School's Out For Summer!

The last day of school is this coming Friday. As my 2 oldest boys are counting down the days to freedom, I am frantically trying to figure out what to do with them for the summer.

Of course there's the obvious choice, camp. However, the cost for day camp is about $100 bucks per week, times that by my 2 camp aged sons, then multiple that by 8 weeks, and you get a mom with a checkbook related headache.

I've considered summer school. Not a bad idea, right? Wrong! Most schools now require that your child be failing or close to failing to participate. It's not a "just because mom wants you out of her hair" activity anymore.

I checked our local parks and recreation, and it turns out they have several summer activities going on, including Martial Arts Ninja training for kids. Anyone who has boys knows that anything with the word Ninja in it would be well recieved. I read the description:

"Price: $45". So Far so good. Tell me more.

"Ages 6-14". Great! My boys fall between that age.

"The camp will also feature modules such as child abduction resistance, assertiveness training, and peer conflict resolution to name a few." If peer conflict resolution means that there will be less WWE worthy fights between my two little WWE stars, I'm all for it.

Then, while I was reading with high hopes, and a summer solution in site, I read, "martial arts weapons training". And all I could imagine was my 6 and 7 year old sons trying to kill each other with nunchucks. If you have spent any amout of time with boys between the ages of 3-50, you know this to be a very likely possibility.

What are your kids doing over summer break?

You Say Tomato..

Is it wrong to purposely not correct your child’s pronunciation when their version of the word is SO cute. Having kids in Kindergarten and First Grade, I absolutely understand the importance of pronunciation. Sounding out words is particularly impossible when you pronounce vanilla, “a-nill-uh”. However, instead of correcting my one year old when he calls water, “wah-doo”, I encourage it by adopting his version of the word. For that matter, the entire family has started calling water, “wah-doo”(my one year old has us well trained). Experts say that when your child mispronounces a word, you should positively reinforce it with the correct word. For example:

Jordan (My 1 year old): I want wahdoo! (picture a mini tyrant ((minus mustache)), demanding water with furrowed eyebrows)

Mom: I will give you some water.

The result of this interaction supposedly teaches your kid to properly pronounce the word. I absolutely will not be doing this. Aside from the fact that mini tyrants in my house are made to say please and thank you before getting anything (regardless of age), “wah-doo” sounds way cuter than water (and slightly more sophisticated than wah wah. My baby’s got class.) Why would I want to “fix” it?

Kids grow up at light speed (effectively making us parents age faster than our peers), I see no harm in holding on to words that remind you that no matter how big they get, they will always be your baby.
What words do your kids mispronounce? Do you plan on correcting them?

Currently Seeking Backyard

We live in an apartment. An apartment that shrinks constantly as my boys grow bigger. The other day, my two oldest boys were playing football in the house. Casually tossing the football back and forth in the living room as if there were goal posts behind the couch. I (for what I am sure had to be the 517th time) asked them not to play football in the house. Surprisingly, they listened and within minutes the football was put away. However, they traded it for a soccer ball, that they began kicking back and forth.

After explaining my predicament to a (childless) friend, she responded, “yeah, I think kids are kind of like dogs. They need room to play”. I agree (well, maybe minus the dog part. Although, little boys do have a knack for peeing on everything except the toilet).

Having 3 boys, it has become crystal clear that I need a backyard. A well lit backyard that will keep my boys busy from the time they get out of school, until dinner. Included in this fantasy is the assumption that all of the outside activity will make them so tired, that they will want to go to bed immediately following dinner and bath time (if in reality it doesn’t actually work like this, please don’t ruin my fantasy. In lieu of an actual backyard this dream is all I got).

For now, my search continues for the perfect backyard (I’m positive that a backyard will soon be a crucial part of my sanity).

It Could Be A Sign

My 18 month old son went to bed one night, and woke up talking (or so it seems). He has established a whole new vocabulary that for the most part is food related. He surprised the entire family when he demanded “bri-bries” (French Fries), and left both my husband and I speechless when he requested “McDonalds” and enunciated all three syllables. He can also say pizza, juice, and most commonly, “Foooooood!”.

As I sit here, 3 weeks deep into a diet (that I am convinced will result in my utter hotness), I can’t help but wonder if maybe (just maybe) we eat fast food too often. The fact that my 1 yr old can place his own order at the drive thru gives me a clue. I have yet to order the boys Apple Dippers instead of French fries (because a riot would erupt immediately), so I can’t claim that I make smart choices when eating out. The only logical option is to cook.

Under normal circumstances (normal referring to spending the majority of the day at leisure, watching something corny on Lifetime), I like to cook. I enjoy trying out new recipes, and pretending to be Betty Crocker the Domestic Goddess. However, after work, cooking is the last thing I want to do. Especially when homework needs to be done and the house still needs to be picked up. I’d much rather be waited on.

So far, I have sucked it up and cooked anyway. To my surprise, most days I can get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes. It actually saves me time(eating at a sit down restaurant is at least a 2 hour process). My 6 and 5 year old haven’t complained much either. I’ve only had to answer one question regarding the change.

“Mommy, when are we going to eat real food. Like McDonalds or something?”

Ready, Set, Pee!

Being penis challenged, I have absolutely no idea why it seems near impossible for little boys to pee only in the toilet. One would think that the target is big enough. Most toilet seats are about 1.5 feet long, and about 6 inches wide; plenty of room to adequately catch a stream of kiddie pee, right? WRONG. I find pee all over the bathroom. It’s on the floor, sprinkled on the bathtub, and don’t even get me started on the collection of pee I ALWAYS find in puddles at the base of the toilet. It is ABSOLUTELY disgusting.

I have scoured parenting sites looking for a solution. I tried the Cheerio’s trick. It worked ok, until it led to other “less flushable” items in the toilet. I imagine the conversation the boys must have had before dropping there toys in the toilet. “If Cheerio’s are fun to pee on, Hot Wheels, and Action Figures must be fun to pee on too”! Needless to say, I had to ban anything besides TP going into the toilet, including Cheerio’s.

I recently tried making them clean up their own pee. I gave them gloves, a sponge, and instructed them (from a safe pee distance) on what to do. Surprisingly, they were equally disgusted, and as a result the bathroom remained pee free. That was until this morning, when in a moment of weakness I opted to use their bathroom (I refuse to share a bathroom with the Pee Pee Bandits), and I sat down without looking. My wet booty was immediately aware that the pee war was NOT over.

Help! Do any of you moms have any suggestions?