Trick or Quote

Boba Fett and a monkeyDoc: This is very special. Usually we pick the candy when  trick-or-treaters come, but because you’re our favorite, we are going to let you pick!  Choose three for your bucket.

Owen carefully and slowly chooses three different candies and puts them in his bucket.  A few minutes later, Doc opens a Recess Peanut Butter Cup. Owen inhales deeply and loudly.

Owen:  Man, that smells good too!  (pause with a furrowed brow) But I just have to make my OWN decisions.  (turns away from Doc and the good smelling candy.)

Jack: Who’s eating that?

Doc:  I was.

Jack:  Are you going to eat ALL of it?

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On the drive over to Lisa and John’s house.

Owen: I like Halloween, and Christmas, and Easter.  I get things on those holidays.  Halloween is all about getting candy.  I mean, it is all about giving, right?  Lots of people want to give us candy.

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Trick-or-treating

Owen: Um, there are two more people too. (Talking about Sarah and Jack)  Here they are.

Man at Door: You get an extra one for taking such good care of your brother!

Owen: Wow thanks!  Mama, Daddy – That man gave me two because I took such good care of my brother!

Next house.  The man gives out a piece of candy to everyone.

Owen: Um, the man at the last house gave me two pieces because I took such good care of my brother.

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Lady at the door:  Take a few.

Mama: (watching Owen’s hand move back and forth several times) Owen, why don’t you take two?

Owen: The lady said, “Take a few.” and I think she meant four.

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Owen: Look guys, I got a snowball at this house!

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Mama:  What did you say to that man?

Jack: Thank you!

Mama: Why did he say, “We have to save the rest of the candy for some other kids.”?

Jack: (shrugs his shoulders) I don’t know. (sly smile)…

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Lost in Translation

On Tuesday, while Becca was driving with Jack, he asked her to turn up the song because it was one he really liked.  He then began to sing along.  Becca thought it was pretty funny because it was Teenage Dream by Katie Perry.

Tonight at dinner Eric asked Jack about singing along to the radio.  Jack remembered singing but was feeling too shy to sing a few lines for Owen (who wanted to remember how the song went.)

Eric sang a line or two for Owen who quickly recognized the song, but then became very confused.  Eric and I, in turn, became very confused…

Owen: That song was on the radio?

Eric: Yes. In Becca’s car.

Owen: And they were talking about the song?

Eric: No, they were singing the song.

Owen: Jack was singing the song?

Eric: No the regular people were singing it on the radio.

Owen: And they were talking about the song?

Eric: No, the regular people were singing, and Jack was singing along in his own voice.

Owen: Jack’s voice was on the radio?!!

Eric just looked at me, hoping I could give some insight as to why Owen was so confused.  Or maybe he was hoping I could help Owen understand.  I tried.

Mama: The lady who sings the song was on the radio. And Jack was singing in the car.   Just like when you listen to a song on Media Center.  The song plays, and you sing to it.

Owen: Oh (He obviously was still confused.)

Then, my earlier explanation revealed the problem to me….

Mama: Oh, I see why you are confused.  Becca’s radio isn’t the same as Mama’s radio.  When most people say they are listening to the radio, they mean they are listening to music, not talking.  The radion is like the Zune in Mama’s car.

Success!

Eric rolled his eyes at this point and got up from the dinner table with a wan smile.  Ah, the sad influence I am on my children…

Eric is a music guy.  He has music around him any minute that is not occupied with something he has to concentrate on. It gives him energy and meaning.

I, on the other hand crave information (even if it is not necessarily useful ...)  Thus, in my car, vocab is a little different.  Translation as follows: We listen to…

…the radio = NPR

…a book = an audio book on my Zune

…a CD = kids music

…my Zune = grown-ups music (song the kids request)

 

*Oh, and please keep in mind who plays music in our house when you make comments on the song lyrics that my children are privy to…

Replacement

As I was about to put the monkeys to bed, I got a phone call.  I talked for about 10 minutes, and at the end of the call the monkeys ran up to me both yelling.

Owen: He did it! He did it! I did it!

Jack:  Mom, mom!   (garbled )  a ant.  It can sit and eat!!

I finished up my phone call and turned to the boys trying to understand what they were yelling about.  They were very excited about an ant sitting?  I didn’t know ants could sit. 

I followed Owen and Jack to the office and they pointed to a story from the book that I used to teach Owen to read from, and am working on with Jack.

Owen:  You need to put another sticker on his chart because we did another lesson. 

My face must have betrayed the doubt that I felt...

So Jack read the “story” in a way that was obvious that he had read the story before.  Owen had a massive grin on his face and said, “Don’t worry mom, I made him do the sound parts that go before the story too.”

Apparently Owen can just take over from now on…at least until lesson 76, where he has left off…

Jack’s Story:

In other news, I took the boys to Gas Works Park today – thinking it would be fun to climb over the neat metal structures. (yes, I do know you are not supposed to…) Don’t worry, the kids found it far too cold to be outside.  And it was definitely  not nearly as exciting as learning to read, or teaching reading.  We left in less than 10 minutes. 

Entertainment

Owen:  We should sing a song for Tyler when we go visit him.  Le’s practice together.

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Jack:   (singing) I love you, you love me… I love you

Owen: (singing) I love you, you love me…we’re best friends

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Jack: (yelling) No! No!  It doesn’t go like that!

Owen: (singing) like friends should be.

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Jack: (singing)  With a great big hug, and…a  kiss from me to you

Owen: (singing) With a great big hug, and… a big kiss for you

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Jack: (singing) won’t you say…

Owen: (yelling) No! No!  It doesn’t go like that!

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Jack:  (singing)  you love me too!

Owen: (singing) you love me too!

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Jack:   You sang it wrong!

Owen: You sang it wrong!

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After a few tense moments…and some “discussion,” the words were figured out to their liking.

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Owen: Ok, Jack – we need to practice again.  Let’s start over.  1..2..3…

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Some very nice renditions of Barney’s song..

Owen:  Now lets move our feet like we are walking into the host-tible room.  (they are in their carseats)

Owen and Jack:  (singing)  I love you,you love me ….

I am sure Tyler loved it!

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…

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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  “