Tuesday, September 21, 2010

All We Need Is Just A Little Patience

Still no computer. The donation idea flopped, so maybe you all can start sending my husband some hate mail. All two of you reading this. Hi Mom!

Today Avee stumbled a bit with the wii remote trying to start a game. Bo laughed at her, and apparently so did Danyo. Avee slugged Bo and Bo, still laughing said, "If you are going to hit me for laughing at you, then you have to be fair and hit Danyo too because he was also laughing at you." I kind of chuckled at Bo's logic and complete shamelessness at throwing his three year old brother under the bus. Danyo giggled. Avee's face was crumpling. She does NOT like to be laughed at. I quickly said, "The difference was, Danyo wasn't laughing at her, he was just laughing." Danyo began nodding emphatically and said, "No, I was laughing at her." We all burst out laughing. I tried to save him and he wouldn't let me.

Today I was perusing Bo's homework. He had read a paragraph about Jen and her "Special Talent". It talked about how she tried the guitar like her two older brothers, but she just wasn't good and it frustrated her a lot. She tried the drums, and BAM, she was amazing. She had found her special talent.

There were three questions following this story. What would be a good title for this story? Bo answered, "Jen's Special Talent". Excellent answer. Then they asked another question about the guitar or something. Then it said, "Write one sentence from the story that is not about the main idea." Bo wrote, "Jen likes ice cream." I laughed when I saw it and then immediately thought that I had lacked in the reading comprehension and missed the part about the ice cream. I reread it. Bo had indeed made up Jen liking ice cream. It really struck my funny bone. I could picture him trying to think of a sentence that wasn't the main idea, that could probably be universally accepted. Well, everyone likes ice cream, right? Really, it's hard to go wrong with that. As per usual, he was watching me like a hawk as I reviewed his school work. He asked me what was so funny and I told him. I said, "the story doesn't say anything about ice cream and you just randomly put that in there!" He countered, "It said a sentence that wasn't the main idea, ice cream was never mentioned, so it wasn't the main idea!"

On Sunday on the way to church Bo was asking me what the word random meant. I typically have a hard time with definitions. I usually do examples, sometimes manage similes, but rarely swing a bonafide definition. This was no exception. I gave him an example of how you could be talking about the weather with someone and they suddenly say, "I like carrots!" He thought that was hilarious.

Later, I got to teach his little class. The lesson was on the Sabbath Day. I told them the story of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath and the Pharisees trying to trip Jesus up and trick him into saying that was wrong. After telling about Jesus healing the man, I said, "Do you know what day Jesus healed this man's hand?" A little girl in the class said, "Oh please say it was a Wednesday!" I burst out laughing and turned to Bo---"That's random." He was thrilled to be able to witness random firsthand. Although, Avee is about as consistently random as she is consistently anything else.

I have put a couple of notes in Avee's lunch for school. She notices stuff like that. I did it once or twice for Bo and both times he thought I'd included a napkin made of copy paper cut in the shape of a heart. Not surprising. So, I was delighted when I was going through Avee's lunch box, to find a little note she had written. She drew a picture of herself, labeled it, and put it in her lunchbox for me to find. Pretty much the cutest thing she's done all week. I love when she imitates me. Most of the time.

Neither of my kids will talk to me about school. I know it's me, but I sure wish out of two school-aged children, I had at least ONE chatterbox. I mean, Bo will talk nonstop about a freaking tv episode he watched 8 months ago. And Avee will spend 20 minutes prefacing a request for some ice cream ("remember the time we were in the van and there was snow on the ground and Bo said he was mad about Dad taking his nunchucks away I asked you if we could have ice cream and den Danyo started kicking the back of yo' chair and you didn't answer me and den I said, 'Mooooom' and you said 'oh yeah' and...)----but when it comes to knowing about the 6 and a half hours they are away from me----I get nothing. Any ideas? Any suggestions. Every once in a while I'll get a little something. But she doesn't talk about classmates or daily activities, and anything I do manage to get is brief.

Bo is discovering his inner clown. I see it, I adore it, I recognize it as the Smith in him that it is, but I also worry. Can I teach him early enough the rules of truly making people laugh? Funny the first time, stupid the second time, and the third time you get slapped. That rule was better known in my house growing up than which side of the plate the fork goes on. I still don't know that rule. I also hope he isn't in his last year of college before he learns that jokes at the expense of others, aren't worth telling. So far he doesn't have that problem. He came downstairs tonight wearing snowpants that are too small for Danyo, a bathrobe, and some other bizarre accessory, while we had company and said, "I'm on a mission to save the world!" He looked ridiculous. I love that he's coming into himself and not so caught up in what others think. I so want confident children.

My efforts to have confident children have mostly consisted of calling them bad names all the time, so that when other people do, they don't feel so bad.

I think it's working.

J's walking around the house right now holding his pinky out like the delicate flower that it is. He's looking for a band-aid, but he ain't gonna find one. About 27% of our house is packed in boxes right now, and I happen to know for a fact one of those boxes has our supply of band-aids. Oh, never mind, it's all good---he just put some packing tape on his finger. True story.

Everyday I think, "I need to record that" but now I sit here and nothing else is coming up. I think I need to record some of the things that Danyo says a lot. He's pretty dang ornery. And funny.

"Yo MEAN Dad!"
"Yo MEAN Mom!"
"I'm crying cuz Bo was mean to me!"
"Avee said no, that's why I'm so sad! She's MEAN!"

Repeat 12 times a day.

He says, "I HATE this." I secretly love it because he says it anytime he is mad or frustrated, but he says it like a fit throwing 16 year old girl.

"I said I love you TOO!" This comes after an I love you, and sometimes just alone. But it is always said quite angrily. I am not sure of what his expectation of the conversation is, but once he says this, it's clear I haven't met it.

"What's your name?" He chats with everyone.

I was at the thrift store yesterday when a very lovely looking lady who may or may not have been intoxicated and definitely had a speech impediment not unsimilar to Avee's, struck up conversation with my "good luckin' boy". Danyo answered her questions, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to engage in a full-on conversation with her. She finally moved on and Danyo said, "That was nice. But she couldn't talk."

Already the kid has about 2000% more tact than his sister. The one who pointed and loudly exclaimed "That lady is SO SHORT like a kid and she's a GROWN-UP!" when we were at Sams Club on Saturday.

Let's see, more Danyo phrases. Oh yeah, "Mom, I want sumping." It means he's got the munchies. Caillou gives him the munchies. Not even lying.

I guess that's all for now.

I hope to be back before my kids are in junior high.

12 comments:

Sister Pottymouth said...

My boys are as mute about school as Bo & Avee. It took me years, but I finally figured out that by asking the kids, "Tell me about your day," instead of "How was your day?" forces them to give me a few more details than, "Fine" or "Good." It doesn't always work, but I do get some occasional multi-word responses.

a said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
a said...

It's the left and you are moving?!?!?!?!?

Cindy said...

So happy you blogged again!!! I love when you post things about Danyo...Parker tells us we are mean, too. As I was reading that part in your post, Parker said, "You guys are so mean to me...all the time." because we said, NO to more ice cream for breakfast....I just tell him that I get meaner the older he gets:)

Sarah Tilley said...

I love your posts. I wish we had the tell it once joke rule, specifically for stupid jokes. And I don't know what side the fork goes on, either.

I always ask Henry how his day was, and what he learned at school. Sometimes I get an answer besides, "Fine. I don't remember."

Adolescent Family said...

cute, funny, and adorable would be words to describe how I feel about your kiddos :) But what is this business about you moving? Is it closer to me? :) TELL!

Heffalump said...

I need to incorporate the rules of humor at my house. My boys repeat things they deem as funny until you want to tape their mouths shut.
I hope you get your computer back soon. Ours needs a new power supply, so I am using a tiny keyboarded netbook for the time being. At least I can get on the net every day though!
Every night at dinner, we go around the table and each of the kids has to tell us something they learned that day. At least we get a little bit of information that way. Typically though, they don't say much about school.

Bryner Family said...

My girls are total chatterboxes. If I asked Miranda what she learned at Primary or school, she says, "Nothing," or "I don't remember." But if I ask what Mrs. Ray said in PE or what Mrs. Burns said in music, she dumps it. Along with LJ kicking a boy in the stomach and having to go to the principal, Hannah trying to steal her lunchbox because it's pink, Diontay calling out, "Hey baby," every time he passes her on the track at recess, and Alissa taking the Lord's name in vain every day because her last name has "God" in it. That kid cracks me up! Jill would always dump everything as well and still does. The difference this year is that they tell each other everything on the bus and then when I ask one a question, the other tells all about her sister's day. Pretty fun! So... my advice is get to know the classmates and teachers a little (at least by name), so you can ask about specific things. Like, "Did you play with Maddie today?" She'll say, "No, actually I played with...." etc. It starts off a long report of the day for me. It might work for your kids??? :) Love this post! So, you're moving??? :)

Sherry said...

how to get my kids to talk... it is like pulling teeth but at dinner I FORCE them to tell me the best and worst part of their day (and it can't be recess or lunch) and who they played with. Sometimes I fake cry... it has an impact. Another funny Danyo story - wanting to "play" in your friends' yards.

Rebecca said...

Said sugar make it slow
And we'll come together fine

Klin said...

You're moving????!!!! Where to?

I love reading your kids happenings. I used to ask my kids a specific question about school. Some times I would great info. It's not fail proof, but it's sumping.

Sketchy said...

Hey you said 2 readers and there are 11 comments.

See Bo, that's a sentence that doesn't relate to the main plot idea.