Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Him: "Mom! Come here."

Me: "What is it?"

Him: "Take my picture."

Me: (takes a picture and shows him the results)

Him: "No. Wait...fixes his hair. Now."

Me: (takes a picture and shows him the result)

Him: "Perfect."

The picture?

I suspect this one is going to care about his appearance a whole lot more than his brothers do.

Tour of the City

Jack is over this whole stay at home business. We truly haven’t been anywhere really (and definitely not inside somewhere except a doctor’s office) since this all began. He came to me tonight with his “Tour of (our city)” list that he wants us to do:

1) Disneyland

2) Target

3) Local Zoo

Lol! Not a single one of them is in our city! (Even the Target that he is talking about is outside our city.)

We're all ready for all of this to end, too, kiddo. Hopefully that will be soon!

Seems Logical!

Part of Jack's daily assignments is to work on an online math program. The program gets progressively harder as he goes, and now he's plotting points on a graph and finding area among other skills. When he hits an area that he hasn't yet learned, he heads to either myself or his dad for help. Sometimes, there are some comical conversations that come out of these little sessions. Case in point...

The question on the screen: There are 8 yards of rope in each box.  There is a total of 72 feet of rope.  How many boxes are there?

Before they started to work on the problem, Isaac asked him some questions to see what he did/did not know about the topic.

Isaac: How many feet are in a yard?

Jack: Hm. My left and my right foot are in the yard....so 2!

Seems logical!

Stars in the Making

Me: Jack, would you rather sing or dance?

Jackson: "I would rather dance because it's easy and makes me happy." With that, he hopped up from his seat and danced around the room a la Flashdance. lol

This kid makes me smile!

Me: Shawn?

Shawn: "Sing. I like to sing because I want to sing in a band."

So, there you go!

I Love You

Today I was working in the other room when Jack came it. He hugged me and said, "I love you for what you are." It was tiny comment, said out of the blue, but I tell you. It hit me hard. He kissed me and left. Just like that. The whole scene took maybe 30 seconds.

My heart nearly burst.

This week has been filled with discussions about rights and racism and fairness. They've seen the news filled with protesting and riots. All we can hope for as parents is that we are teaching our guys that everyone has value and should be appreciated for who and what they are. His random comment makes me feel like maybe that message is hitting home. 😍

Coronavirus Through a Child’s Eyes - Part 1

🦠 Coronavirus through a child’s eyes. 🦠

Jack: 9 years old (Answers typed verbatim) 

1. What is the Coronavirus?
It's something. The sickness.

2. Who is the president?
Abraham Lincoln? Roosevelt? (He eventually made it to Trump, but it took a bit.)

3. How many days have we been in quarantine?
700

4. Do you want to go back to school?
Yes because social distancing will be over.

5. Who is the first person you are going to hug when social distancing is over?
Jason

6. Where is the first place you want to go when quarantine is over?
Disneyland Resort

7. What do you think we can do to get rid of the Coronavirus?
Stay away from all creatures

8. Is Mom (and dad) a good teacher?
Yes

9. How did the Coronavirus start?
It started in April

10. Are you enjoying the lock-down?
Yes

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

One that broke my heart...

Him: Mom, was there a shooting in Las Vegas this weekend? What happened?

Conversations with 9 Year Olds

This weekend's burning question: "Is your soul a part of your body?"

That's how I had the pleasure of being awakened today. I felt a bit like I was flashing back to a philosophy final in college. Plus, let's just say that my brain isn't fresh enough first thing in the morning to tackle items like this! Lol

Anyway, I hope I did the question justice and satisfied the smart little mind that asked it. If not, I'm sure we'll get more questions on the matter soon enough. :)

Conversations with 9 Year Olds

Shawn: Mom. Does Mater have lenticular eyes?

Me: um...

I will admit to having to look the word up. lol

P.S. The answer is yes.

Conversation With 9 Year Olds

Conversation at lunch:

Me to Jason after he told his dad that I had done something: "Dude! Way to throw me under the bus!"

Jason: "A bus ride comes with a price, mom."

LOL! He's a quick one!

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Yesterday, while watching Zootopia, Jason came up with this gem:

"Mom, they're supposed to be a place for everyone, but they don't support aquatic life. That's not right."

I'm so in love with this comment. My boy is thinking of the world around him and contemplating fairness and what's right. Makes me so proud!

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Shawn's been working on establishing boundaries. This conversation at bedtime made me laugh.

Shawn: Mom, could you change the music to something else?

Me: Okay. I'll put in your music, but you need to go to sleep.

Shawn: Mom, please don't tell me what to do.

LOL. It caught me off guard and made me laugh. He wasn't trying to be disrespectful or snotty, he was just setting his boundaries. And then he laughed when I told him he doesn't get to tell me what to do, it doesn't go the other way around. Ha!

Um...

As he comes out of my bathroom: "Mom, if you see little black things coming out from under your deodorant, it's a spider. I caught one for you."

😳😳😳

And for the record, it was under my toothpaste tube.

Overheard

Bedtime is the hardest time for the little people lately. The busy-ness has calmed, and thoughts that were quieted by the bustle of the day push forward. It is at this time when we talk and reminisce about grandma, each boy still grappling with what this loss means. Sometimes there are tears and hugs and snuggles. Sometimes there is laughter and hugs and snuggles. Tonight we had another one of those conversations.

It took a bit before they were ready for me to leave their room tonight. I told them I love them, wished them good dreams, and turned their light out. Usually, that is the end of the conversation I hear coming from them for the night. So I was a little surprised to hear murmurs when I walked down the hall a few minutes later.

"I love you, Jay. Do you know that?" Shawn called out.

"I know. I love you, too." Jay replied.

And my heart melted all over again by the sweetness of these amazing boys. xoxo

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Him: Mom, I just took a quiz. My 'soul element' is water."

Me: ...

And then he was off. 

~~~

He then came back out to tell me that his stem cells probably helped repair any damage on my insides while I was pregnant with him. 

I gave him a high five for that one. How could I not? 

~~~

Then he wanted to know if I thought he'd qualify for Mensa.

If he keeps coming up with topics like this, I have no doubt he would!

 

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

While at Target:

"Wow! She's Huge!"

"She's as big as Jack!

We should get one! Then we can have a sister!"

"AND she's on sale!"

Economics Lesson

The boy was itching to head to Target to buy a new game for his XBox. He scanned the titles of games, a growing look of frustration on his face.

"Man, I guess the makers of XBox are millionaires! Look at how much these games are!"

Lol. Needless to say, he did not get a game at Target.

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Him: Mom, Mrs. (teacher) says that I'm the class's human dictionary.

Me: She does? Why is that?

Him: Today, she was looking in the dictionary to see if she wrote "rectangular" correctly. She found it in the dictionary before I got the chance to tell her that she did.

Me: Well, aren't you a smartie pants!

Him: I don't try to be a smartie pants. She just asks me, and I know.

Me: I think it's good to be smart. Way to go, buddy!

Lol!

All About Dad Part 2

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Jason had to say:

*What is something dad says a lot?

I love you.

*What makes dad happy? 

 When I behave

*What makes daddy sad?

 When I misbehave

*How tall is daddy?

 Five feet

*What's daddy's favorite thing to do?

  Play with me

*What is daddy's favorite food?

 Everything

*If dad could go anywhere, where would it be?

 He would go to school with me.

*Do you think you could live without dad?

 "If I had you (mom), yes."

*How does daddy annoy you?

 Saying no.

*What is daddy's favorite TV show?

Pirates of the Caribbean

All About Dad

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Shawn had to say:

*What is something dad says a lot?

Vacuum the floors (um? We don't vacuum our floors!)

*What makes dad happy? 

Eating fruit

*What makes daddy sad?

When I do mad faces

*How tall is daddy?

He is 4 feet tall

*What's daddy's favorite thing to do?

 He likes to take showers

*What is daddy's favorite food?

He likes cheesy potato burritos 

*If dad could go anywhere, where would it be?

Strawberry picking

*Do you think you could live without dad?

Yeah

*How does daddy annoy you?

 He gets my attention (when he gets into trouble)

*What is daddy's favorite TV show?

Home Alone