Of my list of things to blog about, this post trumphs them all!
I do keep a running list by my computer for when I do get a chance to blog. However, I do not always remember to write on that list….
Right now I’m enjoying the sound of The Kiddos laughing and squealing and chasing The Skipper Dog. It was not like that earlier today…
The Younger: He bite me.
Me: Where?
The Younger: My face.
Sure enough there were teeth marks ON HIS CHEEK!
(this was taken about an hour later. At the time you could literally see purple teethmarks)Cue: smoke coming out my ears and storming down the hall. Trying to remember that I need to pay more attention to the bitee, I hold The Younger tight and said something comforting like, “You don’t deserve this.”
I found The Elder in his room trying to explain what happened (which is justifiable in his mind of course). Evidently The Younger was not “following the rules” of whatever they were doing. I told him that it is NEVER acceptable to bite people. I popped him on the bottom even though The Super Doc suggested against it. I did though because he knows I’m serious when I do that. I pull his skivvies down and pat his bottom. I don’t have to pop hard for it to make a sound and he actually feels it than if I pop with the same intensity over his pants. He will cry a fake cry and then he calms down as soon as I ask a non-related question. Like a on/off switch. I think The Super Doc just wants us to be consistent.
The Elder: I wasn’t on the computer, I was watching TV.
Me: Then no TV or computer. The playroom is closed. Go sit in your room.
I locked the door to the playroom and put a stop sign on the door knob (since the lock is on the outside of the door, he could easily unlock it and open it, but he won’t break the rules of stop signs!).
I updated The Hub on what happened. I told him that I popped his bottom and qualified it that we should ONLY do it when he bites because of the severity of the offense and we need to be harder on him when he does it. Usually we will put him in time out, make him apologize to his brother, go over and over what we bite and what we don’t bite. Show him the bite, because he is visual, and explain how it hurts, trying to explain empathy, etc. But usually that is it. No real consequences there. Duh. And I wonder why he keeps doing it.
Anyhoo, about a minute afterward, The Elder comes into the kitchen very neutrally and politely asks The Hub to fix his toy (one of the Thomas things he got at his bday party). I stuck to my guns and told him that it was not time for him to leave his room and he needs to go back and stay in his room until we say it is OK. He strips naked, gives me the evil eye, starts down the hall, and throws his clothes in my general direction. I quickly footnote my previous command…
Whew. I may have headed off a wet mess in his bedroom. The next thing we know, we hear a cry for help.
The Elder: Daddy, I need you to wipe my bottom.
Cue: me pointing and laughing at The Hub! I guess I headed off more than a wet mess.
The Hub comes in my office after his Doody Duty.
The Hub: I think we just hit a major milestone.
Well, he tells me that after The Elder was done, he turned to his brother and said,
and then
gave.him.a.hug.
Cue: Trumpets sounding behind me while my mouth is gaping wide open. I was literally speechless. I couldn’t wait to blog about it.
Fortunately, The Younger is a tough guy, easily forgives, and never skips a beat at making us laugh!
We should close the playroom more often. Check out what we did…all in one day…
Slip sliding away…
There I am again with the musical titles. Folks at the meeting laugh at me because I’ll be dancing and not even know it! I guess I hear my own music in my head…all.the.time.
Anyhoo, here are the pictures from today’s fun with the Slip n Slide. Thanks to The GodMa for the gift!
AND it doubles as a water sprinkler for our crunchy grass. Fun AND Functional. Look how we’ve got The Younger at work.
“Put it on ALL the brown grass, ok?”
Hey! A lesson in colors too! WOW! What a Perfect Gift for the Whole Family!
Here are other pix from The GodMa’s visit for The Younger’s birthday. His favorite…cleaning supplies!
Once was lost…Now is FOUND!
Remember this post?
Well, as The Hub was trying to pry open the fireproof safe that somebody (read: persons less than 4 feet tall – hey! that does NOT include me! I’m less than FIVE, thank you very much) inadvertantly locked and threw away the key (and why did we think fine motor skills was such a big deal for them to accomplish so early in life?), he came across the frame that I referred to in the said post and surprised me with it in the most uneventful way.
The Hub: (hands me the frame) The key has gone missing, I’ll have to get creative.
Me: (confused trying to make the connection between the 2 things I’ve just heard/seen) Thanks!! (internal happy dance, external look of still a little confused) What key are you talking about?
Ahhh, falling in mutual weirdness is grand…
I didn’t get too many comments on the last post regarding what analogy YOU use for how you view life, therefore I will again ask that question to my readers and invite you to share here your deep thoughts. So as promised, to you and to me, here is the essay:
Have you ever put a puzzle together? —One of those with a hundred million pieces? Most people (at least I do) begin to assemble the border first. You search and search the box looking for those edge pieces until finally you’ve created the “frame” for the big picture. You can see part of the picture but not enough to know what it is. But, once you have an idea of what is in store for you, you prepare yourself to tackle the puzzle.
Soon you begin to search the box again for the missing pieces. Usually, sorting is the most efficient way. You put all the “sky” pieces in one pile and all of the “grass” ones in another. Here is the stack of red bricks and over there are all the mountain pieces. Then you have a pile for those “what-in-the-world-are-these?” pieces.
Some parts of the puzzle are more fun or easier to put together than others. For instance, assembling a rosebush or fence is not as challenging as connecting a whole bunch of solid black shapes of a midnight sky or shadow. But, you have to do both if you ever want the picture to be whole.
Initially, there are some pieces already put together for you when you open the box. Other pieces just seem to fall together right away. Then, sometimes you get two pieces that seem to fit, and you are convinced for a while until you find the piece that actually goes there. You become confused and finally realize that you were wrong and correct your mistake. The next time you think you’ve matched two pieces, you tend to be skeptical, testing it a few times before feeling comfortable with your decision. Often it is frustrating, and you feel as if you’ll never never find a match, but always remember that somewhere in that box is the one and only piece that will fit. You will find it — if you are patient. And, eventually, you discover what those “what-in-the-world-are-these?” pieces are. Many times it may surprise you!
[colorful graphic of a 3x3 puzzle with these words in each of the puzzle pieces: Charity, Career, Religion, Spouse, Relationships, Personal, Health, Social, Family]
It may take a short time, or it may take a long time to complete the picture. Unfortunately, some people never finish at all. They just leave it on the dining room table with missing areas.
Depending on how much effort you put into it, and other times, on how lucky you get, all of the pieces will come together in due time. Then what you have left is something beautiful to look back upon.
JLP (1994/1996)
OK, so I was not 12 when I wrote this, BUT I certainly wasn’t at the peak of maturity either.
I mean…Yes…I was 12 in 1996…(eyes darting from side-to-side)…that would only make me 24 years old…ok, it’s all coming back to me now…yes…12…I do believe that was exactly my age back then.
dd …Oh, life could be a dream, sweetheart… pp
It looks like I had revised it too. 1994 was the year that The Hub and I met and 1996 is the year that we were married so evidently there was some quasi-mature, perhaps experience-based content in there. If I had to update it again based on my (still quasi-mature) perception of life since then, I would probably add:
- that we go through multiple boxes of different puzzles: different degrees of difficulty, different sizes/number of pieces, different themes, create-your-own-puzzles, etc.
- that even opening the box can be a challenge (remember the brown paper tape seal they used to use back then…when I was 12…)
- that the puzzle sometimes gets taken apart (or rolled up now since they have invented these) and put back together at a later time
- Sometimes we complete a puzzle and then pass it to someone else to share it.
- that motivation when looking at an overwhelming number of pieces can be hard to muster up
- that some people don’t even know what puzzles are available, or have never even attempted to put one together because of lack of time, focus, motivation, and similar excuses.
- Sometimes we pitch in and help others with their puzzles.
- Sometimes we do too much of others puzzles, leaving them with very little left for them to do on their own.
- Pieces can permanently get lost (how depressing), or someone can steal a piece on purpose so that you cannot complete your puzzle. (Solution…go to the store and get another one.)
- Sometimes we put together a puzzle and don’t like what we see! And sometimes despite that, we have a hard time letting it go because we spent so much time putting it together and we keep it, maybe even laminate it so it will stay in tact, but perhaps put it in the closet or under the bed or in storage…somewhere where we might stumble upon it later, get reminded of how awful the picture really is…burn it…better yet recycle it and do something good with it! =o)
Gosh, I think I might be able to go on and on with this. It was kinda fun. Again, please add your deep thoughts, either your current analogy to life, or other metaphors of a puzzle.
Enjoy!
