Saturday, October 27, 2012

Telling The Truth

I know I shouldn't read the news, there is nothing but horrible things in it. Nannies snapping and killing kids, people being murdered, puppies being left for dead in trash cans and now with the elections there is slander and mayhem and people being rude and... ya know, I don't even wanna get started on that route.

But this caught my eye today. A title for a blog by another mom, "Kid Suspended for Bringing Gun to School Would Have Been Better Off Hiding It". I read that, and then read the original article.

And it got me thinking.

This is why children don't tell us the truth. This is why for a lot of children it is easier to lie and pretend it didn't happen, because the punishment for telling the truth is too much. Schools have policies, yadda yadda, but this was not a case of the gun being brought to hurt someone or even just to show off, it was the case of an 8 year old being 8 YEARS OLD and forgetting where he put something.

If this boy had hidden the gun and it hadn't been seen, no harm done really. But if he had hidden it and someone saw it, he could have faced even worse punishment. But from how it looks to me, he noticed something that was wrong, he knew it was wrong and he tried to do the right thing. He is now being punished for doing the right thing.

I know that as a mom I will try to make the punishment fit the crime, and that when Liam tries to do the right thing he is rewarded for that. If that little boy was my son, I would make that 10 day suspension a vacation and give him a reward. We could go shoot that BB gun at some tin cans in an empty field, go out for ice cream, get a new toy that ISN'T a gun that he could take to school, and then I would get him a second BB gun to keep at grandpa's house so he never had to transport the gun again and not have the same thing happen again.

I hope my little boy grows up and is the kind of boy who will tell the truth no matter what, and I hope that he will never be afraid to tell me the truth. And when he is old enough and responsible enough, we'll get a BB gun and teach him how to be safe with a gun and that if he ever sees one where it isn't supposed to be, he tells an adult right away just like this little boy did.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Rainy Day Amusement

It's only been rainy here for about two weeks, but already we have run through a whole list of things to do inside. We are kind of in an awkward place with Liam, he wants to do things but loses interest fast, decides to do something else with the concept (example: fingerpainting on paper becomes fingerpainting on the floor/couch/window/dog), or is just plain not interested (like crayons... he will not color right now).

So, here are some of the things we have done, (and I am open to more ideas!)

Watched a movie and turned it into watching a movie from inside a rolling toy cart.


 Used stickers and blank postcards to make Halloween post cards to send to people. (reminder, send those out today....)


 Put boxes on heads.

 After Liam had such a blast playing with a balloon at a friends house I thought maybe he would like one of his own. He loved it for 15 minutes and had a BLAST with it, until he bit it and ripped the edge off and all the air came out. We sure were glad we only bought him the 3.99 balloon and not the 9.99 balloon at that point.

Play with Cars. He first started with Lightning, Mater, and Finn. Not long after that I found Holley. We added Francesco, Mack, Shu, and Raule over the next 2 months. Here he is getting Nigel. These are all characters from the movies, and we still have Rod, Fillmore, Ramone, Sally, Sheriff, Professor Z, and.... someone else.... tucked away for those days when there is nothing else to do and he is going insane. Before summer comes again I expect him to have quite the cast of Cars characters in his hands! The best part (and worst in some ways...) is that he knows them all by name and wants to keep them together. This is awesome because its fun, but bad because it means if we ever lose one of them or it gets left up in the bedroom and he is downstairs it can make for a sad Liam. And yes, Liam HAS TO have ALL his Cars to go to sleep. He knows if one is missing and will not sleep until he has them all. But they bring him such JOY! It also makes me smile to see him re-enacting some scenes from the movies with his toys.

 To amuse me and Evie while Liam is asleep I have been trying to get great pictures of her, but in between the really precious ones, we get the ones that I love the best... the funny looks!


And of course, we nap. Rainy days are good for naps!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Lessons of the Second Baby

A few things I have learned in the 6.5 weeks that Evie has been here...

***** 

First baby: "No way can he wear that holiday themed pajama! It isn't [insert holiday here]"

Second baby: "Oh look, clean Easter pajamas, and they have fuzzy bunnies on the feet, that should keep her warm this October, SCORE!"

*****

First baby: Measuring out formula with  precision and care, ONLY making 2, 4 or 6oz bottles because one scoop makes 2oz of food. Wasting a LOT of baby food.

Second baby: Its food, not rocket science. She is going to drink only 3oz, so I am not wasting that half a scoop. If its too much, oh well, if its too little, well it makes up for the times she got too much. It's close enough that it doesn't matter!

***** 

First baby: I can't let him cry EVER, if he cries I failed at being a mom!

Second baby: It's ok sweetie, I'll be there in a sec, hang on, just need to finish prying your brother off the ceiling/stop him from feeding the dog something weird/get him off the high place he climbed to/get him out of the bathroom/finish putting his pajamas on/get him back inside after he let himself out... you'll be ok, just a little.....bit...... longer...... ok, Hey, what's wrong little girl? Hold on... "LIAM GET BACK HERE, and bring me a clean diaper.......no don't put baby wipes in your mouth. Ugh, I quit!" *sigh*



Monday, October 1, 2012

The Cooped Up Toddler

With the new baby I have found that my energy level and desire to leave the house is very very small. Unfortunately, with Liam around this can have crazy results. Not letting him out of the house for three days (we were all sick, there was no way you were getting me past the front door) led to a major screaming freak out on the 4th day.

Leaving the house entails checking diaper supplies, making sure there is a change of clothes for the baby, a blanket to change her on, food for Liam, warm water and formula and a clean bottle for Evie, my phone, camera, keys, wallet... the debate of will I need the 2 seat stroller or should I just bring the one for Evie?

Then we have to go through the mental breakdown of my dear son as he dawns on the realization that he gets to go outside. You would think that this would be a time for him to enthusiastically put his shoes on and cheerfully run to the door to be let loose on the world. But that would be too easy! The sight of shoes and socks send Liam into a screaming fit, the only thing I can imagine is that he does not want to take the time to be shod before tearing out the door.

Once outside, we then have to wrangle him into the car if we are going somewhere. He is so excited to be in the car that he will not sit still so getting him buckled can be a real challenge. On the flip side, he wants nothing else BUT the car when we are going to go for a walk around the neighborhood.

But in the end we get outside, Evie sleeps a lot outside so its a good thing to do when she is having a cranky time, and Liam gets to go crazy outside and wear himself out.

Don't even get me started on what happens when we have to go inside and he isn't done outside yet.... I've started bribing him with mini sized chocolates when those moments arrive.




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