Thing 1 | SuburbanDaddy

The Room Sharing Experiment

We are 3 weeks into the great room sharing experiment. I guess it’s not quite an experiment because we have no plan B if it doesn’t work out. But so far the results have been pretty good. No major fights or territorial conflicts, which I was expecting. Interestingly, there have been other changes that I didn’t expect.

Before moving in together, Thing 1 and Thing 2 had different personalities, routines, and interests. Thing 1 liked to recite sports statistics, go to sleep early with the lights off, and he was generally serious and reserved. Thing 2 liked imagination play, regularly having conversations with his dragons and toys for a good hour in his bed before finally falling asleep with the lights on.

From what I’ve seen in just a few weeks each is becoming more like the other. It’s like instead of a Thing 1 and Thing 2, we now have two Thing One-And-A-Half’s. Some of this merging into Thing 1.5 has been a good influence. Thing 2 is now more interested in reading, sports (good for me), and other interests and abilities like his big brother. And Thing 1 has become more imaginative and shows a sillier side. Surprisingly, they have become even more inseparable. I honestly don’t know how they don’t get tired of each other.

But, we also have a spreading of the not so good habits. They now both stay up late and play in their room to the point where we need to go up at least 3 times a night to tell them to quiet down and go to sleep. What used to be a very organized and orderly bedroom under just the management of Thing 1, has evolved into the just put everything on the floor system favored by Thing 2.

All in all, it’s been a net positive outcome. Which I have to say was an unexpected, very pleasant surprise.

Winter 2009 Performances

It’s a time honored tradition. Each class in the school puts on a winter show. The kids rehearse for weeks and all the parents come to watch. Here are the highlights from this year.

In case you can’t pick out the Things, here are some clues. Thing 1 is strategically positioned between the two girls and loving it. Thing 2 is the kid who jumps up and waves “Daddy!” when he walks into the room. And Thing 3, well, you won’t miss him. He is the center of attention as always.

True Partners

Since moving into the same bedroom a week ago, Thing 1 and 2 are learning about sharing and partnership. So far the results have been pretty good. Each is sharing his stuff with the other.

But we adults know the true test of any partnership is to put your money where your mouth is. Go into business with someone or buy something together and you’ll learn the true nature of your relationship.

That’s exactly what happened yesterday. Thing 1 desparately wanted to get Wii football. But he didn’t have enough allowance saved. So I suggested he see if Thing 2 would put up half the money. Together they had enough to cover the cost. We counted out the cash and took a trip to Target.

So far so good. They are taking turns playing. And they’ve learned a valuable lesson in how money works.

We’ll just see what happens when one of them gets tired of football and wants to trade it in for another game, but the other partner doesn’t want to sell. So one has to buy out the other’s share. But he won’t have the cash up front so there will be a payment plan, financing, and maybe collections for delinquent payments. I can see Thing 3 as the debt collector muscle. “Pay me now or I will hit you with this Buzz Lightyear”

The Streak Continues and Week 15 Picks

Thing 1 (The Greek) added to his winning streak last week, picking the Colts over the Broncos.? He predicted the score would be higher, but in terms of point spread he picked it exactly.? He said the Colts would win by 12 points and they did.? Most of the experts in Vegas can’t do that consistently. One or two times could be a fluke.? Three times in a row?? He has a gift.

Thing 2’s (The Swami) record drops to 1-2.? But mainly that’s because he will usually pick the opposite from his brother.? It could also be because he is 4 years old.

Our Week 15 game of the week is Cowboys vs. Saints.? The Saints are undefeated but each game is tougher to keep the perfect streak alive.? The Cowboys are known for losing in December and they are determined to not have the same fate this year.? This will not be an easy game to pick.

Thing 1’s Pick: Saints 29, Cowboys 24

Thing 2’s Pick: Cowboys 38, Saints 35

It Must Have Been Something Important

This morning Thing 1 and Thing 2 were eating breakfast. Conversation was flowing, meaning both were talking at the same time, and neither was listening. A typical morning.

Out of nowhere, Thing1 was on the verge of tears. Very upset.

SuburbanDaddy: What’s wrong?

Thing 1: (tears in his eyes) He is talking so loud I forgot what was going to say.

The Greek Remains Undefeated

Following on his impressive results from last week, Thing 1 (The Greek) remains undefeated.? Thing 1 successfully picked the Giants to beat the Cowboys.? The game was higher scoring than he expected, but the end result was pretty close with the Giants winning 31-24.

Thing 1’s pick:? Giants 26 – Cowboys 16
Thing 2’s pick: Cowboys 55 – Giants 30

Stay tuned later in the week when The Greek tries to keep the streak alive, and The Swami (Thing 2) tries to re-establish his credibility.? The Swami is spending a lot of time this week trying to memorize songs for his preschool’s winter show.? So his football picks may suffer.? We’ll wait and see.

The Swami and The Greek making their picks

Week 13 Picks by The Greek and The Swami

Thing 1 (The Greek) and Thing 2 (The Swami) have made their predictions for Week 13’s Game of the Week – New York Giants vs Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants (6-5) are at home and favored to beat the Cowboys (8-3) by 2.5 points by the so-called professional experts. The over under is 45.5 points.

Thing 1 sees it as a typical NFC East slug fest with the Giants prevailing 26-15. An astute prediction given Dallas quarterback Tony Romo’s poor track record in December.

Thing 2 expects a different kind of game. He predicts a high scoring contest with Dallas wining 55-30. At first he said the Cowboys would score 88 points. But after discussion with Thing 1, and careful consideration, he changed his pick to 55 points. As you can see, he likes when both numbers are the same. And the highest number he knows is 100.

As a lifelong Giants fan, Thing 2’s pick causes me great pain. But there is still hope to convert him. Thing 2 has been known to quickly change team allegiances based on the outcome of a game. He only likes to root for the winner.

Another Sports Talent

You’ve already seen evidence of Thing 1’s sports knowledge. He reads the sports page, knows all the standings, players, and scores. Now it’s gone to a new level.

Thing 2 looks up to his big brother and copies whatever he does. So it isn’t too surprising that he has been studying under the tutelage of the sports master, otherwise known as Thing 1. Whatever sports information Thing 1 spews, Thing 2 absorbs it.

Sometimes the information source is faulty. For example, I heard Thing 1 tell him the Cowboys are 7-3 but they are really 8-3. A small discrepancy.

Sometimes Thing 2, in his imaginative 4 year old way, creates his own information. On Monday, he was going around saying the Redskins were playing the Bills on Monday Night Football. In fact, Monday’s game was between the Saints and the Patriots. He has also said that Jason Campbell, the quarterback for the Redskins, can run as fast as a cheetah.

Before Monday night’s game, I had Thing 1 (aka The Greek) and Thing 2 (aka The Swami) make their predictions for the outcome.

Thing 1’s pick: Saints 39-26
Thing 2’s pick: Saints 30-12
Actual score: Saints 38-17!

Not only did they both pick the correct winner (something SuburbanDaddy and SuburbanUncle, two self-professed sports experts could not do), but the scores they predicted showed a keen knowledge of New Orlean’s high powered offense.

I need to test if this was a fluke, or if there is some innate talent at work. So expect to see score predictions here each week from The Greek and The Swami. Be sure to check back in a few days for this week’s featured game: Giants vs Cowboys