BloggingDangerously

If You Like Pina Coladas...

The other morning before school my husband and I started singing the Pina Colada song... "If you like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain..."

The kids asked us what the song was about so we started to explain the lyrics to them.

We told them that the man was tired of his wife so he wanted to meet someone new, but that when he met her he realized that it was his wife and that they just didn't know how much they had in common.

Now, neither my husband nor I care for pina coladas and neither of us like getting caught in the rain, but by the end of our explanation he and I were both choked up.  That's when I realized (again) that we were made for each other.

 

Sometimes You Have To Mess With Your Children...

My 8yo daughter can be a little anxious about things.  She wanted to stay home from school when her grade - about 75 children - was tasked with doing a native American dance in front of the school because she didn't want to be the center of attention.

I try to tell her that everyone feels that way and that it's the kids that power through it that everyone thinks are cool.

"Yeah," she tells me. "No."

Today she asked my husband (again) if she could get her ears pierced.  She's very responsible so he told her that he would talk to me and if I said it was ok, and she demonstrated the ability to take care of her body for the next couple of months (showering without forgetting conditioner, brushing her own hair, etc.) she could get her ears pierced.

Then my husband came into my office and asked me if it was okay with me.

"It's fine with me." I told him.  My daughter is 9 months older than I was when I got my ears pierced.

So we called my daughter in to tell her.  She came in and sat down.

The mood was somber so I said, "Listen, times are tight and you've done such a great job with your gymnastics we've decided to sell you to the circus.  You leave tomorrow."

She looked at me and answered, "I really enjoy the circus."

 

I Don't Stand A Chance

Me to my 9yo: Go to bed.

Him: Ok

Him: (Bangs head on his bed) Much crying ensues.

Me: I'm sorry you got hurt.  Here is an icepak.

Him:(Lying in bed with the icepack, reading.)

Me: (Walking into his room an hour later) WHERE ARE YOU?

Me: (Finding him and his brother downstairs) YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE IN BED.

Them: Oh.

Me: GO TO BED.

Them: Will you tuck us in?

Me:( Walking into their room) of course.

9yo: (Trying to hand me the icepack) Will you bring this downstairs?

Me: You were just downstairs.

9yo: Yes, BUT I WAS DONE WITH THE ICEPACK.

Me: :blank stare: Bring the icepack downstairs.

10yo son: SPEAKING of icepacks (then pulling a warm one out of his pillowcase)

Me: Do you both know where we keep the icepacks?

Them: In the freezer.

My 9yo: (Exasperated) THAT is why I asked you to bring it downstairs.

 

Mom Hugs

Every morning I take my older three children to the bus stop.  It's 3 houses away and I don't have to walk them but I do because I can.

I hug them and kiss them before they get on the bus and I tell them that I love them and I talk to all of the kids and I say to all of them, "HAVE A GREAT DAY!"

At the beginning of the year none of the other moms embarssed their children with kisses - but I did.

And when my oldest son tried to shirk my kisses I chased him around and everyone laughed.

But over time something has changed.  Now all of the kids give their moms hugs and kisses before they get on the bus and my oldest no longer tries to run.  He stops and waits for me to kiss him.  (He's 10.)

Sometimes I think we forget to tell people how much we love them because we're embarassed.  But a former coworker told me this story and it changed how I thought about it:

Every day my coworker (a 45 yo man) would walk his 6'3" 18 year old son to the bus.  And every day the son would give his father a hug and a kiss before he got on the bus.

Finally the father said to him, "Don't your friends give you a hard time about that?"

The son looked his father in the eye and said, "No, they don't.  Because they know I'd fucking kill them."

I love that story - I love that that boy was willing to use his power to make loving his dad the cool thing to do.

And I'm glad that at my bus stop hugging your parents before you get on the bus is the cool thing to do.

Manners

My 9 year old laughs out loud any time someone says the "Number Two" because OBVIOUSLY.

Tonight the four kids picked up on it and in an effort to reel it in I reverted to our old method of threatening them teaching them manners at the dinner table - giving out strikes.

You get three strikes, you don't get dessert.

All went well until my 9 year old son sinned for the second time.

"STRIKE TWO." I told him.

The entire table erupted into hysterical laughter.

The nine year old turned to me and said, "MOM! That was inappropriate dinner table conversation!  You should get a strike."

Well! There is a rule against calling strikes on the umpires and each other so my husband reminded him... "Are you arguing balls and strikes?"

All four children hit the ground.  From some where below the table a hysterical voice gasped... "You... said.... balls!"