Monday, January 30, 2012

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.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

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.