Nice Weather Makes Me Happy

It's beautiful outside and has been for a few days. It's making me doubt the scientific veracity of the Groundhog. I hate it when media lies to us and stuff.

I was outside fixing Avee's bike and got to enjoy the beautiful weather and watch the kids play. Some neighborhood "hooligans" came around (two brothers who stole Bo's teeny, tiny, piece o' crap scooter a year or more ago) and Bo immediately came and hovered by me. He watched their every move (15 yards away) like a hawk. I had a lot of thoughts/emotions about this. It made me happy that he stayed away from trouble naturally. I secretly delighted in being his mama and protector. And I was worried about his worrying. He is genuinely afraid of these boys, even though they've never actually done anything to him. He's just seen them be rowdy and knows they steal.

So, since Bo wouldn't leave more than a 3 foot perimeter from me, the kids he plays with were close by too. I asked the our neighbor, the one who's provided me with lots of entertainment while we've lived here, "Who's your teacher this year, Hunter?"

Hunter scrunches his face, thinking hard. He tips back his head and I can visibly see how hard he is working to remember his teacher's name. In March. I laughed and asked incredulously, "You seriously don't know your teacher's name!?" He responded, totally unfazed, "I'm not really good with names."

Later he came inside with Bo and they were wrestling. Bo called out, kind of gleefully, "I know why you are beating me, it's because you're so big and chubby!" He wasn't even trying to be mean, but my head whipped around and Bo caught my reaction and quickly added, "Kinda. Only kinda big and chubby."

"Kinda" makes everything better in Bo's world.

Later Hunter accidentally bumped Danyo and Danyo took a spill. He said, "Oh, I'm sorry Danyo!" Danyo got up, brushed off his hands and said, "s'okay Hunto." Hunter turned to me wide-eyed, "He says WORDS! Did you hear that!?"

Do you see why he's provided so much entertainment? He's just about the sweetest kid too.

In other news, Danyo is a rotten little stinker. He's so dang cute and so dang ornery. It's a terrible predicament he's put me in. He won't stop saying shut up. Seriously, we do NOT say this word at our house. I guess I say it on the phone with friends. I'm much more rude to my friends than I am to my family. But really, he is incessant.

"Danyo, let's change your diaper."
"Sut.up."
"Danyo, let's go pick up Avee."
"Sut. up. Oh! Okay!"
"Danyo, get down from there."
"SUT UP!!!!!"

The other night he got sent to his room, had to apologize, scolded over and over and he would NOT stop saying it at the dinner table. And I couldn't keep a straight face. I spent the entire dinner with my back to him because of it.

Today I decided that he liked the "wildness" of saying something he shouldn't. So I said it back to him one time. He kind of stopped short. So I did it another time. This time Avee heard me and she got ALL up in my bidness about saying bad words, especially to Danyo. Then tonight, while I was bathing them, he said it to me again. So I said it back. And Avee said, "What did I say Mom?! I do not want to hear you saying bad words! If you keep saying bad words, then I'm going to start saying them!"

I laughed and laughed. But she was serious. She used my exact formula for yelling at/threatening the kids. I ask a question, albeit rhetorical, then I give the scold, then I add the threat/consequence. She's a good listener.

Now it's bedtime.
I love bedtime. Well, I hate bedtime, but I looooooooove after bedtime. Sooooo quiet and peaceful.