Life down here on earth

I have a dream

Jack brought home this video from school. Every so often they film each kid in the class displaying some work they've done. First it was patterns they had made from found objects, then "What I am Thankful For" at Thanksgiving. This one had been done for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Each child held up a drawing and said, "I have a dream that..." It was obvious there had been a lot of discussion in the class about people being nice to each other and treating the world well. A lot of the kids said "I wish people would be nicer to each other."

Some of the kids, though, took the "be nicer" idea and ran with it. There are only 18 kids in the class and FOUR of them said, "I wish my brother/sister would be nicer to me." It would be bad enough to hear your kid say that without knowing that the parents of every other kid in the class are going to hear your 5 year old say that. I had to laugh.

Almost as funny, but not quite, was at the end when they sang a song about peace and Sam piped up, "Mommy! They're singing about pee!"

Constant Vigilance

This is not a good sign. I'm sitting at the desk in the office with my back to the door. (Bad feng shui, I know.) Sam quietly walks up and ever so gently closes the door. Hmmm.

This is one of those instances, such as when the kids get too quiet, that you know they're up to something. So I open the office door. Sam is in the bathroom. The door is closed. I hear water running.

So I go to open the bathroom door and it is locked. Very sneaky. I'm going to have to keep my eye on this kid.

Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton.

I got this quiz in my email this morning: Yankee or Dixie? It's a quiz based on how you talk. I suppose I don't need to mention that I scored 100% Dixie (my father would be proud.) I'm guessing this is based mostly on the fact I say "Y'all", "crawdad" and "coke" for any carbonated beverage. It's based on a dialect survey done at Harvard. If you go to the survey ite, there are a lot more questions with nifty maps showing where in the U.S. the answers come from.

All this Dixie talk reminds me that I saw something that made me homesick for Texas the other day. It was a great big dually truck (that's the kind with double wheels in the back) with those cute little reflector lights on the top that make it look kindof like a tow truck. All the trucks in Fort Worth have those lights. And, as if it weren't out of place enough in suburban L.A., it had a license plate cover that said, "Insured by Smith & Wesson." Man, you just don't see that kind of thing in California.

Starfish

Sam's been asking to take swim classes. I finally got off my duff and scheduled a class for him at the same time as Jack's (more fun for them, more convenient for me.) Today was his first day. All of the things that were issues for Jack when he started swimming- My swimsuit gives me a wedgie, I can't walk in my flip-flops, I don't want to take a shower before class- were not issues for Sam. Partly because wedgies and flip-flops and showers don't faze him as much, but mostly because he's seen Jack do it a million times and already knows the drill. Sam went right in the pool and right to his teacher and was kicking his little feet right off the bat. I was so happy.

As much as Jack may pave the way for Sam, Sam refuses to be compared. Even when he's doing things that Jack does, he insists he is his own person. After class when I said soon he'd be swimming like Jack, he said, "No. Not like Jack. Like Sam."

You just can't argue with that kind of 3-year-old logic.

Because it deserves it's own entry...

Happy Birthday, David!
Hope you have a wonderful year!

Mommy Magic

Jack walked in this afternoon with mud smeared from the tops of his shoes all up the front of his pants. There were muddy handprints on his shirt where he had wiped his hands clean. I asked him what hill he slid down and he looked at me surprised and said, "How'd you know?" *laughs* Usually when he asks that, I tell him it's "Mommy Magic" and leave it at that. One of the great things about being a parent is being able to mess with your kids that way. He really thinks I am all-seeing and all-knowing. It's pretty cool.

My Dad used to do that kind of thing all the time. Once, he had me convinced that the windshield wipers on the car would go every time he pointed at them. I still don't know *exactly* how he did it. I think he was pushing the lever every time he pointed, because there wasn't any set rhythm. But I know now he was just messing with my brain because it was fun and well, he could. It's only fair that I have my turn.

It's a bird! It's a plane!

It's the cutest thing I've heard all day...

"SOOP-a Sammy to the rex-you!"

Unfortunately, Super Sammy wouldn't stay still long enough to have his picture taken.

Time marches on

Yes, the day after Valentine's day I decided to put up the St. Patrick's Day decorations. And why not? Target already has their Easter stuff out (St. Patrick's Day must not be commercial enough for them) and Easter is two months away yet!

Today, there is a worm hanging from the stair rail. Well, a worm in a box full of dirt and grass is hanging from the stair rail. This may be the next big thing in home decorating. No home is complete without an invertebrate of its very own.

Almost forgot

Oh! I meant to say happy birthday to my Dad: Happy Birthday, Daddy!

And I also wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone had a great day of lurrrvve. Greg and I celebrated by drinking a bottle of Dom Perignon. We actually bought it for New Year's Eve, but Greg had a bad cold then and couldn't taste anything. Not the time to drink your best champagne. So we drank champagne and watched The West Wing on Tivo. So romantic!

I don't need some pants

It's been a great week. Well, I don't know if it was really great or if it just felt great after my being sick for nearly two weeks. I suppose I'll take it either way.

Jack must be having a growth spurt. He's hungry all the time. The other day he found a half-eaten bagel that Sam had dropped on the floor (don't ask). He held it up and said, "Can I eat this?" And he did.

Last Wednesday, as I was preparing to leave the house, I began putting on my plain ol' ordinary denim jacket. Jack says, "That jacket doesn't look so good on you." Then after a moment's thought he says, "Maybe with a different shirt." I was thinking Have you been watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy? And who are you to talk, you can't even tie your own shoes? but all I said was "Huh." I suppose it won't be too long before he has me drop him off places a block away so I can't embarrass him with my hopelessly outdated manner.

Sam, on the other hand, was not so concerned with clothes this week. In fact, he decided to eschew his pants altogether, choosing instead to run around in only a sweatshirt for most of one day. When asked if he would like to get dressed he confidently replied, "I don't need some pants." Let's just hope he doesn't end up like that naked guy on Survivor.