Thursday, September 29, 2011

A fish?

Alex slipped a note to sweet husband that read "can i ge[t] fish". With his hands clasped to his chest, he shared with sweet husband how he desperately wants a pet fish to call his own. "...I'll feed it two times a day, in the morning and at night. Please!" With this last plea, he raised his clasped hands to his chin, earnestly looking at Sweet husband with his big brown eyes.

Sweet husband melted.

I came into the room a few minutes later. Sweet husband handed me the note Alex had left and tried to appear nonchalant. My spidey-senses tingled. Sweet husband had that twinkle in his eye that told me he was already trying to decide between a fresh water fish tank or a salt water fish tank.

"Um... Fish are a big responsibility." I said.

Sweet husband nodded "Alex said he was ready for it. I told him I would talk to you."

"Oh. Okay. He tends to forget to feed Matrim and Ginge, fish aren't as vocal when their hungry."

Sweet husband nodded slowly, the fish-fever slowly fading from his eyes.

"Maybe in a few months. IF he can keep up with feeding the animals we do have."

Sweet husband gave a satisfied nod. "I think that works."



The next morning Alex came into the living room with his fish note. "Mama, I'm ready for a fish."
I sat down on the couch, and pulled Alex toward me. "Sweetie, I know you think you're ready for a fish. Fish are a big responsibility though."

Alex cut me off "I'm ready! I really am!"

"Alex, you're going to have to show us that you're ready for a big responsibility like fish. You need feed Matrim and Ginge, every day. And do school. When you do these, you're getting ready for bigger responsibilities.... like fish."

Alex glared at me. "I hate school. I hate this day. I am ready for fish!!"

"Alex," I said slowly "Have you fed Matrim and Ginge today?"

Alex's glare softened "Not yet..." he inched backward.

I raised an eyebrow. He spun around and raced down the hall where the food dishes lay. "I'm feeding them now mama. See? Do you see me? Mama, can you see me? I can feed them! Now am I ready for a fish?"

I decided to go back to bed. Sweet husband can take over Fish Talk 2011.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Gone fishing

Spain isn't the only one in our household charging forward to grow up.
We took the boys camping this past weekend. The last time we went camping, Alex was a year and half old. Alex was completely captivated by camping. Almost as soon as the tent was up, he was "ready for some shut eye", just so he could stay in the tent.
By dawn the next morning he was ready to go fishing.


Alex was crushed when he found out we had to go home. "I just wanted to stay for a week" he sobbed before he fell asleep in his carseat.

When the teething gets tough...

The Theether gets decked out in amber.

To mark the day he turned eight months old, Spain's first tooth pushed through his gums. That's right. A small sharp  tooth is now marring the pristine smoothness of my son's bottom left gum line.


To combat the nastiness that accompanied this developement, Spain has been rocking multiple pieces of amber jewelry. Thank goodness for amber!!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Baby's first soccer experience

Spain witnessed his first real-life soccer game this past weekend.
There was a lot of running and kicking.


Some public displays of excitement.




The overall opinion?


Spain LOVED it.
It only makes sense, the poor baby was named after the 2010 FIFA Champions.


Oh, and number 12 was definitely his favorite player.

o_0


"Look Mama!! I have ears like yours!"

The Peanut Gallery


Let me introduce you to my very own Peanut Gallery.

We have Spain, munching on his fist, and ignoring the dancing lion dangling in front of front him.
Alex is next, rocking the pirate monkey pajamas. And of course, our dog Matrim (a.k.a Attila the Hound).
Their favorite activity is supervising my cleaning endeavors, and heckling at the appropriate times.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

To act or react, that is the question.

Lately I've been feeling convicted about my parenting. Not convicted like "My-children-are-going-to-unable-to-love-and-will-have-to-spend-years-in-therapy-to-break-the-cycle-of-dysfunction-that-I-have-scarred-them-with. On-the-other-hand-I-hear-prisons-are-nicer-now-more-like-a-boarding-school-than-a-correctional-facility-so-it-it-all-bad?", but a conviction about how I react.

My mom used to say "Act, don't react", to which I would roll my eyes and stomp off, because she clearly did not "get it". Ten years later I finding myself muttering "act, don't react". A perfect example happened as I sat down to work on this entry. Alex was starting on his homework with a pen in his hand.
"Alex, you have to use a pencil. You may not use a pen for your homework."
"That's okay. I'll use my pen."
"Alex, I said you need a pencil."
"I said a pen is fine."

Don't react. Don't react I whisper to myself.

Situations like these pop up every day. Sometimes he just doesn't understand what I want from him, and other times he's trying to find out where the boundaries are. But everytime, I get to make the decision to act or react, and however I decide to act will shape the way he will act later.

On the way home today, we witnessed a hit-and-run at a stop light blocks from our house. A motorcyclist was having issues with his motorcycle, as he was wheeling it off the road, the driver behind him decided to shoulder past. We watched as the sedan hit the motorcycle and then sped off.*
I couldn't help but wonder if the driver's parents exhibited signs of road rage. Did they inadvertently teach their son impatience? I am in no way blaming this man's actions on his parents. I fully believe that as an adult, he is responsible for his own actions. Did he act on his own or did he react to his impatience?
My parents are cautious drivers. I can't recall them exhibiting road rage. But, sometimes I struggle with road rage. A fact I didn't even realize until someone in the backseat piped up one day and said "Dude, it's green!!"
While I am grateful he wasn't calling out obsenities and flipping other drivers off, I am embarrassed that my lack of regard for other people has started to rub off on him.



*We were able to get the license plate number and reported the incident. Sweet husband stayed with the motorcyclist until after the police and paramedics came. He was taken to the hospital for some injuries to his knee and back.