Kids!

This family of mine is so beat up right now. I am finally getting better from this illness icky thing.

My husband is out for the count. He hasn't moved a whole lot from the couch this week. JM was not looking himself at bedtime tonight. I am predicting a sick day tomorrow for him. BH is not sick, but we wish he was. Then he wouldn't be beating us up with his incessant two year old energy while we're trying to get an extra nap.

One top of the sickies, we had a weird thing happen at school that has been boiling over time. JM has been at odds with a classmate, H, since about October. They used to be good friends, but after about October, it has been somewhat adversarial, but nothing out of the ordinary of normal boyhood troubles. I have been watching it unfold and it just ended this last week.

One of JM's problems is his absolute love of his friends. He is such a social little boy. If someone doesn't like him, he will ingratiate himself to a huge degree to get that person to like him. And he gets incredibly frustrated when he can't figure out why this person won't just be nice.

The flip side of that coin is the other kid. The other kid is at least a troublemaker, usually the class bully. We had a huge problem when he was in four year old preschool with, yes at four years old, a class bully. That little boy didn't physically hurt JM, but he sure teased and humiliated him, and JM kept going back for more because he wanted that little boy to like him so badly.

Jump back to the beginning of school in January. I begin to realize that H is getting pretty sophisticated. The stories coming home from school are getting bizarre. Several red flags for me. The first being, H is turning the whole class against JM. Depending on H's mood on any given day, he won't let other kids play with JM. I tell JM to tell the teacher. "But Mom! That is tattling!" I realize that H has JM by the neck. Think about it. JM has to do whatever H wants him to do just so he can play with his friends. And if JM tattles, then the treatment from H gets worse. There have been a few rides home from school with tears because of this frustration and I don't blame him. It's bizarre.

I try the motherly advice, give him words to say, deflecting, play with someone else, tell the teacher, etc. Nothing is working.

Next thing I notice--JM suddenly won't wear red. He got a couple of nice polo type shirts in a deep fire engine red for Christmas. Major fight to get him to wear them. I got to the bottom of it. "Mom. H says red is a girly color, and I don't want to wear it." Keep in mind, it is a weird day if H is not wearing something that has camouflage. He always wears fatigue type pants, has a camouflage colored lunch box, backpack, and jacket. Okay, well we could certainly tease him for his wardrobe choices. I find myself getting my sista attitude out and saying, "You tell H!" but caught myself.

If JM has worn anything red to school, it is because I have pumped him up like a coach would--to be confident in himself and tell H that H is not in charge of what JM wears. It usually works, but again, I am troubled by this.

One day during gym time, JM comes up to me and says, "H won't play with me." Personally, that is fine with me! But I ask, "Why? Did he say?" JM says, "His dad advices him not to." Yes, he said it just like that. Clue! H is going home with stories about JM. JM is also doing some antagonizing here to the point that his dad is telling him not to play with JM.

I am done. Parent conferences were at the middle of February. Teacher didn't mention a thing about this conflict. I had to bring it up. I asked, "Can you tell me about the relationship between JM and H?" She gets a far away look in her eyes and says, "Oh yeah........"

She tells me that way back in October, JM did do something to H that made him mad. I asked what, she couldn't remember. However, H's parents did complain to the teacher then. Funny how she didn't tell me. Funny how no one can really remember the offense, not even H it turns out. But boy the punishment can't seem to stop!

I tell her my concern about H's sway on the whole class and how he turns other students against JM. Get this! She then reveals to me that she has seen this first hand, and didn't realize what was going on. She has watched JM sit at a table at lunchtime completely separate from the class. There is only one first grade in this school. When lunch takes place, it's not like other classes join them or that JM could join another group. H has not only turned a few kids away from JM, but the whole class at lunchtime.

I also relay the whole clothing thing. I tell her I am absolutely frustrated that this kid has this kind of sway and influence over an entire class, and I demand it to be stopped. I also demand that if this kid does have a beef with JM to say what it is and give JM the opportunity to apologize and not just to continue to punish him. What a cruel kid!

Anyway, big pow wow of parents and kids after school this last Thursday set up by the teacher. I was scared to death. I really thought we were going to find out a huge bad thing that JM had done and H's parents defensive. I thought that mainly because of the advice H's parents had given him to not play with JM. Gotta wonder what made them say that.

Nope. Found out that when JM was going through his "too rough" time last fall, he bumped into H a little hard once. JM did apologize for that, but boy H took retribution to a whole new level. He really figured out JM's weak spot for his friends and has spent the last four months dictating JM's friendships. Freaky huh? Get this, H, in front of all of us admitted in two different ways, without blinking, that he was doing this. His parents seemed concerned as well that their son was doing this. The dad whispered in my ear, "Please keep me posted on what JM says after school. I want the lines of communication to be opened up here." Thank you Lord!

The teacher was apologetic that she hadn't realized what was going on. Why? Because H was being very secretive, and shaming JM into not tattling to anyone. It has been absolutely frightening for me to watch H have so much influence over an entire class of kids, a teacher and four parents--at a Christian school no less. The game is up, and I do appreciate that his dad wants reports from us that this isn't happening mainly because that takes some of the tattling pressure off of JM at school.

I also just hurt for JM! How miserable he has been for the last four months! How helpless he has felt at the hands of this kid!

I think we are on the mend here. But I tell you what, makes me love the idea of homeschool for JM that much more. He can be so easily swayed by his friends, and this is a good example, that if he did get into a wrong crowd, even so young, he would be lead right into a den of thieves. He just wants to be everyone's best friend! At all costs!

This ended so much better than I thought it would. I thank the Lord for His grace before us before the meeting, H's parents being willing to listen to what their kid is doing and not going defensive, also letting JM have the opportunity to apologize for a wrong no one can really remember, etc. Thank you Lord! Your mercy and grace cover us so much!

Priceless

My six year old, in a few days will be seven, is a challenge. One thing he has done since he was about four is pick fights with me. It used to bug the socks off me, but since he's gotten older and understands what he is doing, I can simply say, "Don't pick a fight with me, that isn't nice" and he gets it.

Here is an example from earlier this week. On Monday, I was beyond miserably sick. I still am, but that was when it hurt to be vertical. I am driving him to school. Here is how that went:

JM: Mom, will anything make you feel better?
Me: Honey, I feel so bad, I don't think anything can make me feel better.

JM: Would a hug make you feel better?
Me: Yes, a hug always makes anyone feel better. (Do you see where this is going?)

JM: But Mom, you just said.....
Me: JM, don't pick a fight with me, that isn't nice to do, especially when I am so sick.

What I think is interesting when he does this is his reasoning skills. The excluding of an idea, and the idea that something is "always", etc. I admire that, I just wish he could figure out another way to do it.

He also tries to figure out if I know everything. I have explained umpteen times, I know a lot of things, I don't know everything. Here is how one of those conversations went today.

We are going to school, and Radio Disney is playing. He thinks I don't keep track of pop music and I don't know who is cool these days. He hasn't figured out yet that I am the keeper of all useless pop culture information. A song begins to play.

JM: Mom! Who sings this song??!! (He has that challenging look on his face.)

I look him square in the eye through the rear view mirror--
Me: Kelly Clarkson

The look on his face suddenly changed, and it was priceless. He was speechless.

I Love This Photo

This photo was taken on July 21, 2001 at a college alumni picnic for our college. I have always loved it. It was taken by a professional photographer at the event and they were kind enough to give me a copy.

I have always wanted to scan it and make sure to keep it. Then our scanner went caput. We just got a new "all in one" thingy that does everything but staple papers. So I am experimenting with it, and have enjoyed the results. Plus I wanted to scan it before another little critter in this house got his hands on a pen and decided to deface it anymore than it already is.

Time flies! That little baby is now a huge first grader that comes up to my elbows--just look to the left at my homepage picture. It's fun to look back.

While the Cat is Away, the Mice are at Play

Have you ever wondered what happens when the babysitter is with your kids? I have never been paranoid and gotten a web cam or anything like that, but I have wondered.

Wonder no more! Just leave the digital camera laying around, and this is what you will find. Think about this picture for a moment...

JM is doing the rabbit ears thing he knows he's not supposed to do. And who is messin' with the camera? The two year old, BH.

And fun was had by all.

The future comes at you fast....

Who is that little girl in the ribbons? That is me at about three years old.

I am turning 40 this year. A friend asked me at my last birthday, "Are you 40 yet?" I told her, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Anyway, all kinds of things these days are reminding me that the past and the future change hands very quickly.

Not too many years after this photo was taken, I was six years old and I went to my first summer camp overnight for three days. I remember that experience like it was yesterday. Why? Because I still suffer from post traumatic stress from it.

What happened? One of the first days, I fell off of the top bunk of a bunk bed head first. I remember watching the bunk move away from me as I fell. Next I remember being comforted by someone. This was in the 70's folks, when there was no such thing as liability and litigation and settlements. I should have been taken to the ER immediately if only because I lost consciousness. Nope. I got to lay in bed, where I promptly threw up in my sleeping bag that would be where I slept for the next three nights. Medical folks out there, if someone throws up after a head injury, that is a serious thing. Still didn't go to the ER. I got some Pepto Bismol. From the symptoms I had, I can guarantee you I had a pretty nasty concussion and should have been in the hospital.

I also remember wanting my parents so badly because I hurt so much and feeling incredibly alone and vulnerable after that fall. I just wanted my parents.

But what sleep did I get in those three days? None at night. Why? Because there was a cemetary right down the dirt road from this camp (which was not a Christian camp by the way) and there was the ghost story. There was only one. It was about a ghost names Chaz McGee. He was green and headless. He scared campers a lot by whooshing through the camp at night. Some times older campers who thought they were smart would sneak out to the cemetary at night and see him hovering about his tombstone. What is even worse--one of our nature hikes went past the cemetary and we looked at the actual tombstone. It was all beat up and you could barely read the words on it.

Stop here. I was six! I was terrified to even leave the room to brush my teeth! Then when lights out came, I just laid in my stinky sleeping bag and froze wondering if every little thing I saw was Chaz McGee. Between the head injury and the very obvious ghost running around, it was the worst three days of my life! I just wanted to go home so badly.

Honestly, I don't remember one activity we did on that camping trip, except for the walk through the cemetary. I don't remember crafts, songs, dining halls, walks, friends, etc. Nothing.

I remember when my parents came to get me feeling a huge sense of relief. I never wanted to go back. I think back now to when we drove away, and remembering these suddenly mature feelings of relief and freedom from that place.

Why am I hashing this out now? Because JM is going to be seven next month--he has been invited to go to a three day came this summer through our church. It will be his first camp experience. It is really weird thinking about his first camping experience and wondering what it will be like--suddenly, I keep thinking back to my first camping experience. He will go despite the fact that I am somewhat weirded out by this. But suddenly my past just became the future.

Things that are different now than they were in *gulp* 1974.
1) I will sign a medical waiver form. Those were not required back then, and we can now see why they are now.
2) This is a Christian camp. If I hear one ioda of a ghost story going around, the plug on this whole adventure gets pulled.
3) I grew up. And my head injury seems to have healed--no giggling from the hecklers out there.

Just for the sake of closure for the reader. My parents didn't know until years later how bad my fall was. Since I was only six, I didn't realize until years later how bad that fall was. They were called and told I fell, nothing else. They didn't think they needed to come, but realized they were told a very watered down version of the truth. They were not too happy to hear my side of that story years later. It would appear I seem to have recovered well, but the jury is still out on that.

Also, remember my parents are not Christians. Especially my dad has a very utilitarian view on ghost stories. They are effective in keeping kids in their beds at night and not wandering around camp. I understand that, but I don't agree with it at all. I didn't sleep for three days at camp. I was only six. I certainly don't think that terrifying fear is a good way of controlling kids.

Lord, thank you that we are not destined to relive the past. Most things are better left in the past. Thank you for giving us memories of them, if only so that we aren't destined to repeat the past.

I'll let you know what happens this summer for JM's first camp experience.

Sports Mom Update

Here is what I can see has been the solution to this silliness. Remember, I have been warned that if other kids in my son's class complain that my son is too rough, it is an "or else" situation. He could be expelled. Also remember he is not a bully. Honestly, he roughs houses around too hard.

After the terse exchange I had last Friday with another mom, I complained. See my post called "Another Reason Why I am Homeschooling Next Year" from a few days ago. Silly little detail that seems to be important now that I left out. The principal said on Friday, during my rant, "Well the balls we provide in the gym are typically soft and really wouldn't hurt anyone." Honest to God, folks that is so not the point! I pointed out that Sports Mom and her kid bring their own footballs, and in this incident, JM got clobbered with one of their hard footballs.

Here is what happened this morning, I walked through the door of the gym right as Sports Mom was pushing the doors out to exit the gym. Dirty look from her to me, and she almost knocked BH over as she rushed by me. Hmmmm...something is up.

So, kids are playing with balls in the gym. All is well. I notice that Sports Mom and her kid didn't bring their football today, and honestly, didn't think anything of it. But then, principal comes in with a little sports bag with about five super squishy footballs I have seen at the dollar tree and announces that if you want to play football, we'll use these from now on. Please return them to her office when gym time is over.

Seriously, this seems to be the answer. Sports Mom and her kid can't bring hard balls and we're using sponge footballs instead. I don't know if I'll find out if her son got the "or else" threat like we did quite explicitly.

Now, remember, if my son rough houses too hard with one of those balls, he could be expelled. (As you read that last sentence and a handful of the next several--use a sarcastic voice in your head a few times, it helps me get the point across.)

Does there seem to be some imbalance here, or am I just that neurotic? Sports Mom giving me dirty looks because she can't bring a football to school with her son?

Honestly, she and I are mad at the same issue from different corners. We're both mad our sons are being made into pansies. Hers just got caught a different way than mine did, and she is blaming me.

There are starving children on this planet right now. Several have died since I have written this absolutely stupid explanation of this stupidity. We are at war, and our young men and women soldiers live in a constant state of danger and fear. Our nation is facing one of the most important elections because of this war. I have a friend who just got his sixth diagnosis of skin cancer.

And here we are solving what I think is a fairly serious problem (threatening our son with expulsion seems serious to me) with sponge footballs. Really? (Sarcasm) Seriously?

Someone post a comment and wake me up. Enlighten me. I feel like I am in a bad dream with this whole thing.

Another reason why I am homeschooling next year...

I am so steaming mad right now, posting on the blog will be a good outlet for me.

Before school everyday, JM, has the opportunity to go in the school's gym and play with other kids. The school usually provides a few balls, and it's nice to visit with other parents. It is also something to do if you get to school early. We have done it quite a bit this year, last year we didn't.

It has been nothing but politics this year. The problem is boys will be boys. They play rough, they tackle, run, bump into things, skid into walls, etc. That is fine, but the school has to watch out for liability.

I got a call from JM's teacher in October that there were two complaints directed to JM. He is too rough with other kids. He has hurt them. Problem is, JM is about a head taller than his peers and quite strong. He doesn't just brush by other kids. His size makes it so that if he does brush by, he bumps their heads into walls. I took those complaints seriously, and have worked hard with JM about really keeping his hands to himself and watching out for others. It seems to have worked.

Other kid in JM's class, D. D has gone to school with JM since they were three year olds. His mom is the ultimate sports mom. She plays football with the boys, organizes teams, wears sport gear, etc. When JM was three her oldest daughter was in first grade. During gym time, her daughter would chase the three year olds and nail them over the head with her back pack. Sports Mom said nothing, and was in her own world chatting with other moms. I should have complained. Instead, I told JM to stay away from her. I regret so much not saying anything and this story is why. It would have made my credibility with what happened today much stronger. But that is the specific reason why we didn't do gym time when he was in kindergarten.

Today in gym time. Three kids are playing--JM, D and another boy, H. They are throwing two footballs around. I am playing with BH, and out of the corner of my eye, I see D or H get a football in the face. Remember, I have been warned my kid can be expelled if there are more incidents. I do a friendly call out, "Guys, just watch out for faces, K?" Sports Mom is deep in conversation with another mom, surprise.

Not even two minutes later, JM gets nailed in the face, and is rubbing his face saying "it stings!" I call out again, "Guys, that is twice in a couple of minutes. Let's be careful, K?" D says under his breath to me, "It didn't hurt him." I have no tolerance for kids who talk back. None. I say friendly, but a little more firmly, "No, but we still need to be careful. No faces, K?" I am absolutely mindful this is another person's child, and I don't need to be in their face. But I am also mindful, that I need to be absolutely consistent in being an example of being careful.

Sports Mom speaks. She says to me very directly and unhappy, "That wasn't necessary. He didn't do it on purpose."

Me: "No, I didn't say that. I said to be careful to all of them."
Sports Mom: "It still wasn't necessary. It's not like he did it on purpose."
Me: "I didn't say he did it on purpose. I said to be careful. Plus, D told me it didn't hurt. Obviously it did if JM is rubbing his face."

Sports Mom missed about half of my last sentence because she interrupted and just talked over me with "It wasn't necessary." That is one reason why she and I haven't been friends for the last four years, she just talks right over you. Even in a friendly conversation, forget saying anything, she keeps right on talking, and once she runs out of her topic, she starts repeating things. This time she is mad and is purposely talking over me. I ignore her, and thank goodness that school was starting and we had to head to the classroom.

Why am I mad? I stewed for it on the way home. The double standard. My kid has been told to be so careful. I have worked hard with him and he is getting the whole personal boundaries thing. This Sports Mom doesn't have the same rule, doesn't live by them, and obviously hasn't had the complaints I have had with my kid. She also thought it appropriate to not watch her kid, let her kid talk back to me, and embarrass me in front of others. I am done!

I call the school and I relay all of this to the principal. I am mad! I told her if I have to work with my kid on these kinds of complaints, then consider this an official complaint against her kid. I want her talked to just like I have been talked to about this very issue. The principal agreed, we all have the same rules. She wasn't too specific in what she was going to do right then and there. I am sure she needs to think about how to deal with Sports Mom. But I believe her when she says she will address it and look into it.

I have had to de-boy-ify my kid. He is rough and tumble and a lot of other kids aren't. I am sick of doing that to him. I am walking the fine line of not turning him into a pansy. I feel like I am fighting a huge system here. It's not just these people. I want my kid to be able to play football, take it in the face, and everyone be cool if he accidentally hits someone in the face. And vice versa. It's not that way. I am tired of feeling like a freak with my kid at this school. I want this school year to be over now.

On the way to school today...

We are listening to Radio Disney. They have these little sound bites where kids say what makes their family special. One kid says today that what makes her family so special is that her parents adopted her when she was seven, and that is very cool to her.

I knew it. JM pipes up, "That is cool! I know what I would say if I could be on the radio."

Me: What would you say?

JM: I would say my little brother was born in XYZ state and I was born in ABC state.

Me: You could also say what that girl said, and that you are adopted, and that is pretty cool.

JM: I could! That's right. Who else is adopted? Is anyone in my class adopted?

Me: No, you're the only one (when he was in 4 year old preschool, no joking, half the class was adopted). That makes you special.

JM: Maybe I should tell them I am adopted. (Think about that for a second)

Me: I think they already know buddy.

JM: How do you know?

Me: I have told your teacher, she knows, and I know I have talked to a few other moms about it.

JM: That is pretty cool.

Kids don't see race like adults do! I think this is so amazing! Now, JM knows that he is African American (AA) and so is his little brother. He knows my hubbie and I are Caucasian. What is hasn't gotten yet is that kids usually look more like their parents than in our family. He hasn't caught that yet. He told me that he will have some adoption questions for me after school today. I'll let you know how that goes.

It's Christmas Eve Eve!

ME: Hey! It's Christmas Eve Eve!

JM: I don't get it. It's the 23rd.

ME: Yes, that is the day before Christmas Eve. So it's Christmas Eve Eve!!

Shaking his head and walking away...

JM: Okay, I don't get you......


Here's a bonus from a few days ago. We were out driving around and we about to go through the McDonald's drive thru.

ME: Okay, let me guess. A Happy Meal with a cheeseburger.

JM: You're right! You read my mind!

ME: That's my job.

JM: I thought your job was to say "no" all the time.

Bee Movie

It has been incredibly chilly every morning this week. The hubbie and I have the kids loaded (contained) in the car ready to go to church. He notices a very lethargic bee (really, it's a yellow jacket) on our back porch. If you poked it, there was slight movement. The little guy was very cold. I got the brilliant idea to grab a jar from the recycle bin about five feet away and capture the frozen thing.

I don't know about you, but I loved catching bugs and looking at them up close when I was a kid. I know it's a long, slow way for a bug to die, but in this case, the world is a better place with one less yellow jacket. All the kids at church thought it was so cool to get a look at this buzzing creature. One kid had a run in with some bees recently and kept his distance for a bit. Trust me, I screwed the lid on incredibly tight.

One kid asked me why God made yellow jackets, the only silly answer I had was "He has some extra yellow paint." I don't know!

Anyway, in the car, the little bugger would slightly move a leg on the way to church. But just as I thought, he got warmed up in the car and suddenly his belly is pumping and his wings are fluttering, and he is acting like the yellow jacket he is--ticked off!

JM has named him Joshua. Before we settled on Joshua, he also went through the litany of his friends names, and I told him it wouldn't be nice to name a yellow jacket after one of his friends. He doesn't have a friend named Joshua. Yes, the video above is about ten seconds and lays to the side. Trust me, the video in the theaters is more exciting. The only interesting thing about Joshua is he can buzz quite loudly, enough to hear through the glass into my little digital camera.

I'll let you know when Joshua goes to yellow jacket heaven. Currently, he is alive and buzzing.

Brain Fuzz

Okay, here are some of the random thoughts I think we might all have at some time in our life:

**What is the point of white crayons?

**Why do we pay for recycling to be picked up? The recycling centers make a profit on our garbage, yet we pay them to take it....why?

**We pay for garbage bags, so that we can pay the garbage man to take away the garbage. It's garbage. Why?

**Why do we pay a ton of money for lawn fertilizer, bug killers, weed killers, etc? Then we cut the grass.

**Why do my kids play with toys and lose them, then expect me to find them? They get really mad when I refuse. Same for shoes. Why?

**Why do my kids hate getting in the bathtub? And then once forced into the bathtub, they hate getting out?

**Why does my dog have such a fascination with dirty underwear and the cat box? My friend's dog will chew up a dirty pair of underwear....and that is just disgusting.

**I got married, and suddenly I am in charge of sending birthday, anniversary and special day cards to ALL family members, including my new inlaws. Why is that? I never agreed to that on any level--but it is just assumed. Keep in mind, my inlaws are no longer "new", and I am much more comfortable figuring out a card for them....as a newlywed, I didn't know them that well.

**We can put a man on the moon, yet we can't figure out an easy way to give a cat a pill. Why?

**I sit down to use the bathroom, and suddenly the phone rings. What is the connection between my behind touching the big white throne and qwest?

**Why didn't I get a DirectTV DVR when I had the chance to get it for free? Now it's going to cost a lot of $$.

**Why do I always seem to get the retail clerks who are talking to their BFF's on their cell phone, or talking to their fellow clerk about somebody and last night, or who answer the phone while I am standing right there? Why does this bug me? I was taught specifically not to do any of those things, with threat of dismissal, back in my college days of working in retail.

**Why when I go to Kinko's and I ask to use a computer they ask me to "wait right there" while they help the rest of the line, then they help me? Why does using the computer suddenly send you to the back of the line, basically?

**Why does my dog go in our backyard and just lounge around today, yet yesterday, she digs to China in a frenzied effort to escape? Why? What is different about yesterday from today in a dog's mind?

**At a certain street in my city, I can stand in one spot and see four different Starbucks. Why?

**Why does the media give Britney Spears so much attention? Why?

**Why does the media look for everything negative to say about our current president, yet had not much to say when the previous president had oral sex in the oval office while conducting official duties? Why wasn't that put in a negative spin? It should have been.

**Why does my neighbor take his rowing machine out on the sidewalk and row? Not the front porch, or the driveway, but the sidewalk. He also talks to himself. Why?

**Why do other neighbors of mine choose to let their house fall apart, yet are spending money putting in a new deck? Shingles falling off the roof, peeling paint, scary wires coming out of boxes, yucky hibachi that hasn't moved in six years on the patio, etc. Yet he is spending money putting in a deck. Why?

**On the news yesterday, a children's toy storage shelf is being recalled because a child was tragically killed when climbing on it and it fell on him. Keep in mind, I am so sympathetic. I can't imagine ever losing one of my children to death. But why do we recall the whole slew of shelves? Why don't we just teach kids to not climb on the shelves?

**Why do I get sucked into arguments with my six year old?

Here is how this went in the car this morning.

JM: When do we go to Grandpa's and Grandma's?
ME: In two days.

JM: Two days? Really. I think it's three. (Feel the argumentative mood he is in on this one.)
ME: Nope, today is Tuesday, so Wednesday then Thursday. That is two days.

JM: Are you sure? Well, what are we going to do with Clementine?
ME: Take her with us.

JM: Why?
ME: Because it would not be nice to leave her by herself in the house for two days.

JM: I would like it.
ME: I think you might get scared, a little like she would.

JM: I'd be fine.
ME: I don't think so.

JM: But Mom! I like Clementine! I want to take her with us!
ME: I said we were taking her with us.

JM: No you didn't! You said we were leaving her here for two days!

Where did I go wrong? Why? Take a long drag on the coffee and breathe.....

A boy and his dog

Let me set this up. Our dog, Clementine, is a fairly clean dog, until she drinks from her water bowl. Then she leaves water splotches all over the floor. She doesn't drool, luckily it is just water. If she has drank from her bowl and you don't know, walk across the kitchen in your stocking feet, you now have wet socks.

Recently, I am working at my computer (where else?), I hear JM (six year old) fussing at Clementine.

Me: "JM, what is going on?"
JM: "Clementine is watering me!"




PS More warm welcomes to the pedophile-wannabe-admirer community! Tipp City, OH, Jacksonville, FL, Birmingham, AL (scary is that you are logging in from an educational server) and Toronto, Canada, welcome to my blog. Please see the previous post, it is just for you.

The irony continues....

I took JM to school today because he was feeling better. The rule at schools (and I follow it!) is to keep your kid out of school for 24 hours if they have wretched or had a fever. His twenty four hours were up and he's feeling better.

I thought we missed the rapture when we arrived at school. No one was there. I went through my mind that Veteran's Day wasn't today, was there a field trip I got mixed up about, etc.

Nope. Almost the whole school is sick with this stomach bug. Talking to another mom, our one night experience with it was nothing compared to her ordeal of all night and day with it. So half of JM's class was gone yesterday, and only a few trickled in when it started this morning.

The kindergarten class is in the same boat. It's not just JM's class. Yuck!

This is one thing I won't miss next year when JM is at home doing home school.

By the way, I have to say, I think I am on Connections Academy radar. I checked my sitemeter (I can see the server of who has visited my blog and where they are from) and about a week ago, lots of corporate Connections Academy folks were checking my blog.

Everyone wave "hi" to them! No misinformation here about Connections Academy! With my luck they are going to call me and tell me to quit mentioning them. I hope not. I am SO looking forward to doing school with them next year. If only for keeping the stomach bugs away!

Feel my pain.

So my hubbie and JM are doing high fives this morning. When doing this with a six year old boy, it becomes painful. Here is how that went:

Hubbie: JM, I am all done. My hands are sore.
JM: Let me see.

Hubbie: You can't see. My soreness is an objective state of consciousness. (Did you know he is a philosophy professor?)

JM: What's a subjective snakes of continents?