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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Aaawww.... young love

Sunshine has been best friends with this boy J, she has been playing with him since November.  She talked about him and his twin brother S during Thanksgiving and Christmas break.  They were invited to her birthday party and she to theirs.  The 3 of them play on the playground all the time, although it is mostly Sunshine and J who play together and S tags along.  Apparently chasing, poking, yanking and giggling is great fun.

A few weeks ago, they invited Sunshine to one of those bouncy places that happened to have one of those fight ring things where you can knock the other with one of those padded gladiator jousting sticks, which is just awesome.  And by awesome I mean stupid and a black eye waiting to happen.  So there they were, at this bouncy area, and Sunshine decides she wants to try these gladiator jousting sticks.  It's funny, she doesn't like to rough house at home, but with J, she is all about it.  Well apparently she was in this ring area and a not very nice boy "the-boy-with-the-red-shirt" kept taking her stick from her.  J and his twin brother S, continued to get in front of their friend and keep her safe and allow her to play with these jousting sticks.  The act made the mom of 4 boys proud and this mom feel better about having her daughter hang out with the 2 boys who were willing to protect her.

Two weeks later, Sunshine wanted to invite the boys somewhere for a playdate so we decided a different jumpy place.  This one didn't have the crazy jousting area and I knew it would be good for both Sunshine and Bug since Bug and Monkey would be joining us.  Well, Sunshine decides that this is not a playdate, it's just a date and she and J would be kissing in the bouncy house.  Uuhhh, excuse me?  She blushes a color I have never seen on her before and giggles.  "What did you say?"  In this high pitched, squeaky voice, she says, "We're going to kiss in the bouncy house." (hehehe-giggle giggle giggle).

We had a discussion about this and I'm sure she didn't listen since "all the other girls in school have been kissed" (when I asked who, she was able to name one girl and the one boy who kissed her on the cheek - whew).

Later in a different discussion she says that J is her best friend and yes she loves him.  She announces she is going to marry him.  She also said she wondered if J was allergic to cats or dogs because they don't have a dog or cat.  The names of their kids will be Liam and Rosie.

I asked her when she was planning on getting married and she said "not until I'm a grown up.  Like when I'm 16."  Haha, maybe a few years later.  She has written in her journal, "I love J", "Sunshine and J" with a picture of 2 people holding hands with giant eyes staring at each other with a heart between them, and "I have a boyfriend, his name is J."

I suppose I'd better start working on their wedding present!

Vicky

Monday, April 29, 2013

Nurse Child

Every child has a different sense of empathy and sympathy.  Having three kids with a mix of boys and girl, I'm able to see how my daughter and sons behave and question: Is this a girl thing?  a boy thing? or a birth order thing?  I have 3 kids and they all have different responses to when Mommy isn't feeling well and wants to rest on the couch with her feet up.  Kids being kids though they can only be on their best behavior for so long.  Here is a typical progression of their own responses and their responses when they are with their siblings when mommy is sick:

Sunshine, she is 7 years old:  With concern in her eyes, she will come up to me and ask if I am ok.  She will proceed to get me a glass of water, and a snack for me if I were to ask.  She will sit next to me on the very edge of the couch so she doesn't disturb me.  She will proceed to do the very motherly act of caressing my cheeks or hair and make sure I'm comfortable.

Monkey, he is 5 years old:  He will see Sunshine over by me, come over and ask me if I am ok.  He will also get me a glass of water.  Sunshine will tell him, "No, she already has some."  He will ask if I am cold or not and will proceed to get me his special blanket, his pillow, and one or more of his special stuff animals.  He will cover me up, put the pillow under my head and crawl under the blanket and cuddle with me.  He will then wiggle his feet and toes back and forth under the blanket.

Bug, he is 2 years old:  I am now lying down on the couch and cuddling with Monkey.  He has taken this as an invitation to also cuddle with me.  He crawls up on me, cuddles for about 5 seconds, and decides that it is much more fun to use me as a stepping stone to get to the back of the couch.  He will slide down from the back of the couch and land on my legs and stand there, rocking back and forth, watching TV (use TV to distract the kids while you rest).  When I tell him not to do this, he will walk along the length of my body, using my thigh, hip, side, and head/face as a balance beam.  The best way for him to turn will be for him to stand on my cheek and hair.  He will also decide my  side is an awesome horse and will bounce on my side.

At this point, Sunshine has seen the commotion, she pushes Bug out of the way and lays down with me as well.  Sunshine and Monkey proceed to argue and push each other back and forth trying to get the best view of the TV which has now become my enemy.  One of them has decided to give and is now laying behind my knees, using my butt as a pillow.  Bug, the one who needs the most supervision, is now standing 2' from the television.  He will become distracted in a few minutes and I will then have to get up to go chase after him as I realize someone left markers on the kitchen table and the gate to the upstairs was never closed.

I drag my sick self up off the couch go chase down Bug and find him in the kids' bathroom with his brother's toothbrush in the toilet.  When he sees my, he promptly shoves the toothbrush in his mouth and then cries when I yank the nasty thing from his grasp.  The crying and toilet water leads to drooling and a snotty nose, he realizes the best towel is my clothes and am now covered in toilet water drool and boogers.

With soiled toothbrush in hand, to be disposed of downstairs where Bug will not dig it out of the bathroom garbage, I head downstairs.  When I get there I find Sunshine laying on Monkey's pillow and blanket and the two of them arguing.  They are both holding a bag of fruit chews and as soon as they see me, they ask if they may eat the said fruit chews.  When told no, they continue to fight and tell me every single detail that has happened while I were away for 3 minutes upstairs.

I take the fruit chews from them and as I walk past the kitchen table I look at the kitchen table.  Sure enough, Bug got ahold of one of the markers and decided he needed to show his creative side on the table.  I thank God and Crayola for washable markers and wash off his masterpiece.

It is now 4:30 and dinner needs to be cooked.  I take some Advil and call Hubby to see what time he's going to be home.

And this is the reason why I can't rest when I'm sick.

True story.

Vicky

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Deadly bouquets that live in your own front yard!

The other day, Sunshine, Monkey and the 2 little girls (N &M and their mom K)2 doors down, were outside playing.  At one point Monkey runs in saying, "Mommy!  I have a flower for you!"  I instantly think of my tulips that had just the beginnings of buds, picturing them being yanked from their stems.  "What flower?"  He comes into the room holding a dandelion and proudly announces, "It's a dandelion!  I picked it because I know they're your favorite."  Aaawww, how sweet, how could I think anything but?

Fifteen minutes later Sunshine comes in and announces, "Mommy, I have some bad news about Bug."

Bug was right in front of me so I wasn't too concerned.  "What's the bad news?"

"K says that dandelions are poisonous and we shouldn't touch them."

"You must have misunderstood her.  Dandelions are not poisonous.  People eat dandelions, they're not poisonous."

"K said they are.  She said don't touch them, they're poisonous."

"Well maybe they put fertilizer or some kind of chemicals on their lawn and now there poisons on the lawn and dandelions.  But dandelions aren't poisonous."

"I'll go tell her you said she was wrong."

And off she went before I could tell her to rephrase what she was about to blurt out.

A half hour later and it's time to come in for dinner.  We're about to sit down and Sunshine says to me, "Mommy, you were right.  K said they put stuff on their yard and we shouldn't pick their dandelions."

Monkey (who listens a lot more than he lets on) pipes in all happy to be part of the discussion, "I can touch the dandelions."

To which Sunshine responds, "Monkey, no you can't touch them!  K says they're poisonous and you could get sick!"

Monkey, quite confused now, "I touched them.  I'm not sick."

Sunshine grabs ahold of Monkey's wrist and starts dragging him.  She is frantically yelling, "Monkey, come on!  You have to go to wash your hands!"

Monkey calmly replies, "No, I don't."

Still frantic, she screams, "Monkey, if you don't wash your hands YOU COULD GET SICK AND DIE!"

Rather than freaking out at the concept of dying, he tells her he already picked a dandelion for me and yes he already gave it to me.

Poor Sunshine, she is practically in tears, "Mommy,  you have to throw that dandelion away!  Don't touch it though!  What if Bug or Lily ate it?!  I don't want any of you to die!"

What was discovered/learned from this event:
Don't touch other people's dandelions, trespassing won't be an issue for quite a while.
Yes, she really does love her brother.
I may have lost my 2 dandelion pickers for the summer.

Vicky

Friday, April 5, 2013

The name game

My kids are obviously still little and are part of the ever-growing trend of unusual names and/or unusual spellings.  I've seen some weird spellings and heard some different names.  This got me thinking, would it seem weird if someone, like, say, Walt Disney, decided it would be fun to have unusual spellings.

We have Syndirehllah, a story about a young girl and her 2 stepsisters, Aynastaysha and Drizella (that one deserves it's "normal" spelling).

Then there is Ahrawrah, a beautiful princess and the evil sorceress, Muhlehficynt.

Sweet Snohe Wyte is next.  You'll find her dead body in the glass coffin; awaiting Pryns Kharmeeng.

In the world of people marrying anorexic fish; huge eyed Aihreyal and her equally huge eyed love Aeiric fall madly and deeply in love.  

Then there's that crazy girl Moehlahn and her claim to be talking to a dragon.

And last but certainly not least... Aylyse.  Her addiction to magic mushrooms will no doubt lead her to years in rehab.

So there you have it.  Mr. Disney completely missed out on setting this naming trend and is now stuck with the boring names, like Rapunzel.

Vicky