Mysterious

Jack:  Mom!  I just saw a long skinny bug with lots and lots of legs and it scared me!

Mama: Show it to me.  (I follow Jack)

Jack: It was right here, but it made me nervous so I ran to get you.  I don’t see it.  I guess it must have scampered away.

We found the bug and put it in a container to watch. 

Jack: Let’s call it Mysterious.

Mama: Why did you name it that?

Jack:  I just thought that when it was born, it’s Mama thought, “You are a mysterious little wiggly leggy bug, so I will call you – Mysterious.”

Tyler Landon Carlisle

Today was the day Deanna and Kevin (our Nana and Doc) were scheduled to have their little boy.  Our whole family has been counting down the days.  I have been pressing “refresh” on my e-mail every two or three minutes waiting for the announcement .

I began to get worried because the announcement hadn’t arrived.  Of course my rational brain told me that new family of three was cherishing their first beautiful moments together and making that their priority  - over getting their announcement email out.I had told the boys that we were going to visit the baby at 3:30, and they could hardly wait.  My anxiety and impatience rubbed of on Owen and Jack….As soon as school go out, every few minutes was punctuated with a request for how long they had waited and how much time before they had to get into the car to go.  I finally put a show on to pass the time for them.

When it was finally time to leave, Owen got his serious face on.  “Now Jack, the name that they tell us, you are going to want to listen to because it is a name that you are going to know forever.” ( I knew the name from the announcement, but thought it would be fun for K and D to tell the boys themselves.)  During the drive Owen and Jack  practiced an “I Love You song”” to sing to Tyler together.   This was completely their own idea, and was so sweet.

Our wait was rewarded with this little guy…

Tyler Landon Carlisle

The monkeys   were in awe and needed no more entertainment than to watch Tyler sleep.

I felt that bundle in my hands and Mommy Babble began to flow.  It is strange and exciting to think that my voice is one of the first he has heard since his birth. 

In 30 second intervals, Eric kept trying to steal the baby from me! I don’t like having to share, but I love that proud look that Eric has on his face.    When we were about to leave, Owen said to Deanna (who was surrounded by tables and machines, and the baby bassinet), “I really want to give you a hug, but I don’t know how to get to you!”

Eric and I went on a date afterwards, and the majority of the time was spend discussing Tyler !

We are so glad you are here little guy!

Kind Kid

Last week I got a strange and slightly garbled message on my answering machine from the principal of Owen’s school.  The message sounded slightly pre-recorded and said something about asking my child about eating lunch with the principal in connection with the Kind Kid Award.  Since Owen goes to morning Kindergarten, and leaves before lunch, I figured that the message was announcing the installation of the program at school or that it was sent to my number by mistake.

Later that day or the next, Owen began explaining a new award that he had learned about in school called the Kind Kid award.  I wondered if maybe that message was talking about Owen after all.

Mama: Wow, that sounds like a nice award to get.  Tell me more about that!

Owen: It sounds TERRIBLE to me!!  I hope I NEVER get it!!

Mama: Aaaaaaaa

Owen: Do you know what happens if you get the Kind Kid award?!?!

Mama: What?

Owen:  You have to eat lunch with the principal! (Mouth hanging open)

Mama: I think it would be an honor to eat lunch with the principal.  I would get to sit next to a special person in your school and people would know that I was a kind person even if they had never met me.

Owen: I NEVER want to do that!  And I don’t want to win that award.  There is NO WAY that I am going to stay at school for so so long and eat lunch there.  I would be home so late!

It wasn’t that Owen didn’t want the award.  It was that he was  worried about staying “after school”. My poor worrying baby!  This is the first week that he has easily gone to school without being upset (even though he loves it when he gets there.)   I tried to convince Owen that half-day kindergarteners would do something else with the principal other than eating  lunch– maybe eating snack together?  Owen wasn’t buying it.  There was no way he was going to take a chance like that.  The next day, at some random part of the day, Owen told me again that he never wanted to have the award.  I began to worry that he would start to be an “un-kind kid” in order to avoid that award…

___

Yesterday Owen ran out of school yelling, “I know what they do instead for the Kind Kid Award!  They principal just gives you a necklace!”  And he held out this.

And later I saw this paper in his backpack.

It read, “Owen is a wonderful kindergartner.  He always comes into class ready to learn and with a smile on his face.  I notice that Owen is eager to read and write.  He is so kind and polite to all the kids in our class. I’m so grateful he is in our kindergarten class and can’t wait to see all the learning he does this year!

Mrs. Perry  “

Prank Calls #2 Mama Plays Hardball

Mama:  Hello?

Owen:  Hi, it’s Lisa.

Mama:  Oh Lisa, your voice sounds a little different than you usually sound.

Owen: Yeah… I guess it does.

Mama: What are you up too?

Owen: I am wondering if you want to set up a play date for Thursday.

Mama: Ah…didn’t we set up a play-date already for Wednesday?

Owen:  We did?

Mama: Yeah, remember we were going to get together after the kids’ gymnastics and make some dinners together?

Owen: Oh yeah!  That was really fun last time!!! Let’s do it at my house this time.

Mama: What do you mean?  We did have it at your house last time.

Owen:  Oh!  I mean YOUR house.  (embarrassed laugh).

Mama: Hey, Lisa, I have been meaning to ask you for that really good Bean Soup recipe that you make.

Owen: (long pause)  Oh um, um beans and ahhhhh carrots.

Mama:  Is that it?  I thought there was something else in it?  Does that soup have chicken?

Owen: Oh yeah, it has chicken too.  Ha, I forgot.  So, bye.

I didn’t even have a chance to say, “Good-bye” …

Prank Calls

Owen’s room generally looks like a tornado hit it.  He and Jack play almost exclusively in Owen’s room, thus, it gets most of the mess.  One of their favorite games is one  I (not so) fondly refer to as Reappropriate the Storage Bins. In this game, one dumps the entire contents of several storage bins onto the floor.  Following this, one pretends that the bins are something else.  Depending on the size of the bin, one might pretend it is a car, a car seat, the trunk of the car, or a crib for a “nai-nai guy”.  Thus, one might sit in one, sit on one, or fill one with all the “necessities” that one would take on a car trip.  The game can turn an immaculately clean room into a tornado before I can clean up the lunch dishes…

And, as you can imagine, the clean–up of this exciting game takes a great deal of time, and is quite an overwhelming job to a five-year-old, and his side-kick (especially when his side-kick tries to help…) 

After some frustrating cleaning sessions where I did all of the work while yelling at Owen and Jack to keep cleaning, I came up with an idea that has worked wonders.  I give Owen our home phone and a small specific job in his room like, put all of the blocks in a bin.  When he finishes, he calsl me (a THRILLING event for him…) and I consult with him on what he sees in the room that he can do next.  Owen LOVES this “game” and we are both much less frustrated about room cleaning. 

This afternoon Owen and I played our phone/clean room game.  Later, as the monkeys were changing into their pajamas, and I was doing dinner dishes, my cell phone rang.

Mama: Hello?

Owen:  Hi, this Lisa.

(hysterical laughter on the other end between the monkeys)

Mama: Oh hi, Lisa!  How are you doing?

Owen: I was just calling to see if you wanted to have a play date.  Maybe this Friday?

Mama: I think Owen already has a play-date this Friday; would Wednesday work for you?

(fits of laughter heard)

Owen: That’d be great!

Mama:  Oh, ok bye!

After peals of loud laughter, Owen ran downstairs with a toothy grin and a hand behind his back.

Owen: Mama, did you just get a phone call?

Mama: Yes, Lisa called to set up a play-date.

Owen: That was me, NOT Lisa!

Mama: Oh you!  You got me you silly goose.  That was a crazy trick!

He pulls the phone out from behind his back and shakes it at me the phone to clarify the situation.  Then he pivots and runs back upstairs. Surprise!  My phone rings again.

Mama:  Hello?

Owen: Hi, this is Becca.

Mama:  Well, hello Becca!  What’s up?

Owen:  Can we have a play-date on Thursday?

Mama:  I think that should work.

Owen: Ok, bye.

Owen and Jack come downstairs.

Mama:  Owen, I just got a call from Becca, and she wanted to set up a play-date for Thursday.  You guys are going to have a very friendly week this week!

Owen: HA! That was me!  That was me on the phone AGAIN!  I called you; it was just me.

So, I guess five is the age for first prank calls.  I wonder how old Owen will be when he figures out that his voice is slightly different than Lisa and Becca’s???

Teacher Jitters

I have been scheduled to teach an art lesson in Owen’s class, and taught it today.  Before anything was firm, I was very excited at the prospect of teaching and confident that I would be successful and at ease during the lesson.  There were a few other parents that are going to teach this same lesson in their child’s class later in the month, and some were nervous as it wasn’t something they  had done before.  So, I invited them to be the volunteers for my lesson, hoping that would ease their anxiety.

The minute I did that, strange things began to happen to me.  I began to have  Teacher Dreams.  “Teacher Dreams”  are strange dreams that teachers usually get at the end of summer as they are preparing their classroom for the new year.  I have asked many teachers about this phenomenon, and they all get them, though they come in different forms.  Some dream they forgot to get dressed before going to school, some show up to a class who speaks only French.  I usually dream that I show up, and have done nothing in my classroom at all – I just showed up at the exact same time as the students did.  I also dream that when I show up for the first day of school, the kids have actually been there for six weeks and I just got the start-date wrong.

I became worried that I would do a terrible job teaching the lesson.  Even though my rational mind would correct those thoughts, they continued to sneak back in.

Last night I stayed up late reviewing the lesson (you know, in case I would forget what the primary colors are and how they mix to make orange and green and purple…)

Becca laughed at me when she saw that I had written her last name on my “notes” page…

Before the lesson, I was very sure I was going to throw up.

But, the minute I said, “Class”  I was free.  I was excited, enthusiastic, and loving every second of being with the kids.  The lesson turned out great, of course.

I am really hoping that my overactive brain will give me a break for the next lesson now that it knows my “teacher mode” kicks in readily, when needed.

According to Jack

Becca drove Jack to pre-school today, and in the parking lot, he pointed to the handicapped space.

Jack: Do you know what that is, Becca?

Becca: What?

Jack: That blue sign there.  Its a handicapped spot.

Becca: Yes, Jack, it is.

Jack:  That means that someone died in their car there.