Back to School

Look, I’ll be honest with you–I am so anticipating Monday next week. I don’t usually like Mondays, but the first day of school is the exception. Now I know that next June I will be eating my words and desperately awaiting the mornings I can sleep in past 6:30 am, but for now I just can’t wait until my two oldest are in school and I can quit worrying when the next time will be that someone will pick up a hammer and bust holes in the sheetrock upstairs.

Oh wait. My youngest did that.

Yesterday afternoon was Meet the Teacher night at school. We didnt get much of “meeting the teacher,” but we did get to introduce our middle child to the Kindergarten classroom. He is so excited about starting school! Last year, I actually lost him the first day of school, because he decided he was going to start Kindergarten a year early and hid in one of the classrooms. We fought the entire walk home that morning–he dragging his heels into the concrete and crying.

Our middle child’s feelings about school haven’t changed much this year. We showed him around the school and encouraged him to talk to some of the other children in his class. However the look on his face when I told him it was time to go home couldn’t be beat:

In a desperate attempt to get some Back to School photographs of the children, I pleaded with him to smile and I’d make him cupcakes. He wasnt budging:

Finally exasperated, we had to drag him the two blocks home. I’m hoping this is an early sign he’ll do well in school this year. Gotta look on the bright side, right?

The novel thing for me this school year is only having one child at home with me. I’ve never really got to experience having only one child to devote all my attention and care to as I was pregnant for nearly three years with children all about one year apart. I’m looking forward to grocery shopping during the week, walks with one child, snuggling on the couch without getting smothered in the process, and hopefully what will be smaller messes around the house.

Maybe I can even teach my youngest how to repair sheetrock. Our first trip–Home Depot.

WHO THREW THE ANVIL?

I have noticed that every once in awhile I have “yelled” something unusual at my kids.

And by “yelling” I mean a hasty order with a slightly raised voice out of pure exasperation.

I first documented this phenomenon almost two years ago with the following phrase.

“Take the baby’s shoes out of the fridge!”–Holly, November 21, 2007

Yep, that is pretty unexpected, but I think I have topped that with this:

“Who threw the anvil?”–Holly, November 2, 2008

I might even dare to say that no one in the history of the world (outside of maybe an ACME cartoon character) has ever said those words.

Why does Holly own an anvil?

I don’t own an anvil. It is Ryan’s anvil.

Why does Holly’s oldest son own an anvil at the ripe age of 7?

He got it for Christmas a few Christmases ago.

Oh. What?

Yep, when Ryan was 5 he got an anvil for Christmas. He opened the gift and said, “Oh good! Just what I wanted!”

It was true. The anvil topped Ryan’s Christmas list that year. He was really into breaking rocks into smaller pieces with a hammer. He was sure that if he broke enough stones he would find a diamond.

When you use a hammer on stones, it is best to have an anvil. His anvil arrived from grandparents who also included protective eye wear. Overall it was his favorite gift.

So back to the anvil flying through the air…

Me: Who threw the anvil?

Ryan: Uhhhh…it was an ACCIDENT!

No one accidentally throws an anvil.

I did.

How?

I was holding it above my head and my arms got tired.

Alright. I think there is a new house rule that anvils stay on the ground.

It just occurred to me that strange phrases yelled at my kids often result in even more absurd rules…

Gifts We Suggest for BOYS ages 5-10

The Burb Mom Editors tapped into the Official Burb Mom Contributor Brain Trust (O.B.M.C.B.T.) to find out what they are getting or suggesting as gifts for their kids.  We are going to compile the information into several articles as a HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE.  We are starting with this one highlighting BOYS ages 5-10 because that is what I know best.  This age grouping is based on our extensive research (OK, maybe the 5 surveys we got returned…it appears that most of these gifts will work for most any boy within this age span).

These are suggestions from our MOM contributors.  No one has been paid to promote any of these items.

Alrighty…are we ready?

What to get a BOY for Christmas if he is between the ages of 5 and 10:

LEGOS, LEGOS and more LEGOS.  It appears that pretty much anything related to Legos is high on the Christmas list.  Bonus points for anything LEGO Star Wars.

The good news is that there are TONS of sets to choose from.  The bad news is that there are TONS of sets to choose from.  The Star Wars Sets seem to appeal to just about any boy.  My youngest (who is 4) is asking for sets from the Lego City line.  My boys also love the Indiana Jones and Power Miners sets.  If you have a child interested in Power Rangers and other Super Hero-type things, you might check into the Lego Bionicles.

Video Games:

• PS3/2 – Heather suggests to buy used PS2 games because they are CHEAP.  Her son is 6 and seems to like ANY game – he doesn’t care how new or what platform it runs on.
• DS – My boys have DS games and play those a lot.  They like the Lego-related games (shocking, eh?), Kirby and Mario.
• Wii – Wii Sports games, Mario and any of the Wii Fit games are a bit hit at our house.

Nerf Weapons:

Nerf guns are getting bigger and better.  Many have rapid fire and hold up to 30 nerf bullets.  Pretty cool. There are also some fun new swords – very medieval.  Any and all of these have been drooled over in the Target aisles.  Obviously, if you are giving these to children OTHER THAN YOUR OWN you might want to make sure the people that live with these lucky children want them to have weapons…

Scooters:

It appears that all moms of boys agree on one thing – SEND THEM OUTSIDE.  Scooters help moms get to this goal.  Heather is getting her son a Razor Scooter and MeL is shopping for Spark Scooters (also made by Razor) which I had to look up. 

Super cool! Look…

Mind Flex:

This is a new one to me, but looks pretty fun.  It is a game where the player has to use concentration to move balls through a course.  There are videos on how it works on the Mind Flex website.

Keva Planks:

These wooden building blocks can be purchased in all sorts of set sizes.  Imagination and ingenuity fuel play.  Here is a YouTube video I found that uses the Keva Planks to build a tower and then destroy it with a ball.  More information about the Keva Planks can be found on their website.

Whew! That should get your shopping list started.  Here are a few other suggestions…

• Check out the bags of toys at resale shops.  Heather has purchased random action figures – Superman & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in bulk for $3 a bag.
• MeL suggests remote control cars.  They come in a variety of sizes and prices.
• I suggest small magic trick sets/gags.  No boy can resist showing off a simple magic trick or shaking hands with a buzzer in his hand.

Thanks so much for all the additional boy gift suggestions Heather,  MeL, and Shauna!

PLEASE leave your suggestions in the comments below.  We would hate to have missed anything great!

Two Important Questions

My Reid(6).

My sweet, sweet Reid.

He is my calm, easy-going, go-with-the-flow, laughing, try anything once, breezy kid.

Life is light around Reid, except for two burning questions that he takes VERY seriously.

Who will he marry?

What is he going to be when he grows up?

I try to mention that both these things are not urgent issues at the age of 6, but he gets a very serious look on his face, furrows his brows a bit and ponders them deeply.  These are not questions that he takes lightly.

Mommy, WHO can I marry?

Reid, don’t worry about that.  You don’t have to decide for many years.

But mom, I am going to have to marry someone.

Well, you don’t HAVE to get married, but yes, that decision will come up in many, many years.

I just can’t decide!

Don’t worry about it…what about that girl from your class that we ran into the other day.  She was cute.  Maybe someday you will marry her.

Mom!  She talks in class WITHOUT raising her hand.  I can’t marry her!

Well, there might be another girl in your class that you could marry.

I don’t know ANY of those girls well enough to marry them!

***

Well, he has a point there.  He really HAS been thinking this through.

***

And then there was this the other day while driving home from school…

Mommy, I have figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Oh good.  What is it Reid?

I am going to be an Army man.

Oh that sounds like a really good idea.

I am going to fly fighter planes.

You would be really good at that.  I think that will be great.

Ryan(8):  REID.  YOU MAY NOT BE AN ARMY MAN.  IT IS DANGEROUS.  AND FLYING PLANES IS DANGEROUS TOO.  YOU MAY NOT DO THAT.  I WILL NOT LET YOU DO IT.

I WILL NOT ALLOW IT.

***

Poor Reid.  Back to square one on both questions…

Lego Store Opens at Stonebriar Mall – Frisco

My three boys have been addicted to Lego.com for almost a year now.  They love the games, print-outs and online catalog.  We have been on the Lego mailing list and when a new print catalog arrives it is studied by each boy until committed to memory.

So when a postcard arrived in the mail a few weeks ago that announced the opening of a Lego store at Stonebriar Mall in Frisco, the boys went WILD.

And then it has been a bit reminiscent of Decembers-past.  The count down – just like Christmas.

Mom…only 17 days until the Lego store opens.

Mom…only 9 days until the Lego store opens.

Mom…I can’t sleep because the Lego store opens TOMORROW!

So today on the opening day of the Lego Store in Frisco, the boys woke up extra early – 5:30 out of excitement and pure joy.  They flew down the stairs to inform me that TODAY WAS THE DAY.

Whoo hoo.

And so we made sure we would be there when they opened.

The boys ran in with wide-eyed wonder.

Look!

Wow!

Just like on Lego.com, except for the bigger than life Indiana Jones. ..

Throughout the store are small Lego block displays at a child’s level.  This is the Lego people theater…

On the back wall is the coolest thing ever.  It is a colorful display that doubles as bulk Lego containers.  You can choose your bulk size and you can choose each and every tiny Lego piece to fill it.

And then there was shopping.  Each of my boys had carefully counted every coin and bill in their allowance jar to assure that they knew down to the penny their Lego spending limit.

All in all it was an extremely successful trip.  The boys begged to hurry home so they could assemble their finds.

About 3 hours later I was fielding questions like, “When can we go back to the Lego store”.

I am so glad it is close!

What Not to Wear: PJ Edition

The surprises never stop with boy #3…

One of the things I have enjoyed about having boys is their total lack of interest in what they are wearing, when they are wearing it and who sees them wear it. Oh, I have had the occasional request demand for blue clothing or power ranger attire, but overall it has been pretty easy.

Not so much with Rhett(2). He is a fashionista. He is a boy with a clear idea of what he should wear. He even has strong opinions about what I should wear. For the last 6 months or so he has been adamant that the only pair of pajamas that he could be seen in were his orange power ranger pjs:

God forbid I actually wash them and not have them ready in time for bed time.

Thankfully after months of orange PJ obsession, he recently accepted an alternate pair of pjs:

His embracement of red monster truck pajamas has made my life much easier. PJ laundry is no longer an emergency. The orange power ranger set is now in a rotation with just 50% usage.

A few nights ago he declared that he was going to wear the shirt of the monster truck set and the shorts of the orange power ranger set to bed:

He then stated that he would wear the opposite combination the next night:

No problem. I am a mommy who knows how to not pick a battle.

The red and orange jammie combo it is!

He got dressed.

He brushed his teeth.

He played for awhile.

He went through his bedtime routine.

He went to bed.

I kissed him goodnight, turned off the light and left the room.

*3 minutes pass*

MOMMY!

yes?

I NEED TO CHANGE MY JAMMIES…THEY DON’T MATCH.

Why Hallmark’s CEO is not 6 years old

And now for a story entitled, “My son thinks he was born to Martha Stewart”:

Two years ago, Ryan was in Kindergarten. I was an attentive, but somewhat clueless first time Kindergarten mom. It occurred to me about 30 minutes before his bedtime on Feb. 13 that Ryan probably needed 18 Valentines.

Thank God for the crapload of scrapbooking supplies in my closet.

We cut, stamped and signed 18 Valentines plus a special edition for the teacher.

Whew! I learned my lesson and last year while shopping at the grocery store, I wheeled over to the seasonal area and said, “Let’s pick out your Valentines!”

The exclamation point is needed there because I am just that perky.

To which Ryan replied, “But we ALWAYS make them!”

The exclamation point is needed there because Ryan talks very loudly.

So my dear reader, this is how the handmade Valentine tradition began.

This year it wasn’t even a question. The scrapbook closet opened and grade school Valentine magic happened.

And now for a story entitled “My son was NOT born to Martha Stewart”:

Last year my three boys were working quietly amid giggles on their Valentines. I was pleasantly surprised because although the homemade Valentine tradition was Ryan’s idea that doesn’t always translate into Valentine-making-excitement. Quite often it turns into Valentine-making-against-his-will.

Fun times.

A few minutes later I was presented with this Classic Valentine Card Trio:

This is the popular “I love you but you steenk” which goes to show that first grade Saxon Phonics would label “stink” as a sight word.

This is the romantic “I love you but you wer a diper”.

And finally the wildly loving “I love you but you poop” which requires no editing or explanation.

Happy Valentines Day!

At Least it wasn’t the Plague

My first two boys were thumb suckers despite my best binky-pushing techniques. Eventually with each boy I finally gave up. Thumbs it was. Ryan also developed a very close relationship to his teddy. Reid also developed a very close relationship to his blanket.

When Rhett arrived, I half-heartedly pushed the binky. It was out of habit and without hope. To my surprise it took. He was officially a boy with a binky.

Binky + Boy = Love.

So I declared it…

Ryan had a teddy.
Reid had a blanket.
Rhett had a binky.

All was right with the world. I could keep up with three things. One special item for each boy. No problem.

And then Rhett decided that one binky just wasn’t enough. If more was better than four was best.

FOUR B’S!

So, four B’s it was. They were small. I could slip them into my purse or in a corner of the diaper bag.

Then he decided he needed animals to take a nap.

Not just one animal, but MANY animals.

Alright, animals. Animals we have. Animals he loves.

And then he decided he needed blankets.

Not just one blanket, but MANY blankets.

Alright, blankets we have. Blankets he loves.

The crib was crowded.

Crowded with love.

*Rewind*

One of these things is not like the other.

One of these things just doesn’t belong…

Oh, that is Rhett’s “hot dog”.

It is on the A-list of loveys.

Who can fall asleep without a hot dog?

Yep, Rhett’s “hot dog” is actually Shigella the microbe that causes a stomach ache.

Maybe Rhett’s family has attended one too many health profession vendor fairs…

Holly writes silly, silly stories daily at June Cleaver Nirvana where this story originally “aired”.