First off, I got permission from my sister-in-law to relate this anecdote about my niece Chloe. When we went to visit them last week (Adam, Gwen, Xavier and I), we had a great time. It was hot, so we just hung out around the house, chatted, read a book to Chloe, played on Chloe's swingset, rode on Chloe's lawn mower (okay, she lets my brother -- her father -- think it is his), played with the dollhouse with Chloe ... you get the idea. Chloe really loves cousin Gwen, and I think she is fond of Xavier, too, but boys may be drifting over to the "alien species" category at this point in her life.
Anyway, although we don't see as much of my brother and his family as we'd all like, I was a little surprised when, at the end of the visit, Chloe turned to me and asked:
"Do you have any children?"
See? You can have kids and still be the "fun aunt"!
(Ginger, I am sure your sister is a "fun aunt" too :).
Gwen's first day of school was yesterday. She has been totally psyched for this day for weeks now. Yesterday she woke up (before her alarm) and ran downstairs. She ate breakfast, brushed her teeth, dressed herself, grabbed her backpack and put on her name tag, and said, "Daddy, I'm ready to go!"
Adam replied, "Honey, the bus won't even be here for an hour!"
On the work front, I guess my kids resent my long hours. Two days ago, I got home from work, and Xavier said, "Mommy, I made you something! Wait here." He ran into the other room and came back with a scary-looking mask.
"Gee, thanks, Xavier," I said with enthusiasm. "This is really neat!"
"Ask him what it's for," my husband suggested.
Wary now, I said, "What is it for, Xav?"
He looked up at me earnestly. "It's to put on your desk to scare your boss away so he doesn't give you any more work!"
Well, this was pretty funny. I admit, I didn't really intend to bring it to work (if I hung up every piece of art the kids made for my "work", my office walls would be two feet thick), but the next morning (as Gwen was making her Olympic run for the school bus and Adam was trying to get him to settle down so he could nebulize), Xavier was running around the first floor crying, "Mommy! Mommy! Don't forget your mask! Don't forget your mask! You need to scare your boss away!"
What could I do? I brought the mask to work, and it is hanging next to my door. It hasn't scared my boss away yet (although my workload should get lighter soon). Then again, he hasn't asked me about it either, which is probably just as well; jobs are pretty tight in my neck of the woods these days.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Interpreting the News
(In case you didn't notice, this is the second BLOG in two days, so don't assume you are caught up when you read this one.)
In the mornings, Adam plays the radio while he is making breakfast. In the evenings, I often listen to the news as I ferry the kids to and from karate. The kids listen along too, but they often don't understand the episodic nature of the news stories, and they blend them together, sometimes deriving funny interpretations out of otherwise tragic newsstories.
Case in point: this morning, we heard a story of 180 trapped Chinese miners that are feared drowned after a levee broke and flooded their mine. This story was followed by one about how China is bracing for an eminent typhoon. Gwen looked up from her breakfast and asked, "What is a typhoon?"
Adam replied, "It the same thing as a hurricane, except it is in the Pacific."
Gwen asked, "So, the miners were drowned by a hurricane?"
A similar situation came up a couple of weeks ago when six miners were trapped by a cave-in in Utah; this was a few days after a bridge collapsed in Minneapolis. We first heard a story about how the CEO of the Utah mine kept insisting that an earthquake caused the cave-in, although experts disagree, then another story about how authorities did not believe that the bridge collapse in Minneapolis was caused by a terrorist attack.
Gwen piped up, "So, they think an earthquake caused the bridge to collapse?"
"No, honey, wrong story," I said. "The mine owner thinks an earthquake caused the mine collapse, but authorities disagree."
"They think the mine collapsed because of a terrorist attack, then?" she asked.
"No, they don't. That was the bridge story, except they don't think a terrorist attack caused that, either."
Exasperated, Gwen said, "I don't know why you listen to the news -- it doesn't make any sense!"
By the way, that tooth is still hanging in there (literally!) Gwen and Xav have been having a lot of philosophical questions about the tooth fairy ...
In the mornings, Adam plays the radio while he is making breakfast. In the evenings, I often listen to the news as I ferry the kids to and from karate. The kids listen along too, but they often don't understand the episodic nature of the news stories, and they blend them together, sometimes deriving funny interpretations out of otherwise tragic newsstories.
Case in point: this morning, we heard a story of 180 trapped Chinese miners that are feared drowned after a levee broke and flooded their mine. This story was followed by one about how China is bracing for an eminent typhoon. Gwen looked up from her breakfast and asked, "What is a typhoon?"
Adam replied, "It the same thing as a hurricane, except it is in the Pacific."
Gwen asked, "So, the miners were drowned by a hurricane?"
A similar situation came up a couple of weeks ago when six miners were trapped by a cave-in in Utah; this was a few days after a bridge collapsed in Minneapolis. We first heard a story about how the CEO of the Utah mine kept insisting that an earthquake caused the cave-in, although experts disagree, then another story about how authorities did not believe that the bridge collapse in Minneapolis was caused by a terrorist attack.
Gwen piped up, "So, they think an earthquake caused the bridge to collapse?"
"No, honey, wrong story," I said. "The mine owner thinks an earthquake caused the mine collapse, but authorities disagree."
"They think the mine collapsed because of a terrorist attack, then?" she asked.
"No, they don't. That was the bridge story, except they don't think a terrorist attack caused that, either."
Exasperated, Gwen said, "I don't know why you listen to the news -- it doesn't make any sense!"
By the way, that tooth is still hanging in there (literally!) Gwen and Xav have been having a lot of philosophical questions about the tooth fairy ...
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Little Pitchers Have Big Ears
This posting is not entirely G-rated, so be forewarned and act accordingly.
My karate instructor is fostering a dog who is a pure-bred vanilla labrador. She is not spayed. One of the reasons she is being fostered right now is that she kept escaping from her previous owner. The karate instructor has an interested party for the dog, but is waiting for said party to build a fence.
Well, the lab went into heat a few weeks ago. I asked the karate instructor about getting her spayed, but she said as a "foster parent," she is reluctant to make that decision because the prospect may want to breed the dog. Anyway, to make a long story short, the dog "got out" and now has some "buns in the oven."
At the same time this is going on, Gwen suddenly took an interest in where babies came from (after overhearing something at the mall). I explained it to her in very high-level terms, the result of which, I am sure, is that she determined never to have kids because it is evidently too boring a process. We've also read a few National Geographics together at bedtime, but usually those are pretty tame.
Today we went to visit my brother and his family (thanks, Ez, Ginger and Chloe! We had a great time, and the kids can't wait to visit you guys again!) My sister-in-law is involved in her local Animal Rescue, so we discussed the karate instructor's dog's "delicate position." We discussed nothing in detail, but the kids seemed pretty distracted anyway -- TV at the restaurant, dollhouse and video games at the house -- so we thought we were safe.
Evidently, someone was leading us on, only pretending to be distracted. We came home, had a pleasant supper, got the kids to bed (late, as usual), and since they weren't at all tired, they had a disagreement which made Xavier sad. As I was trying to comfort him, I got a brown teddy bear Adam had gotten for me when I was pregnant (a story for another day) and handed it to him. I told Xavier, "Here, let Happy Nappy Bear cheer you up -- he always cheers me up."
Xavier looked at Happy Nappy Bear, then pulled Pink Bear out from under the covers. He pressed their noses together as if they were kissing, and turned to me with a smile. "Look, Mommy! Pink Bear and Happy Nappy Bear are mating!"
Gasp! "Um, Xavier, I don't think that's possible, and we probably ought to avoid discussing that in public."
"Of course it's possible, Mommy! Pink Bear is a boy, and Happy Nappy Bear is a girl and --" In the meantime, Gwen is giggling like a loon in her bed (if loons giggled, which, I guess, technically they do not.)
"Good night, Xavier!" Woo, boy.
Well, if Happy Nappy ends up in a "family way" and anyone wants baby teddy bears, let me know. If you are interested in puppies, I also know someone I can hook you up with.
By the way, we are looking forward to another major milestone in our house -- Gwen has her first (very) loose tooth. We'll keep you posted.
My karate instructor is fostering a dog who is a pure-bred vanilla labrador. She is not spayed. One of the reasons she is being fostered right now is that she kept escaping from her previous owner. The karate instructor has an interested party for the dog, but is waiting for said party to build a fence.
Well, the lab went into heat a few weeks ago. I asked the karate instructor about getting her spayed, but she said as a "foster parent," she is reluctant to make that decision because the prospect may want to breed the dog. Anyway, to make a long story short, the dog "got out" and now has some "buns in the oven."
At the same time this is going on, Gwen suddenly took an interest in where babies came from (after overhearing something at the mall). I explained it to her in very high-level terms, the result of which, I am sure, is that she determined never to have kids because it is evidently too boring a process. We've also read a few National Geographics together at bedtime, but usually those are pretty tame.
Today we went to visit my brother and his family (thanks, Ez, Ginger and Chloe! We had a great time, and the kids can't wait to visit you guys again!) My sister-in-law is involved in her local Animal Rescue, so we discussed the karate instructor's dog's "delicate position." We discussed nothing in detail, but the kids seemed pretty distracted anyway -- TV at the restaurant, dollhouse and video games at the house -- so we thought we were safe.
Evidently, someone was leading us on, only pretending to be distracted. We came home, had a pleasant supper, got the kids to bed (late, as usual), and since they weren't at all tired, they had a disagreement which made Xavier sad. As I was trying to comfort him, I got a brown teddy bear Adam had gotten for me when I was pregnant (a story for another day) and handed it to him. I told Xavier, "Here, let Happy Nappy Bear cheer you up -- he always cheers me up."
Xavier looked at Happy Nappy Bear, then pulled Pink Bear out from under the covers. He pressed their noses together as if they were kissing, and turned to me with a smile. "Look, Mommy! Pink Bear and Happy Nappy Bear are mating!"
Gasp! "Um, Xavier, I don't think that's possible, and we probably ought to avoid discussing that in public."
"Of course it's possible, Mommy! Pink Bear is a boy, and Happy Nappy Bear is a girl and --" In the meantime, Gwen is giggling like a loon in her bed (if loons giggled, which, I guess, technically they do not.)
"Good night, Xavier!" Woo, boy.
Well, if Happy Nappy ends up in a "family way" and anyone wants baby teddy bears, let me know. If you are interested in puppies, I also know someone I can hook you up with.
By the way, we are looking forward to another major milestone in our house -- Gwen has her first (very) loose tooth. We'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
And yet another Public Service Announcement
It's a bad month for Mattel: http://www.mattel.com/safety/us/
My kids are still alive, in case you were wondering. My day job has gone above and beyond lately. I'll try to post something soon.
In the meantime, I welcome job referrals :).
My kids are still alive, in case you were wondering. My day job has gone above and beyond lately. I'll try to post something soon.
In the meantime, I welcome job referrals :).
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Another Public Service Announcement
There's been another toy recall, this one for Fisher Price. It involves certain Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer toys that were sold in May and June of this year. Shockingly enough, it involves toys made in China and it has to do with lead content. For more information, check this out: http://www.service.mattel.com/ and click on the Recall link (which is "prominently" displayed at the bottom of the page, or at least that's where it was when I looked.)
Of course, this doesn't affect my kids all that much. Xav is a tad old for Sesame Street, and now that Gwen has dismissed Dora and her cousin Diego as "not scientific enough," they've kind of lost their appeal for both kids. Now, I know what you are thinking: Thomas the Tank Engine is not exactly a National Geographic documentary, but sibling emulation can only go so far.
Of course, this doesn't affect my kids all that much. Xav is a tad old for Sesame Street, and now that Gwen has dismissed Dora and her cousin Diego as "not scientific enough," they've kind of lost their appeal for both kids. Now, I know what you are thinking: Thomas the Tank Engine is not exactly a National Geographic documentary, but sibling emulation can only go so far.
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