe was halfway out the door when OS called to him to come back. BG had a little McDonald's teddy bear from our Chicago trip in the outside mesh pocket of his backpack. OS told BG that he needed to leave the bear at home so that his friends wouldn't tease him at work. I'm not exaggerating (by much) when I say that I felt like my heart stopped. I certainly did feel like the world's worst mother. The Big Giraffe looked horrified. Even YS looked concerned. I had to fight back tears as I explained to OS that it was important that he have the interests that he wanted and that he didn't have to pretend to be someone that he wasn't. I would always love him no matter what. Except that he's 4 so there's no way he could comprehend even a fraction of what I said. It's just like anything else where my kids remember something really random, like that I raised a caterpillar in second grade, and then something I don't want them to remember like saying their friends will tease them. I spent the rest of the day being overly interested in discussing princesses. I think even OS thought it was a bit much. Where's my instruction manual?
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Little pitchers have bigs ears...and big memories...and big mouths.Labels: From the Mouths of Babes, Toys / Clothes / Gear |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:04 PM |
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We love Magic Wings. Hum, I should have thought about going there this week. Oh well.