In preschool this week the topic is “Occupations”. Thing 3 learns about different jobs like librarian and police officer.  The teacher asked each child about their parents’ occupations.

Teacher: What is your mommy’s occupation?

Thing 3: She puts on a show.

Teacher: Oh, what kind of show?

Thing 3: A show for money.

Teacher: Really?! And who is the show for?

Thing 3: Daddy

He never ceases to amaze. Clearly Thing 3 has a very vivid imagination.

Today he had a new teacher in swim class. Considering how long it took him to feel comfortable with the last one, it was no surprise he was less than cooperative.

The new teacher cheerfully said, “Hi! What’s your name?”

Thing 3’s reply: “My name is Stinkpot.”

We were watching Backyardigans, having nothing to do with space travel, when out of the blue he offered this:

Thing 3: I want to go on another planet. I don’t like our planet. I want to go to Mars. Mars is good.

Me: Why is Mars good?

Thing 3: Because Mars is the best planet. Because it’s so red. Because it’s a ball.

Where on Earth, or Mars, does he get this stuff?

First, they got instructions and the rules.

Then they got to jumping. For an hour non-stop. I have never seen them so sweaty.

After a while of practice, maybe they can be as good as this guy.

This is what Thing 3 looked like at the end.

This year, Thing 3 had his best performance yet. He stayed on the stage the whole time. A little bit of stage fright, one silly outburst, but overall a good showing.

This was Thing 4’s first show. She’d been practicing and seemed excited about it. But the excitement quickly turned to fear, and she ran to SuburbanMommy’s lap to watch her classmates. Oh well. At least she looked cute.

Here he is with the end of year medal, which he decided he didn’t want to wear. Until 10 minutes later when he did.

Superman costume? Check. Crocs and a spaghetti spoon? Check and check.

If you guessed getting ready to carve a pumpkin, you are correct. That is just how Thing 3 rolls.

Naturally, as soon as they saw it, The Things wanted to ask Siri questions. When it was Thing 3’s turn, this is what he wanted to know.

Thing 3: How tall is a cracker?

Siri had trouble with that one. I can’t blame her. I struggle with his questions myself. Next question.

Thing 3: How is a Fruit By The Foot taller than milk?

I believe Siri has met its match.

The 45 minute sessions consist of half drill time where everyone gets to practice with their own ball, and the second half there is a “game” with two sides all chasing the same ball. At the end the team gets snacks which is the highlight of their day.  See if you can pick out Thing 3 in this photo.

Here’s a clue:  There is only one kid NOT wearing the team’s red shirt that was handed out at the start of the game.  Yes, that would be Thing 3.  Picking the shirt he wears each day is a painful process that only he can decide.  Do you really think he’ll put on a different shirt just because all the other kids do it?  Please.  I suppose being a non-conformist is a good thing.

You’ll also notice all the other kids are chasing a single ball except Thing 3 who is carrying his own ball in his hands.  Why would he do that?  Well, he didn’t like the part about sharing and taking turns with the ball.  And he got really, really mad when one of the defenders kicked his ball.  So he decided to hold onto his ball just in case someone else tried to kick it.

After storming off the field and threatening to walk to the playground, he decided he would conform to these perceived arbitrary rules and join the game.  Except in true Thing 3 fashion, he would rather sabotage it for everyone else if he can’t do it his way.  So he set out to be the one who gets the ball.  I have to say he was quite good when he set his mind to it.  A result no doubt from having two older brothers.  He would steamroll through the other kids and fight his way to the ball, and came out from the pack to break away with the ball on several occasions.  Except his purpose was not to get the ball in the goal.  Instead, he kicked the ball as far out of bounds as possible to stop the game so the other kids wouldn’t be able to play.  All because he couldn’t play with his own ball.

I’m glad I have this blog so we can look back here in 10 years, when he is a star soccer player, to see how he got his start.  I’m not getting discouraged by this first experience.  I just found Thing 1’s first time playing organized sports which also did not go so well, but now he can’t get enough team sports.