Firstborn is very interested in foul language. He is enticed by the power of it. He wants to know all the words and of course we know he uses them around his 10 year old friends. But I am proud to say that he is usually proud enough to not use foul language around his parents or teachers (except in acrostic poetry).
Boy-next-door is also very curious. He is a bit better at keeping his mouth shut in dangerous situations though. A few months ago, I mentioned to his mother that Firstborn has been collecting nasty words because boy-next-door is "a collector" in Firstborn's terms. I think she felt threatened by this, though no threat was intended because she shot back at me that her son says that Firstborn knows more words for the F word than anyone he knows. This came as a bit of a shock to me at first and then it made sense. Apparently, some of the 4th grade boys were bragging that they knew the F word in Chinese and German and all kinds of other languages. Not that I would trust the veracity of their translations, but it all adds up.
So the other day in the minivan, Firstborn accused Lastborn of using a naughty word. It wasn't a terribly bad word and I explained that to the boys, but I also called Firstborn for throwing his brother in front of the bus like that.
"After all, Firstborn," I told him. Boy-next-door says you know more words for the F word than anyone he knows."
This silenced Firstborn just long enough for Lastborn to shout out, "Like B-E-E-P!"
Took me a moment to figure that one out. I almost had to pull of the road because of the laughter.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The Mario Bros. Boogie.
I've wanted to get Dance Dance Revolution for the kids since we bought them the GameCube a year and a half ago. But it is expensive and DH was convinced that the kids would never use it. The kids were pretty convinced too.
However, report cards came in. They both did relatively well. Lastborn made honor roll and Firstborn would have but for some social pressures that led to some less-than-perfect behavior. However, Firstborn came in second on most-pages-read for the year. Second wouldn't mean much if we wern't so convinced that the kid who came in first cheated.
Yes, he's been turning in his book forms on the last possible day for the last three semesters (Hmm. Are we waiting to see how much firstborn reads before we make up our number?). And this semester, he surpassed Firstborn by only 20 pages . Twenty pages turned in at the last minute. He confessed to Firstborn that he couldn't really tell which books he had read. He reads so many, you know. He has a hard time remembering which ones he has finished. Right. Shady character at 10 years old.
So to celebrate Firstborn's great reading, I purchased the DDR pad and ordered the discontinued DDR Mario Edition from a neighboring store that had it in stock. We had to wait until Tuesday night (3 days!) for it to come in.
Last night, I had Lastborn try it out. He was very reluctant and made me do the dances. Now there's a laugh. But I enjoyed the bit of a workout.
Eventually, Lastborn was addicted and trying every song.
Unfortunately, his little legs are easily tired by the task. It's a bit of a stretch between dance pad buttons. Before long, he was sitting in the middle of the pad smacking the buttons with his hand.
I think the point of the purchase was to get him up and exercising.
Rules are simply guidelines.
Firstborn and next-door boy also played for a while last night. The game is a hit.
However, report cards came in. They both did relatively well. Lastborn made honor roll and Firstborn would have but for some social pressures that led to some less-than-perfect behavior. However, Firstborn came in second on most-pages-read for the year. Second wouldn't mean much if we wern't so convinced that the kid who came in first cheated.
Yes, he's been turning in his book forms on the last possible day for the last three semesters (Hmm. Are we waiting to see how much firstborn reads before we make up our number?). And this semester, he surpassed Firstborn by only 20 pages . Twenty pages turned in at the last minute. He confessed to Firstborn that he couldn't really tell which books he had read. He reads so many, you know. He has a hard time remembering which ones he has finished. Right. Shady character at 10 years old.
So to celebrate Firstborn's great reading, I purchased the DDR pad and ordered the discontinued DDR Mario Edition from a neighboring store that had it in stock. We had to wait until Tuesday night (3 days!) for it to come in.
Last night, I had Lastborn try it out. He was very reluctant and made me do the dances. Now there's a laugh. But I enjoyed the bit of a workout.
Eventually, Lastborn was addicted and trying every song.
Unfortunately, his little legs are easily tired by the task. It's a bit of a stretch between dance pad buttons. Before long, he was sitting in the middle of the pad smacking the buttons with his hand.
I think the point of the purchase was to get him up and exercising.
Rules are simply guidelines.
Firstborn and next-door boy also played for a while last night. The game is a hit.
Piano Recital
Like the horrible mother I am, I forgot my camera.
Firstborn had his first piano recital. It was nice to see how much ahead he was from the other kids who have started before him. One boy was taking for 2 years and another for 3 and Firstborn was playing ahead of them in the books.
Firstborn also turned out to be quite the clown. When the planned first player was unprepared to play first in the program, Firstborn stepped in. He's not the kind of kid to let a little nervousness stop him and I'd like to encourage that quality in him, so I offered him up to the instructor as first victim, I mean, performer. He gladly stood up for the cause and sat down to play. After all, he had no idea what he was supposed to do and he knew everyone knew that he was a newbie. He messed up a couple of times on his first piece and then played the rest of the program flawlessly, even adding an extra little stylized chord to the end of his last song.
And when he finished his solo pieces, he stood up for the applause, bowed and said, "Thank you. Thank you very much." in his best Elvis.
He came back into the room to play some duets with the instructor after intermission. Again, when the audience applauded, he bowed and did his Elvis bit. The audience loved it and one dad shouted out, "Firstborn has left the building." as Firstborn left the room.
He really enjoys his piano classes and his teacher enjoys him. So, it is a great fit.
Firstborn had his first piano recital. It was nice to see how much ahead he was from the other kids who have started before him. One boy was taking for 2 years and another for 3 and Firstborn was playing ahead of them in the books.
Firstborn also turned out to be quite the clown. When the planned first player was unprepared to play first in the program, Firstborn stepped in. He's not the kind of kid to let a little nervousness stop him and I'd like to encourage that quality in him, so I offered him up to the instructor as first victim, I mean, performer. He gladly stood up for the cause and sat down to play. After all, he had no idea what he was supposed to do and he knew everyone knew that he was a newbie. He messed up a couple of times on his first piece and then played the rest of the program flawlessly, even adding an extra little stylized chord to the end of his last song.
And when he finished his solo pieces, he stood up for the applause, bowed and said, "Thank you. Thank you very much." in his best Elvis.
He came back into the room to play some duets with the instructor after intermission. Again, when the audience applauded, he bowed and did his Elvis bit. The audience loved it and one dad shouted out, "Firstborn has left the building." as Firstborn left the room.
He really enjoys his piano classes and his teacher enjoys him. So, it is a great fit.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Fine Dining in Beavercreek, OH
While the house is on the market, I find myself searching the Internet to find info on the communities we are looking at.
Searching for restaurants beavercreek oh returned this gem.
I am so looking forward to this.
Searching for restaurants beavercreek oh returned this gem.
I am so looking forward to this.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Empathy
We have survived the great family milestone of having "the talk" with our eldest son. In fact, we have quite enjoyed it. Explaining to a 10 year old where babies come from can be quite fun if you remember your sense of humor. This age is so delicate. 10 year old boys think everything having to do with this is gross. And Firstborn was no exception. He revels in the fact that he is old enough to know these things, but it will take many months of therapy to get him over the horror of what he knows.
In fact, DH and I have to measure our joy in grossing him out. There's only so much therapy we can afford.
But this weekend, when Firstborn was being a normal mouthy 10 year old, DH made some comment about "I made you once I can get rid of you and make another?"
Firstborn responded with "Oh sick, don't remind me."
DH loved it. When he repeated the story to me, Firstborn had to chime in. "I know what you guys went through. I wouldn't want to put you through that again."
Hmmm. :-)
In fact, DH and I have to measure our joy in grossing him out. There's only so much therapy we can afford.
But this weekend, when Firstborn was being a normal mouthy 10 year old, DH made some comment about "I made you once I can get rid of you and make another?"
Firstborn responded with "Oh sick, don't remind me."
DH loved it. When he repeated the story to me, Firstborn had to chime in. "I know what you guys went through. I wouldn't want to put you through that again."
Hmmm. :-)
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