Woops! Amazing how time can get away and blogging can get left in the dust. Okay, so today I want to have a little middle child/ only son spotlight here. Our three year old little man is so full of funny things to say and great little stories. So I wanted to jot down some of my favorite moments and quotes of Bennett's from over the past week.
While dancing an odd little jig through the living room:
"Hey mom! You like my cool moves?"
Not sure who defines cool these days.... =)
While laying in bed having a conversation about Heaven:
me- "Some day, we will go to Heaven and Heaven is where we will get to actually see Jesus"
Bennett- "Jesus is in Heaven's tummy?"
Oops! Guess it's time to review Theology for Preschoolers 101.
In the tub, while playing with his boat and soaking the walls with tidal waves of water:
me "Bennett, keep the water in the tub!"
Bennett- "But mom, there's BIG storm comin' in the tub!!!!"
If only these kids knew what they could get away with by pulling the imagination card! =)
While looking at his massive mountain of stuffed animals that fill up the empty half of his bed:
Bennett-"Who made my animals mom?"
me- (while still trying to think of the best answer) "Who do you think made your stuffed animals, Bennett?"
Bennett- "No mom...... just tell me."
Like, cut the crap mom.... Haha, no nonsense kinda guy, I like it.
While I was playing his beloved "race car game" (aka Mario Kart Wii) with him, I was getting quite frustrated that I was losing badly and was not doing very well. He was sitting on the couch next to me and started to gently rub my back. Then he says:
"I love you, mom..... but you just gotta stay on the road...."
Ah, constructive criticism I see he has down pat... =)
And now for a few stories.
Bennett's appetite has been extremely poor lately. We are trying to really encourage him to eat well, but he just doesn't care. We tell him if he eats all his dinner he gets a treat- he'd rather pass on the treat. We tell him "fine, be done" and excuse him- letting him "go hungry" for the rest of the night. Well, he has been choosing the go hungry option just too often for my liking lately. So one night at the dinner table he was telling us his vegetables make him tired (yes that is his usual excuse) and that he wanted to go to bed. We told him he would not get down from the table until his green beans were gone. He cried and screamed and screamed and cried. Tears pouring, mouth wide open, face beet red- Absolutely throwing a fit. Then with no warning at all and little change in expression- mouth still open, face still red- I realize his screaming was turning into laughter. And as soon as we realize it he yells out- still in his fit throwing voice, but coated with laughter- "I just scused!!!!!!" ("scused" is what he calls passing gas... like "excuse you") I will tell you.. the image of his face is burned into my mind and for the rest of my life it will be tucked away in the "pull these out any time you need a good laugh" file of my memory. I laughed myself into tears. I think he would have too if he didn't already have them! From that point on, kid you not, he ate every bite on his plate with out another word about it. Maybe I wish he would "scuse" at the dinner table more often!!!!
Last night I took him with me to the grocery. He hollered at me from across the check out line (he was in the basket where the clerk was ringing up, and I was by where you pay) "Mom, I tell you a question... I love you mom!". He chatted up a storm with the cute-as-a-button highschool aged girl that was checking us out, and helped her unload the items from the basket. When I got him down from, he was clearly having an issue with his underwear and was all kinds of digging around to try to fix it, with an audience of course. I embarrassingly said "Bennett, your good bud!" And the cute cashier got a good laugh and informed him that he had made her day. I tell this story just as a reminder that this kind of comment is not unusual for this little guy. He tends to have the "make my day" kind of affect on people.
Okay last one....
There is not question these kids have a nutty mom. (It comes straight from their grandma, I tell ya). I have been known to do some unconventional things-- such as removing every single last toy from their play room and moving it to the garage to try get through to them on a day I was sick of having to scold them for misbehaving. 1- one it didn't have the effect I was going for 2- yes it was more work on me than anything, but it was strangely therapeutic and 3- I ended up deciding to paint in there to make it look like I had a sane purpose behind my actions =) So this morning was not my 1st time at an "outside the box" discipline tactic....
Bennett has been giving me a hard time about going to school. All of the sudden when it comes time to go, he is too sick and wants to stay home. I really didn't feel up for the battle today. So I thought I would go with it. I got him dressed and secretly packed his lunch. I made a big event out of putting the girls shoes on and getting them ready to leave. He was un-phased. Any time he told me he wanted to do something, I simply said "no, your too sick to do that", thinking he would protest- he didn't, but instead said, "okay, maybe tomorrow". We said our goodbyes at the door and he told me he loved me and closed the door behind us. I truly expected him to freak out when he realized I was "actually" going to leave him (or so it seemed of course). Nope. I loaded the girls up, and he kept reopening the door. I said, "Alright Bennett, close the door I'm gonna leave and close the garage". I did just that, backing the car down the driveway. So now I'm thinking, okay to him, I'm gone, surely it has phased him and he is terrified now. I went to the front door, heard nothing. I went around back and looked in the kitchen window. He was sitting by the door just hanging out. Not upset at all. Then a crazy idea I guess popped into my head. Cruel maybe, but at the time, it seemed rational. I banged on the windows without him seeing me to scare him just a little. I listened-- nothing. I hopped back into my car and grabbed my cell phone. I can't believe I am admitting this, but it's just too good. I called the house. When the answering machine picked up I proceeded to leave a message of ghostly sounds for him. I then hung up, opened the garage and went in the door. He was still there and greeted me with "mom! The phone was ringing!" I said "oh did you hear it??" He followed me over by the answering machine where I played back the message. He whimpered and said "That's scary mom!!! I don't know who that is!!!!" I simply said "I think it's someone who wants you to go with your mommy so you'll be safe." ( Not a lie, FYI!=) He ran, got his shoes on and hopped in the car. As we were leaving he happily said "Mom! Those scary sounds make me all better! The scary sounds made me not sick anymore!"
Who knew... scaring your kid has magical healing powers.....
The end.
