Sunday, June 20, 2010

How Far Am I . . .

Every once in a while, the boys have a day where they just pick at each other nonstop. Monday was one of those days. For example, Cal wanted to talk to Wes and Wes was listening to Cal, but he didn't say the specific word "What". He was looking at Cal and willing to listen, but Cal wanted to hear that special word. So instead of saying what he needed to say, Cal just kept whining "Wes! Wes! Wes! Wes! Wes!" I finally stopped him and explained that you don't always have to say "what" and that Wes is still listening. All that did was let the boys know that they could now ignore the other person altogether. And they did. Hmm, bad plan.

A few hours later, Wes got mad at Cal because Cal passed him in the hallway. I explained that it doesn't matter who is first and who gets passed. (Wes likes to walk slow and then tell on Cal for passing.) The boys rounded the corner, and Cal got to the stairs first -- and Wes ran by, cut him off, and passed on the stairs. Ugh -- I have just now taught the boys that they can cut each other off.

It was just one of those days. I told them that if they didn't start treating each other nicely that they weren't going to be able to play Mario (a dreadful punishment for them). I'm not a strict disciplinarian, and so I gave them a few warnings. By the end, I was pinching my fingers close together and showing them that they were "this close" to not playing Mario. After a while, their attitudes changes and they became happy boys again.

Two days later, we were in the car, and the boys were in great moods. Out of the blue Wes asked "Hey mom, how far am I from not being able to play Mario?" I told him that he was very far away because he was being such a good boy. He wanted to know exactly how far. I just told him far. He opened his arms up real wide and asked if he was "that far". I realized that he just wanted to know how much wiggle room he had. I made it clear that while he was super far away, that gap can close very quickly -- all the while trying not to laugh at his very smart observation.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Sneaky Wes

I have been so lucky that my boys are just shy of 5, and they haven't gotten to that "lying" stage that most young kids do around 3 and 4. However, we caught Wes telling a big lie the other day.

I was cleaning the playroom, and I noticed that there were a pair of shoes under their table. If you haven't seen our playroom, it is really large. In addition to toys, we have a table, full size couch, and a big tv in there. So once or twice a week (and most lunches), we let the boys eat upstairs in their playroom and watch a movie. If they eat all of their dinner, they can play Mario Brothers on the Wii.

Wes is such a passionate little guy. Right now, his passion is anything and everything Mario Brothers. He can't wait to play in the evening. The rule has been in place for about 4 months, but he'll still ask me several times a day if he can play Mario (during the day). My answer is always no, but he just gets so excited to play. If we have a guest come over (even the social worker), Wes wants to teach him/her how to play Mario.

Anyway, back to cleaning the playroom. . . . I crawled under the table to pull out the pair of shoes, and a water bottle sipper cup full of milk caught my eye. It was just sitting behind the couch. My initial thought was "well this is going to be gross". I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was milk from the previous night's dinner, and it hadn't rotted yet. Whew . . . dodged a stinky, nasty bullet. Until a portion of a dried old corndog caught my eye. I pulled the couch away from the wall, and sure enough there were about 10 different type of food items hidden behind the couch. Just a piece or two of each item. They were all dried and hard . . . and just plain gross.

Adam and the boys happened to walk in the playroom at this time. My mind was racing about how disgusting it was, and why would the boys be throwing food? And then it clicked -- they aren't throwing food, Wes is hiding food. It is easy to pinpoint Wes because Calvin doesn't eat meat, and Wes is just adamant that he sits in the seat closest to the couch. Wes was being sneaky -- for quite some time.

I asked the boys how the food got behind the couch. Wes just kept saying "I don't know how it got there." Cal just said, "I didn't do it, he did." I told Wes it was gross and that bugs would get into our house (he hates bugs). I also told him that he had been lying to me, and so he was going to be grounded from playing Mario. Upon hearing this, he immediately perked up and said "Wait! I know how the food got there! . . . it got legs and walked over there." Uh no, still grounded.

Later that day, he asked Sherree what kind of bugs eat human food. She made it clear that all bugs eat human food. The next morning, I was putting his tennis shoes on (the ones that were under the table), and Wes complained that something was in one of his shoes. I took it back off, and looked inside to find about 5 ritz crackers inside his shoe.

What worries me is that after I found the ritz crackers in his shoe, Wes asked if I had seen any pasta behind the couch. I told him no, and he just said "Okay." I don't know if that means he never hid the pasta, or if I'm going to come across the pasta on another unexpecting day.