Category: funny

There Is A Resemblance

As her personality emerges, we’ve noticed a lot of similarities between Thing 4 and Thing 2. Both are easygoing babies who thrive on being around people. They are happy, smiley, and entertain themselves with their own voice. Thing 2 is still like this but when you compare these videos of a recent Thing 4 and Thing 2 when he was about the same age, the similarities are clear.

Here’s a recent video of Thing 4 in her high chair.

Compare with a video of Thing 2 in the same high chair four years ago.

The Problem With Holiday Gifts

It happens every year at this time. The holidays are over and we’re left with lots of new toys, games, books, crafts, silly bands, coloring books, dvd’s, and other stuff. Some of the stuff will used daily. But some will be used once and forgotten, or it will be broken after a single use.

Then there is the dreaded stuff that has a million pieces which are scattered throughout the house by Thing 3 and Thing 4 and never to be found again, rendering the game/toy/puzzle useless. If you are one of our beloved friends or family who gave one of these gems, thanks, and expect payback someday when you have kids.

And while we’re on that subject, please, please don’t get us any more toys which make constant, loud, annoying, impossible to shut off, noises. These toys will have the batteries removed by the anti-Santa. Haven’t heard of him? He’s the guy who comes at night after the kids are asleep and removes batteries.

The worst part of all the new stuff each year is finding where to put all of it. It’s not like we had all this extra room a week ago. Drawers, shelves, and buckets are already filled to the brim with stuff. And now we have all this new stuff to find room for, most of which is crap, junk, broken, or forgotten already.

I’m considering a new “zero sum” Santa policy next year. For every present he gives he also takes an old one away of equal size. So you better be careful about how many things you ask for.

Compliment Or Put Down?

Thing 3 (to Thing 2): You are NOT my brother anymore. You’re a duck.

Most people would not take this as a compliment. But to Thing 3, ducks are sacred. He likes to feed them, touch them, run after them, and read books about ducks.

Every night he sleeps with two duck stuffed animals and each day he takes them with him to preschool.

If Thing 3 could be a duck, he would. So calling his brother a duck I can only assume is a high compliment.

Important Decision

Parenting is full of potentially life-altering, important decisions. Today I am faced with one of those crucial, everything rides on it, can’t take the pressure I need a drink kind of decisions.

Thing 3 needs new shoes. His current ones, Spiderman sneakers that light up, are worn and have holes in the front. People are going to start thinking we don’t care about the well being of his feet. Or that times are tough and we can’t afford new ones.

No, we are just avoiding the inevitable struggle that happens when we get him a new anything. Thing 3 is not exactly easygoing when it comes to change. He refuses to drink milk out of any cup but a blue one with an orange top. And this weekend he watched the same DVD a dozen times in a row. So you can imagine what getting new shoes is like.

I know what you are thinking. Get him the same exact shoes he has now. Duh. Well, a trip to Target didn’t find them in stock anymore. And not surprisingly he didn’t find anything else to his liking. Although, he wasn’t so polite in his refusal. It was more like “Nooooooooooooo!” followed by a face down in the middle of the store episode.

On to Plan B – order them online. Surely some store must have Spiderman light up sneakers in toddler size 9? Not so lucky. The only ones I can find are in size 7.

Now I’m left with one of those life altering decisions. Do I get a different Spiderman sneaker that doesn’t light up? Do I go with similar light up sneakers but with a different character? If so, which one? I found a Batman shoe that looks a lot like the Spiderman one but I don’t know how he’ll react to Batman. What about Toy Story 3 sneakers that light up? Sure, he loves, loves, loves Buzz Lightyear but for some reason refuses to wear a Buzz shirt. Lightning McQueen? Touchy subject around here.

What to do? What to do?

Is This What We Call Progress?

We just finished putting all 4 kids to bed on a Saturday night. True cause for celebration. I celebrated by doing what I’ve done every night since Halloween – stole a piece of candy from their sizable stash.

Come on, I know you all do the same thing.

Nearly a week after Halloween it’s pretty well picked over and most of the really good stuff is gone. Now it’s filled with these teeny, tiny, bite-sized candies that hardly qualify as candy.

When I was a kid, I remember getting full-sized candy bars for Halloween. Or at least ones that were more than a single bite.

Sure, I know there is a problem with child obesity today and kids eat too much junk food and are getting fat blah blah blah. And I know it’s touch economic times and people need to cut back.

But aren’t some traditions worth keeping?

Dual Personalities

The Jekyll and Hyde behavior of Thing 3 continues.? We’ve already seen how he is a completely different person at preschool than he is at home.? And now we find out he’s the biggest story teller in the class.? Each day, during group time, the teacher asks a question and writes down each answer on a sheet for all the parents to see.? Usually the questions are “What is your favorite barn animal?” and Thing 3 will have a one word answer like “Duck!” (the exclamation is necessary because he really, really likes ducks).

On Monday, the question is “What did you do over the weekend?”.? Most kids have brief answers like “Played with my mom and dad”, “I drank milk”, or “We made cookies”.? Here is what Thing 3 recalled:

I played with toys and went to bed with Buzz. I got coffee and ice water and went to Chuck E Cheese. Buzz was in trouble and went to time out for taking a cookie. I’m going to watch Buzz tomorrow. I had an apple.

Here’s the interpretation: He carries his Buzz Lightyear doll with him everywhere. The coffee is a reference to trips with SuburbanMommy to the Caribou Coffee drive-thru which we do often on weekends when we need to strap him in one place for a while. I did take the 3 boys to Chuck E Cheese on Sunday. It’s a madhouse on a rainy day but necessary sometimes when there is nothing to do. It wasn’t Buzz who got the timeouts, but sometimes after Thing 3 gets a timeout, he recreates the moment by giving his Buzz doll a timeout. I don’t know anything about taking a cookie as a reason for the timeout. I’m sure the timeout was for hitting his brothers or spitting on the wall. Saying he will watch Buzz tomorrow is a given because we’ve watched Toy Story 1 and 2 a hundred times.

And It Keeps Getting Weirder

We’ve seen some pretty weird behavior from Thing 3. From all the comfort objects he sleeps with, to putting stickers on his face, to sticking raisins up his nose. But somehow he still manages to top himself.

We’re officially in potty training with Thing 3. To say it’s been tough is an understatement, but there has been some progress lately. This potty scene should hardly be surprising given his history.

Yes, that’s a potty in the middle of the family room.? And of course he’s wearing a football helmet.? Doesn’t everyone?

We have been trying to get him to give up his diapers in favor of pull-ups for months. But he goes into a tantrum at the slightest mention of a pull-up.? So this weekend I asked him if he wanted to wear underwear.? To my surprise, he liked the idea.

He didn’t just like the idea of wearing underwear (which we let him do around the house).? He just really loves the underwear and it has now become another one of his odd comfort objects like the flashlights, my ratty old t-shirts, and his broken Buzz Lightyear toy.

He carries the underwear around.? He takes it to pre-school with him, keeps it in his cubby, then takes it back home.? Tonight, he wanted to sleep with the underwear.? Not wear them, mind you, but just next to him in his bed.? That is, until he decided he does want to wear them.? But I won’t let him do that because he’ll end up soaking wet during the night.

So he is now wearing the underwear on the outside of his pajamas with a diaper underneath.? As I said, it just keeps getting weirder.