Monday, June 25, 2012

The Force

We attended a backyard BBQ on Saturday. Turbo wanted to wear his Star Wars shirt - awesome, two cool points for that - and when we arrived, Turbo used the shirt to get to know the other kids at the party.

Star  Wars shirt = conversation starter

Turbo, pointing at his chest: "This is a Star Wars shirt."

Slightly older kid: "So what."

Friday, June 22, 2012

Go The F**k To Sleep

I actually read this book to Turbo tonight. I modified the words (of course!) and spoke in a zen-mellow-jello voice to lull him to sleep.

I bought it for our Kindle about a year ago when the hubbub first appeared on the Internet(s) and the only reason it was discovered tonight was because Turbo had zero interest in reading his real books and I was desperate for something low-key to wind him down.

He wanted my phone and, instead of flipping my photo gallery for the nine hundredth time, I remembered I had a full-color "kids" book on my Kindle app. Ah, yeah, here we go. I'm convinced he'll see the humor in me reading this to him when he has his own kids.

After I finished reading it, he said to me, "Thank you, mom, for reading me that nice book."



He didn't fall asleep to the book, it was more like 38 minutes later. He is so this little kid.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Bad Choices

When I arrived at our kids' school this afternoon, I was greeted by an unfamiliar little fellow who apparently knew who I was.

Fellow: "Turbo made bad choices today."

Me: "Oh? What did he do?"

Fellow: "He hit me and threw a block at me."

Me: "He did? I'm sorry that he did that."

And then little dude smiled and skipped away, following his grandmother down the path toward the parking lot.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Oedipal Proposal

Oh, it happened all right.

Our son Turbo has been expressing strong preferences for mommy lately and this morning at breakfast, the topic of marriage came up.

Turbo, hugging and kissing my arm, "I thought we should get married."

It was sort of a question and sort of a statement of fact.

Daddy whispered to me later, "No way, Turbo. This one's mine."

Feelin' the love. :)

Friday, June 15, 2012

New Bug Species

Editor's Note: This story was originally titled, "New Bird Breed," as mommy incorrectly thought this was a Poof 'Bird.' Mommy has since been corrected and now knows this is a Poof Bug.


This is a Poof Bug. I bet you didn't know that. Me either, but our kids go to a really good school and they are teaching us so much about the world.

Poof Bug - and Smiley artwork on our napkin holder

Turbo made this Poof Bug at school today and was so proud to bring it home. He was holding the poof bug as I buckled him into his car seat and then he waved it in front of Smiley's face. Sometimes an older brother needs to show off his art skills so as to inspire a younger generation.

"Bwoo!" declared a smiling Smiley (she knows three of her colors now and blue/bwoo is her favorite to exclaim upon a sighting).

Turbo changed the subject back to him, "Can I watch a movie when we get home?"

I delayed the answer until I was buckled in and exiting the parking lot. He asked again, of course.

Me: "I don't know; you'll have to ask Daddy when we get home. Daddy is in charge."

Turbo: "OK."

Then, after a brief pause, "Daddy is poof bug in charge. I am in really charge. So we can watch a movie when we get home."

I did not respond because he had no idea how right he was. Daddy and Mommy are so not in charge of our lives. The kids rule our universe. Mommy and Daddy are just poof bugs along for the ride of a lifetime.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Froggie Friend

On Sunday we got a new housemate. He is green, wittle-tiny, and likes to hop.
New Friend

To be fair, he isn't living in our house, but rather outside near the deck and parked on a leaf.

Smiley, who loves animals above all else, squealed with delight over and over and kept reaching out to touch the frog. I love how much she likes animals. My dad once told me that I loved animals as a kid. Maybe most kids are like that, and I still love believing that I share this special bond with my daughter.

We were at the park the other day and as we exited the car, Smiley headed straight for the swings - which she calls "weeee!" btw, so very appropriate. She stopped mid stride when she saw a "woof" (a dog to you and me). She ran over to the dog, squatted down on her hind legs, and shrieked with delight while pointing at his nose. The owners of this, and all the other dogs we encounter on our outings, were very sweet and seemed to enjoy someone else being so enchanted with their pets of choice.

Smiley and I enjoyed our new froggie friend while Turbo was still napping. When Turbo awoke from his nap, I excitedly told him I had something cool to show him on our deck. I was trying to coax him outside.

Turbo: "Tell me what it is. Tell me right now."  (ever the charmer, that one.)

Me: "Turbo, it's a really, tiny frog. You want to see it?"

Turbo ran to the backyard and commanded that I show him the location of said frog. When I obeyed, the frog was posing exactly as he is in this photo.

Turbo: "He's ours now. He hopped to our home and now he lives with us."

And then it dawned on me that the frog hadn't moved for about 30 minutes and I started to get scared that maybe Mr. Frog wasn't alive and while I began plotting how to explain froggy heaven to my kids, Turbo took care of it for me by shaking the branch that belonged to the leaf that was hosting the frog.

Gone.

After a brief pause to ponder his actions, Turbo said, "He's gone to be with his own family." And then Turbo wandered a few feet away. While Turbo's back was to me, I found the frog setting up camp on the leaf just below the one from which we'd launched him. Phew.

I thought Turbo had moved on to play with chalk or ride his trike, but then I heard him muttering a bit. Here is the part I caught.

Turbo: "Sometimes I like frogs; sometimes I don't. I made a mistake." Oh, my heart.

Me: "Turbo! I found him!"

Both kids came running and we all smiled at each other, proud and happy once again when we saw our froggie friend doing just fine. Smiley squealed.

Turbo: "He came back! He likes it at our home now."

Thursday, June 7, 2012

It's About the Writing

Or at least that is what I keep telling myself about this blog of mine. But instead of typing out a funny story of Turbo wearing a new paper/staple/pipe cleaner/tape bug-like headgear thingy home from school today, I started messing around with the format of my site.

Boooring.

I'm not entirely happy with the new look, but I have to leave it alone for a while now as it's gotten frustrating and the fun has been sucked right out of it as if Debbie Downer had been sitting next to me, guiding me into a yawn-fest of 1's and 0's.

When I first began this journey - holy cow, over a year ago! [note to self: celebrate!] - I chose Google's Blogger over WordPress because I wanted the ease of an online experience and didn't want to download software. I'm now questioning my choice, but it's not one I want to ponder now.

A new book awaits: