The......Corner

This weekend, I was reassured by somebody (who is *much* older and wiser) to just "relax" and not to worry so much about my son. It was their opinion that my son's unlimited affection....coupled with his very early noticing of girls, so much so that he has recently stated that he has a crush on some of them, would eventually translate to a man who would know how to make his wife happy. Period.

So I will just relax. Maybe.

As well, recently I was speaking to someone whose mother is on the list of "Women I Most Admire", and they told me that as a child, at times they reduced their mother to tears. I was stunned to hear this because I could not see this Woman-That-I-Admire ever losing her composure with her child.

But it gave me hope.

It gave me hope that, after all, this boy-o-mine - whom I love to infinity - and has reduced me to tears many times in the last little while, will turn out as wonderful as this individual whom I was talking to.

In truth, I never expected it to become more difficult to homeschool him. I thought (stupidly) it would get easier the older he got. This has been the hardest year yet, and I have no idea if this is only the beginning of the "hard years". He is WAY more inattentive. He is WAY more silly. He is WAY more smart-mouthed. And honestly, if I was independently wealthy, I would hire a tutor to school him in my home. Seriously. (I say that because public school will NEVER be an option for me.)

But, since that is not an option, I continue to pluck away, holding on to the tidbits of hope given to me by others. He is not a bad boy. He is just a mischievous, lovable boy with a glint in his eye that I have always loved seeing in other children. Now it's come home to roost.

Today while at grandmas, I warned him if he didn't listen that he was going to become acquainted with one of grandmas awesome corners. She has way awesomer corners than me, so that has become the correction of choice while at her house. Did my boy tremble at this threat? Not at all. And eventually he found himself sniffing the walls.

While he was visiting this place, my sense of humour kicked in. I was trying to think of appropriate names for this corner. At first I thought of just calling it "Seth's Corner", since it is reserved just for him. Then I remembered the name of the place at the public library where kids gather for story time:

And I thought.....with a little play on words, we could make this a most "fitting" place for my son. Thus, I named his corner:

Now, his dad already told me tonight that I have to take the sign down at grandma's. He doesn't want his son to pick up this word and use it too commonly. That is understandable......I know the sign must go - really, it was just for comic relief anyway - but I do find his words of warning rather ironic. After all, it was he.....NOT ME......who used that very same word that I spoke about in my previous post.......((smile)).

But I sure enjoyed it while it lasted.

I Love You More Than........

Years ago, my daughter and I started a game we played sometimes as part of her bedtime ritual. I called it "I Love You More Than...." and in the game, one of us would begin by saying "I Love You More Than"........and finish it by saying something like "the flowers and the trees", and the other would finish it with a rhyme with something like, "I Love You More Than......the birds and the bees...." With Hannah and I, we usually got very mushy and sentimental, occasionally becoming very silly with a lot of giggling. Mushy was more the norm, however. We are females, after all.

Today I discovered this game is FAR different when played with my son. AND my husband.

With a little time to kill before getting ready to go to church tonight, Seth was bored. And Restless. Bored + Restless = PEST. So, before he got to this stage, I decided to teach him this little game. My son loves rhyming.....it's one of his favourite things in school. But loving to rhyme and being poetic, I discovered, are TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THINGS.

I started it off simple: "I love you more than apples and pie"........ (you know, because pie is an easy rhyming word), to which he excitedly stated, "I love you more than the AIR IN THE TIRES AND THE FLY"......or some such very silly thing.

To which he laughed uproariously, hugely proud of himself.

This went on for a bit, with each of us trading off who went first. The silliness increased. Finally I said: "I love you more than chicken soup......" and, before Seth could reply, my husband......WHO HAD BEEN AT THE COMPUTER AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINDING HIS BUSINESS.....((ahem.....)).....said:

"I love you more than TURTLE POOP!"

Well, can you imagine the reaction of our son? He giggled until I thought he would wet himself. So, imagine his delight when shortly thereafter, dad scored another hit when I said:

"I love you more than my two pink chairs....."

And he said:

"I love you more than the Berenstain Bears...."

Well, Seth got up excitedly and ran to his sister's room to repeat his dad's genius.

A few minutes later as the kids were having a quick before-church snack, Seth was recalling to Hannah his dad's awesome poetic talent. Again. Dad was still ACTING like he was busy at the computer. Hannah and Seth were playing the game between themselves and giggling.

Then, Seth stumped Hannah with:

"I love you more than potatoes and chicken....."

Hannah thought and thought. Seth jumped up from the table, stating that he would "ask his dad on this one". So, he repeated it to his dad:

"I love you more than potatoes and chicken....."

To which his quick-witted (truly poetic) dad said........much to the delight of us all.......

"I love you more than the nose you're pickin...."

Seth declared dad the champ. "Turtle poop and Berenstain Bears. Yup. Dad's the best", were Seth's words. And rightfully so. We had a lot of fun filling in 20 minutes. So.....if you are ever in need of a fun family game......just try "I Love You More Than...."

See if you don't end up in stitches.

Large Families

Children are a blessing. The fruit of the womb is HIS reward.

I had an interesting discussion with someone yesterday. This young woman brought up the infamous Duggar family, who is apparently expecting their 20th child. Now I realize that we live in a time when 20 children is unheard of. Fifteen children is rare. Ten children is considered a huge family. Five or six children is slightly more common. BUT 20!!

She said: "You cannot tell me that those children get much one-on-one time with their parents!!".....harrumph!

I said: "You cannot tell me that 2.5 children in a two-working-parent home where the children are either in daycare or left at home alone after school (if they're old enough) until a parent gets home from work (and is away at school all day.....but I didn't say that.....) gets ANY MORE one-on-one time with mommy or daddy!".......harrumph #2!

She said: "Touche....."

But, she still doesn't really agree. (And we really didn't argue......we were just vehement in our opinion....).

I've been thinking a lot about large families, particularly large families with good, responsible parents. Just because OUR SOCIETY says it's stupid, wrong, too hard on the children, blah, blah, blah, blah, doesn't mean that is the way GOD views children. Society just doesn't "get" God. Our society is way too narcissistic. We think unless we can give our children designer clothes, a car when they're 16, and pay for their college WE HAVE FAILED.

Let me tell you what I think. I think that unless my child earns their own money, they will NEVER get designer clothing. Even then, it would be closely monitored and ON SALE. I think that it is good for a child to work, earn money, save from a young age and BUY THEIR OWN CAR. I think that if a parent invests in their child's education (which we do), it is better given AFTER - AND ONLY - IF THEY GRADUATE. But, I think it's okay for a child to work hard and put themselves through school too, and a parent need not be ashamed if they just cannot afford it.

I highly respect the Duggars. Not only do they live debt-free in a gorgeous house, their children are responsible, well mannered, well trained, well spoken, home educated children. I do not believe they are deprived. The Duggars have understood from the beginning that it was their job to teach, train and prepare their children to be responsible adults.

If you can't properly train your children - don't have them. But give me a well trained child from a large family ANY DAY over a snotty child in the "perfect" two child family.

Yes, this is a stereotype, but I believe by-in-large, it is an accurate one.

By the way, this is from the mother of two *perfect* children........((smile)).

Impulsive

I am convinced my son will cause me severe embarrassment the older he gets. He is the kind of boy who does most things on a whim. If a thought enters his brain, the action most certainly will follow.

Today we visited my Granny while at her day program. The kids wanted to see their Great Granny "in action", and the program invites drop-in visits. While there, I witnessed this thought-entering-the-brain-thingy in action. He thought it would be funny to hide. So he picks a poor, unsuspecting senior - who is NOT his Great Granny - to play hide-and-seek with, hiding behind her chair while she was eating. He waits for her to turn one way to see what is behind her, then he scoots the other way, out of sight. He plays this game as long as he doesn't get caught. Fortunately, it wasn't long, because I caught him and put a stop to it. I didn't want him to scare the wits out of this poor lady.

I have little hope of ending this problem. Seriously. I don't even have to be more than a hand's reach away for him to carry out some scheme of his. In this case I was right there, speaking to my Granny. Yes, I can punish him, but I have yet to find a punishment that will curb his impulsive behaviour.

That little episode was nothing, though, compared to this next event.

We were outside the hospital (where her day program is) when a woman rushed past us. This woman unintentionally scared Seth because he didn't hear or see her coming. He moved out of the way when he realized it, and, as she rushed past, he hollered out:

"HEY! IS YOUR NAME TOOTIE BENNETT!!!"

Don't ask me where he comes up with his on-the-spot names, but I do suspect it is part of his DNA, which comes from his.....mother Great Aunt Bertha on his father's side.

It cannot possibly be my fault, after all.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, I blogged.

Once upon a time, I could put words together to make a decent sentence.

Once upon a time, I had more confidence in what I wrote.

I don't know if it's because of facebook......I've gotten lazy writing a whole story and just post *little clips*....;

Or, because I really believe my stories are mostly........recycled;

Or, because I am gone from my home almost half the time now, and thus away from my computer; (I don't have a computer at my Granny's, and I'm one of the last standing who have a cell phone with NO internet....)

Or, ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Whatever the case, maybe......one day, I will get back to blogging. I don't know. Time will tell.

Because, once upon a time, I REALLY enjoyed it.

Serious Girl

My daughter got 63% on a spelling test today. She has never received a mark that low or done so poorly on any assignment before. She is struggling to concentrate.

She is more impatient than she has ever been.

Despite doing so well in piano, she has two songs she has not been able to pass that she has been working on for several weeks. She seems to get a portion of it perfect, and then falls apart in another part of the song (I mean that literally.....tears AND tantrums). The next time she plays it, the parts she does perfect are reverse. She cannot seem to play the whole song(s) through in its entirety.

She is a perfectionist. Her piano teacher pointed that out to me today.

She has been frustrated for several weeks about many things. She cries at the drop of a hat. She is extremely serious about EVERYTHING.

She is very intense.

Although she has laughed with and at other people, she cannot laugh at herself.

She is nine.

Besides the obvious....growing-up-getting-close-to-teenager-moodiness.....she needs the Holy Ghost.

I seriously do covet your prayers.

12 Years......

Yesterday I was married for 12 years.

Dave has long excelled at trying to surprise me and/or the kids. In fact, every tradition we have on birthdays and other special events is because of him. He started waking up in the wee morning hours to surprise the *special* individual. This is now a family tradition for everything.

This year, the kids and I spent the evening before (Saturday) at my granny's house. My granny is needing a lot of supervision and so until a long term solution is found, my sisters and I share this responsibility. Because I wasn't home on the morning of my anniversary, I *assumed* Dave would not be able to keep his early morning tradition. I should have known he had something up his sleeve.

Apparently on Saturday, while I was still at my own house, he tried to reach my mom. Not getting her at her number, he phoned my granny (who lives upstairs) to see if my mom was there. Granny said that she wasn't. This began a wild goose chase because.......my Granny was very confused. When I arrived there Saturday later, she told me that Elgan (her youngest son) was trying to reach my mom. On questioning my mom, she told me she did not receive a phone call from Elgan. My Granny also called my dad to say that Elgan tried to reach Marlene and couldn't get her, which concerned my dad because his other brother is currently in the hospital in Regina recovering from a very serious illness. He was wondering if this is why Elgan was trying to reach my mom. He then told Laura. Laura called me to ask why Elgan would be trying to reach mom. As a result, I ended up texting Elgan, asking if he was trying to reach my mom, to which he replied that he had not been. This left my Granny.....and myself....confused and without answers.

The mystery was solved early Sunday morning. My mom.....along with my kids.....woke me up early to give me an anniversary gift....FROM MY HUSBAND....who was in bed at home! Apparently he plotted to get me up very early despite being separated from him for the night, by calling my mom, sneaking to her house without my Granny's knowledge, to drop off a gift so that I could have it first thing in the morning. This was who called Granny, and who Granny mistakenly thought was her youngest son. My mom knew all along and eventually filled in my dad and sister.

My Granny was comforted, and I was much impressed with my crafty husband. I thought the day couldn't get much better. I was wrong.

On the way to church Sunday night, he pulls out ANOTHER CARD. Dave is very, very, VERY good at picking out awesome cards. In fact, he's very good at WRITING awesome poems and really should just open his own Hallmark shop and write his own material (although he IS getting rather rusty at the poem writing business....**hint, hint.....**). Totally surprising me, I read the card all misty-eyed, and then found he also got me a gift card to my very favorite store. TWO GIFTS. BOTH SURPRISES. BOTH VERY THOUGHT OUT AND WELL PLANNED. What a guy......

And now the topper.......because our anniversary was on a Sunday; because we go to church in the morning and evening; AND because we had a corn boil planned after the morning service, we decided not to go out for dinner until tonight.

Therefore......we are continuing our TWO DAY celebration this evening by going out for dinner to a very nice restaurant. Our once-a-year tradition to a classy place. On our anniversary.

After all, it HAS been 12 years. And that's worth celebrating.