For school, Lastborn was asked to interview a family member over Thanksgiving break, and then write a piece from what he learned about the person. Lastborn chose to interview his Grandfather - and the result is rather funny.
Grandpa Ross
Have you ever had to live on a farm and had to clean chicken poop, or had to be drafted into the Korean War? Well my Grandpa Ross did. Grandpa’s favorite holiday is Christmas, because everyone is so happy in the holidays and everybody looks forward to church meetings. Grandpa Ross had a powerful father and a mother who kept the house neat and tidy, Grandpa had many difficult chores like caring for chickens and much more. He went to school at Deerfield Grammar School in Deerfield, Illinois. Grandpa had scarlet fever in the fourth grade so he had a lot of work to do to catch up. A role model of Grandpa’s is a farmer next door who was elderly. The farmer is Grandpa’s role model because he did a lot of things while working as a police chief. His goal was to reach college and he did, then a small amount of time after he graduated he was drafted into the Korean War. Grandpa Ross says there are mountains in the north part of the country, as you get closer to China the mountains get higher. A big river in Korea is the Haun River that runs through the capital of Korea. The people in Korea were very poor so they sold dogs to the GIs (soldiers) then when the dogs get bigger the people would steal and eat them, then try to sell more puppies to the same GIs. Grandpa was at the MLR (main line of resistance) for 5 months. After WWII (World War 2) Korea was split in 2 parts, North and South. This split was done at the 38th Parallel or 38 degrees latitude. The only time Grandpa was south of the 38th parallel was after the shooting stopped and Grandpa’s outfit, the 5th Regimental Combat Team, was moved to Pusan, a town way south. Grandpa spent a total of 15 months in Korea and was happy to leave. Grandpa’s favorite time of day is the morning because he gets a lot of work done. He is retired but he can do a lot of things he couldn’t do while working. His most treasured memories are his experiences in Korea. I bet you’ll drive all the way to Schenectady to meet Grandpa Ross.
It's always interesting what these kids will bring from a conversation. Lastborn was asked to follow up his interview with more questions about Korea. So one of the questions he asked Grandpa was if he saw any wild animals in Korea. That's when Grandpa wrote about the dogs. Of all the things he wrote for the follow up questions, I knew that Lastborn would take this as the most important gem. Parent conferences happen in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to hear the teacher's reaction. And if I notice a group of parents laughing while gathered around a piece of writing attached to the wall in the hallway outside her door, I will know that the essays were posted and that they are reading Lastborns.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Bring back some change
Last night, I took Lastborn to the local roller rink for a school sponsored skating night. Luckily, a neighbor was also there with her son, so we were able to chat and Lastborn had company as well.
Understand that both of my boys are far more interested in the junk food available at the rink than they are at the skating, and Lastborn has not yet gotten himself off "the wall." So he was really there for the food.
He skated for about an hour and then came to me asking for some food. I want to raise my children to be independent. So, I handed him a twenty and told him not to spend it all. I was not prepared for his interpretation of that command. I expected that given a 20, he would think to buy everything on the menu in single serving sizes. The "don't spend it all" was meant to control his greed a bit. Instead, he went to the counter with pure economics in mind.
A minute later I looked over to see how he was doing and saw Lastborn, carrying a full pizza with the biggest smile on his face. I happen to know the woman working at the counter, and she knows Lastborn, so she was equally amused with his choice of purchases.
As he rolled back to our table with his beaming smile, he declared, "It was only $12!"
"Yes, but you will not be eating an entire pizza by yourself. " I replied.
My neighbor saved him by suggesting that we bring it home and Lastborn jumped on the idea, acting as if it was his own. Then he rolled back to the counter to pick up his cup of soda.
In the end, we shared the pizza with others at the table and all was well.
He had fun roller skating with his friend. He's growing up and at least he understands the economies of scale and will understand how to save money while shopping.
Understand that both of my boys are far more interested in the junk food available at the rink than they are at the skating, and Lastborn has not yet gotten himself off "the wall." So he was really there for the food.
He skated for about an hour and then came to me asking for some food. I want to raise my children to be independent. So, I handed him a twenty and told him not to spend it all. I was not prepared for his interpretation of that command. I expected that given a 20, he would think to buy everything on the menu in single serving sizes. The "don't spend it all" was meant to control his greed a bit. Instead, he went to the counter with pure economics in mind.
A minute later I looked over to see how he was doing and saw Lastborn, carrying a full pizza with the biggest smile on his face. I happen to know the woman working at the counter, and she knows Lastborn, so she was equally amused with his choice of purchases.
As he rolled back to our table with his beaming smile, he declared, "It was only $12!"
"Yes, but you will not be eating an entire pizza by yourself. " I replied.
My neighbor saved him by suggesting that we bring it home and Lastborn jumped on the idea, acting as if it was his own. Then he rolled back to the counter to pick up his cup of soda.
In the end, we shared the pizza with others at the table and all was well.
He had fun roller skating with his friend. He's growing up and at least he understands the economies of scale and will understand how to save money while shopping.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Of kitties and doorknobs
Shortly after we adopted the girls, they figured out that if they pushed on my bedroom door, it would pop opened. This was never a real problem until we got the puppy. Indeed, even after the puppy, it was almost a year before this ever became a problem. She stays pretty much in place all night and during the day when we were out, she was confined in a small area downstairs. 
This summer, however, we started giving her half the downstairs and up the stairs. We would close the bedroom doors to keep her from a steady diet of Bionicle and Lego pieces, but there was no way to close her from our room. The cats would just pop it opened and let her in. Eventually, being a smart dog, she figured out that her nose was just as powerful as that of a cat and she could pop the door opened herself. I can't tell you the number of balls of yarn she would wrap herself up in or how many shoes she ate.
Finally, this weekend, DH fixed the door so that no one can pop it opened again. He did this while I was helping out at cub camp. I was exhausted and in pain from standing on concrete all day. So after a glass of red wine, to help the foot pain, I headed off to bed. Not thinking too clearly, I let the door close and latch. This was never a problem before. The cats would simply open it if it was latched.
As I relaxed in bed, or rather fell into a wine/pain induced coma, I began to hear the door rattle. Gently at first, and then more of a crescendo, the door would rattle as the cats tried ever harder to push it opened. They were not happy, but I was so exhausted and the thought of putting any weight on my feet did not sound good. So I tried to ignore it. I reasoned that if I opened the door, they would learn that all they had to do was to rattle the door and I would open it.
After a very brief silence, I heard the jingling of the bell on a cats collar from down the hall. It approached ever closer and then I heard Crash! Obviously, one of the cats had taken a running start from down the hall and thrown her body against the door.
That got me out of bed. I limped to the door and opened it. Both cats were lurking in the doorway of Firstborn's room. Nadia was standing looking at my room expectantly and a little guiltily. Georgia was sitting with her back to me acting like nothing at all was happening.
I know the culprit. While she is far more shy around people and far more jumpy around strange noises, new experiences, and movements, Nadia is an insistent cat. She knows what she wants and she will not take no for an answer. Georgia would try the door once and then patiently wait. Nadia would give me hell.
The two cats calmly strutted into the room as I stood there assessing the situation.
I left them there until DH went to bed. As he finished up in the bathroom, I heard the door latch. Great, I thought. I'm going to be hearing it again. Sure enough, the rattling started right after he went to bed. It continued and again, I was too tired to get up. I reasoned with my tired brain that I had to just live with it and let them rattle tonight so that I would have hundreds of sleep-filled, quiet nights in the future. Eventually the noise stopped.
I awoke the next morning with two cats in bet with me and the door opened. Did they figure out how to use the doorknob? No, DH had been awakened by the door rattling and let them in. Inconsistent rewards. They are trained now. So much for ever sleeping with the door latched again.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
I survived the back-to-school shopping.
Today, I took the boys to Old Navy because they were having a sale on kids jeans and t-shirts. Firstborn is becoming interested in girls, which means that he is becoming interested in fashion. So this is the first year he has actually cared what I bought for him. For summer, I only needed an approximate size and a description of what's "cool." For winter clothes though, I needed him to try things on. Since he has grown 6 inches this year, I can't keep up in my head with how big he is.
And because I had to drag Lastborn along anyway, I had him try things on too. Both boys did well, only rolling their eyes a little when I made them try everything on. So, when we were done, I called DH and asked if he could meet us for lunch. The strip mall we were at was not far from the base.
We entered a very packed food court and the first stall we approached was giving samples of chicken teriaki. I allowed the boys to have some and Lastborn was in heaven. He even said so. The staff at the shop was so pleased with his response that they offered him more samples and more samples. So of course, we had to buy our meal there. Lastborn was happy with that conclusion, Firstborn warned that "if they had to try that hard, maybe they weren't so good. "
We sat down to an enjoyable lunch and bragged to DH about our purchases. DH suddenly noticed, and commented aloud, that the boys would be starting school in one week.
I did a little happy dance.
Lastborn stuck his lower lip out in a pout as tears came to his eyes, which then made him laugh because he knew he was being silly.
Firstborn told me I was being weird and everyone was looking at me.
I replied that all the other mothers totally know what I am doing and are inwardly doing the happy dance themselves.
To which Firstborn responded, "yes, INWARDLY."
Lastborn announced that he was going to live as a hobo because then he wouldn't have to go to school. He would live in the tree house during the week and come home on the weekends. And to get food, he would come to this mall and they would give him free samples of teriaki. He could live on teriaki. That would be a good life.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
New Sneakers
Took Lastborn out to buy new sneakers. He is very hard on his shoes and runs through a pair in just weeks. This time, I decided to spend a little more and get the sturdiest I could find. My hope is that if his feet are comfortable, he will move more.
So off we went, to the new Shoe Department near the mall. He was bored at first and wandering around the store. This is a big stage for him because I have decided no more Velcro. The ones with Velcro are just too flimsy and he is lazy, so he doesn't keep the straps tight. He tends to break down the shoe because he wears them too loosely. He understands shoe tying on an intellectual level only. So I have been putting this off for my convenience. We have a week and a half to teach him how to tie reliably.
The real thing I love about shoe buying is getting those great new shoes on. When they fit right, and they are new, you feel so strong. It took a couple of pairs to get him to that point. He has wide feet. So he can be hard to fit, but we found a couple of pairs of 3.5 wide and he was in business; running all over the store. It's fun to watch, because it's how I feel when I put on a new pair of sneakers. But as an adult (and a large one) I'm not supposed to run around the store with glee when I put on new sneakers.
So, I let him do it. There were no other shoppers and the employees seemed to think it was funny. And best of all, he didn't run into anything!!!
On the way home, he figured out how to tie them on his own. He's not reliable with it, but we have moved from theoretical to practical here. It's a big step towards reliable.
So off we went, to the new Shoe Department near the mall. He was bored at first and wandering around the store. This is a big stage for him because I have decided no more Velcro. The ones with Velcro are just too flimsy and he is lazy, so he doesn't keep the straps tight. He tends to break down the shoe because he wears them too loosely. He understands shoe tying on an intellectual level only. So I have been putting this off for my convenience. We have a week and a half to teach him how to tie reliably.
The real thing I love about shoe buying is getting those great new shoes on. When they fit right, and they are new, you feel so strong. It took a couple of pairs to get him to that point. He has wide feet. So he can be hard to fit, but we found a couple of pairs of 3.5 wide and he was in business; running all over the store. It's fun to watch, because it's how I feel when I put on a new pair of sneakers. But as an adult (and a large one) I'm not supposed to run around the store with glee when I put on new sneakers.
So, I let him do it. There were no other shoppers and the employees seemed to think it was funny. And best of all, he didn't run into anything!!!
On the way home, he figured out how to tie them on his own. He's not reliable with it, but we have moved from theoretical to practical here. It's a big step towards reliable.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Cheese grows on trees
Back at the Green County Fair, Firstborn actually asked me if I was planning on planting some cheese now that I had seen the garden entries. I don't know where he got this idea as there were no bricks of cheese among the cucumbers, beans, and corn on display. I stopped quickly and looked at him to see if he was joking. There was no sign of humor on his face.
I confess, my child thinks cheese grows on plants. I have failed miserably as a mother. At least the COSI show at school this year was on dairy farming. So Lastborn knew better. However, when the presenter included in his talk that Bessie (the life size, milkable model of a cow) and her brothers and sisters get milked twice a day, I vowed that my children would never be so ignorant of where their food comes from. I was under the impression that my sons had some idea of where their food comes from. They might not know that only the females give milk, but they should know that milk does not grow on plants!
Sigh.
A gaff like that can't be ignored; especially when it comes from a child who is so incredibly intelligent and intellectual. Certainly, the younger brother will not let this chance go by. He reminded Firstborn at dinner last night that Firstborn thought cheese grew on plants.
"No," firstborn replied, "it comes from trees."
He likes to cover up his embarrassment by making out that he is telling a great fantasy story. So making the gaff larger makes it harder to believe he seriously made such a mistake in the first place.
"Cheese doesn't grow on trees, it comes from cows," Lastborn replied.
"No, cheese doesn't grow on trees, cows do and cheese comes from cows," replied Firstborn. (Great, we finally got one right.)
At this point, I had pictures of cows floating on the ends of branches high up in the trees.
Being the insightful child that he is, he continued on. "And the buildings all have to be made of steel in case the cows fall out.
Now, I've got a visual of cows falling from trees. "That would make fall kind of dangerous don't you think? You couldn't walk outside while the cows were falling from the trees, and all you would hear all day and night would be splat, splat, splat, as they hit the ground."
At this point the boys are laughing. There's nothing funnier to a boy than cow carnage (except maybe toilet humor). So i continued. "Do you think the leaf blower would be useful? I mean it could only do so much in blowing the cow guts off your lawn.
Dinner was over at that point and now it is a given; cows grow on trees.
I confess, my child thinks cheese grows on plants. I have failed miserably as a mother. At least the COSI show at school this year was on dairy farming. So Lastborn knew better. However, when the presenter included in his talk that Bessie (the life size, milkable model of a cow) and her brothers and sisters get milked twice a day, I vowed that my children would never be so ignorant of where their food comes from. I was under the impression that my sons had some idea of where their food comes from. They might not know that only the females give milk, but they should know that milk does not grow on plants!
Sigh.
A gaff like that can't be ignored; especially when it comes from a child who is so incredibly intelligent and intellectual. Certainly, the younger brother will not let this chance go by. He reminded Firstborn at dinner last night that Firstborn thought cheese grew on plants.
"No," firstborn replied, "it comes from trees."
He likes to cover up his embarrassment by making out that he is telling a great fantasy story. So making the gaff larger makes it harder to believe he seriously made such a mistake in the first place.
"Cheese doesn't grow on trees, it comes from cows," Lastborn replied.
"No, cheese doesn't grow on trees, cows do and cheese comes from cows," replied Firstborn. (Great, we finally got one right.)
At this point, I had pictures of cows floating on the ends of branches high up in the trees.
Being the insightful child that he is, he continued on. "And the buildings all have to be made of steel in case the cows fall out.
Now, I've got a visual of cows falling from trees. "That would make fall kind of dangerous don't you think? You couldn't walk outside while the cows were falling from the trees, and all you would hear all day and night would be splat, splat, splat, as they hit the ground."
At this point the boys are laughing. There's nothing funnier to a boy than cow carnage (except maybe toilet humor). So i continued. "Do you think the leaf blower would be useful? I mean it could only do so much in blowing the cow guts off your lawn.
Dinner was over at that point and now it is a given; cows grow on trees.
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