Leaf Pile Fun

It was a beautiful fall day, yet Ted and co. were inside slowly getting cabin fever. So they velcroed on some shoes put on their coats and headed outside.  Clara made a beeline for her tricycle and accompanying helmet, but when they saw Ted get the rake out they remembered getting to sit in the big blue bucket last year and of course wanted to do it again.  A recent Berenstain Bears movie included a scene where Brother and Sister ran into a big pile of leaves, so naturally they wanted to live out their dream. So Ted was put to work and everyone got their sillies out had fun as this video clearly shows.

Water Bird

Clara is getting more comfortable with swimming. She puts her face in the water with a flourish every time. Here is a little clip of her working on kicking with a noodle. After class we had this exchange:

CJ: "When will I be bigger?" T:"You get bigger every day, why? what do you want to do?" CJ:"I want to swim all by myself."

We know she willl get there and hope someday she might be as good as her cousin Susie!

Knock knock

Ted makes Joe's lunch every morning - PBJ, applesauce, fruit snacks, and an extra item, recently yogurt covered raisins. To jazz things up for the little man, Julie and Ted have put a note in his lunch occasionally which always seems to bring a smile to Joe's face.  It might be a little picture or a short reminder to have a great day.  This week Ted has been putting knock knock jokes in his lunch, and we are at the point where Joe doesn't want to see his lunch in the morning for fear of ruining his surprise at lunch. Thankfully google is an endless source of material:

Knock knock, who's there?

Dragon! Dragon who?

Dragon your feet again!

Knock knock, who's there?

Butter! Butter who?

Butter bring an umbrella it looks like it might rain!

Knock knock, who's there?

Ketchup! Ketchup who?

Ketchup with you later!

Knock knock, who's there?

Clara! Clara who?

Clara your lunch from the table!

A Tradition is Born

Our fearless Park and Rec leaders dreamed up a new activity for Halloween. They asked people to drop off carved pumpkins to display en mass at Wolfe Park. Drop off was Friday 12-5pm which is why Ted found himself carving a pumpkin today at 7am while the kids ate cereal giving instructions. (Julie is out of town for work and missed this added fun in the morning routine.) Ted got the pumpkin to drop off at 4:30 after work where the attending Parks Dept employee said it was the first pumpkin they saw all afternoon!  So Ted had low expectations, but had already promised a night time outing to the kids.  So after a McDonalds dinner and some impromptu art projects at the house, Ted, Joe and Clara walked over to the park where they discovered a great display of lit up pumpkins!  Ours is fourth in from the right on the top row. We learned that the Parktacular committee carved Row 2, Middle School carved Row 3, and Rows 1 and 4 were drop offs like ours. We also learned that this was the first year but they are hoping to grow the event and use up all 600 lights on the string!  The kids had great fun walking to the park with their flashlights and giving our pumpkin a hug. It also helped that it was a beautiful fall evening for a walk. We can't wait for next year!

Rough Seas Give Way To Smooth Sailing

Oh but Our Birdie. It was touch an go for a bit at the end of the day. Julie had the absolute temerity to collect Birdie's coat from her room before heading down the hall to the pick-up room and,as it turns out, Julie should not have done that. Birdie wanted to do that. Julie would not do a do over, and thus were the battle lines drawn. Had the Birds not needed also to collect Joe, Julie would have waited Clara out, but since they did in fact have to collect Joe, after a reasonable interval in which Julie chatted calmly with Clara's teachers and Clara mumbled petulantly about her refusal to put on her coat, Julie picked up Clara and her coat and carted them both off down the hall as Clara screamed, "I WANT TO PUT ON MY COAT!!!!!" Of course she did! But there was that ship.  Sailed. After a wordless and fierce battle which ended with Clara strapped into her car seat, the Birds were off to get Joe.  Birdie switched to wailing, "I DON'T WANT TO GET JOE!!!!!"  She was still wailing this from Julie's arms when the Birds made their obviously grand entrance into Kid's Place.  Julie was feeling self-conscious in many ways, but she has learned a thing or two in the past five years in hallways and such as the bambini have screamed about something like grass being green INSTEAD OF PURPLE!!!!! Or HAVING TO PUT ON A COAT AND GO HOME!!!!! And it is this: one must be strong in such moments and make like one has not a care in the world. Yes, it's sunshine and daisies at such moments. Julie's grim determination to make like she was listening to waves crashing from her beach house while she read a book in an overstuffed chair (and a half)--perhaps with a cozy fire; yes, for sure with a cozy fire--is the only way she remained calm while Joe put on his coat--first with sleeves inside out, and after Julie had suggested turning them right side out before beginning, all the while clutching the butterfly mask he'd made which is really the only way to prove to one's self that a butterfly mask will have to be set down to turn coat sleeves right side out and put one's arms through said sleeves.  Ocean, book, chair, fire. . .

But at last, they were on their way. Clara, back to the I WANT TO PUT ON MY COAT drum.  Yes, yes.  That ship must be on the other side of the ocean by now.  And then at last, they were home. And it wasn't too long after that that Birdie came up to Julie, lifted her tear-and-snot streaked face up and said, "I want picky uppy."  So Julie picked Birdie up, swayed from side to side, and just like that, it was clear sailing again.

Our Hero Ponders the Veracity of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Fans, settle in for a glimpse of Our Hero's mind at work. We have, as you know, been reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  And Fans, he's really tracking it and into it, even if he still wants to read first about the adventures of a certain family of bears that live in a tree house down a sunny dirt road deep in Bear Country. Tonight, it was Julie's turn to read with Joe, and she was excited because she knew she was going to be reading the chapter in which Charlie finds one of the golden tickets.  (Tomorrow Ted will get to read the chapter when Charlie triumphantly brings the golden ticket home which is also an excellent chapter. Julie is jealous but would note that quite literally just as she was as typing this, she realized that Ted was reading the chapters Julie read tonight.  No one can resist Charlie Bucket. So she will soon turn to the chapters she will miss tomorrow night.) Just after Julie had closed the book tonight, Joe said to her, "Mommy? Did this all really happen?" And Julie said, "What do you think?" Joe said he didn't think it was real--because (with increasing hilarity) you can't build bathtubs and walls out of chocolate and have chocolate chips come out of bathrooms!!!!! This is Joe remembering a chapter from two nights ago in which the reader learns that Mr. Willy Wonka once built an entire palace out of chocolate, including faucets from which chocolate poured, for a certain Prince Pondicherry, who insisted he would not eat the palace, and then of course it all melted as Mr. Wonka said it would.  Impossible!  So Our Hero has surmised it must all be impossible. Oh but Fans, it's all quite delicious, isn't it?

Mommy Morning

Joe's school had a "late start" day today and instead of going to Kid's Place for half the day, Julie stayed home from work with him.  After they'd dropped Clara off at the KinderCare, they went to Starfoxes for hot chocolates and to read a few chapters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It was spitting snow when they came out, and Julie decided right then and there that it was a doubly good thing she stayed home otherwise, she and Joe would have not been able to run back to the KinderCare with Clara's winter coat!  Julie and the bambini all had headed out in fleeces more appropriate for a true fall day than the more early winter feeling weather sweeping across Minnesota today.  Before they did that though, Joe wanted to play with one of his never Lego sets from his Grandparents Trump, which he did, for an hour or so, before they headed off with Clara's coat, and to the post office and the little Target.  They got to school just before Mrs. Dvorak turned out the lights, which must be what she does to call the room to order at the start of the day.  A glimpse into the secret world!

Before leaving the house, as he was shrugging into his coat, Joe sidled up to Julie and said, "I liked my Mommy Morning."  Julie liked her Joe morning.

Birdie's Fall Conference

We met with one of Birdie's teachers for fall conferences before we went to Iowa and learned that Our Birdie is at school the way she is at home, which is to say a confident girl who loves to look at books, make up stories, sing, dance, do art, and help. Birdie's teachers find her very creative. She gravitates toward the books and the story cards (cards with pictures on them one can arrange into different sequences or stories) or the themed art area during free play at school. She also motors through her day singing made up songs along the way, just like she does at home.  Birdie doesn't mind the boys in the room, but she plays mostly with the pack of girls in the room who are about her age.  Apparently they like to have dance parties in the area by the room's radio. Birdie's teacher also noted that Birdie is very serious about her classroom job. She carefully chooses a new one nearly every week (instead of selecting the same one often or over and over) and then she "owns it."

Birdie is still working on using her big girl words instead of tears when she's upset by something, but she knows lots of other things: nearly all of the upper case letters by sight (I--often looks like a lower case L, and thus T--is it an I?, F, V, and W all aren't yet solid), as well as the numbers one through seven. She knows all her shapes except triangle, though she likes to call it a crescent a moon. So she is right on track to move on to pre-K in the spring or fall as space permits.

That brought Julie up a little short: Our Birdie is cruising toward four, and being a pre-kindergartener?!?! The day she dances off to kindergarten is really not so far away. It is easy to overlook three's charms in the midst of its frustrations, and look perhaps too forward to four, forgetting in the moment that we will blink and find ourselves with another grade schooler who is sure to have tacked down upper case Is and triangles, but who will hopefully keep signing and dancing to the beat of her own heart.

The Great State of Iowa | Color Commentary

As usual, we bring you a compendium of quotes from the bambini to provide color to the more factual commentary:

Joe: "Are there volcanos in Iowa?  I know there are volcanos in Japan."
Julie: "And Hawaii.  Mommy once stood on a volcano!"
Joe: "I know."
Julie: "You couldn't know that.  I've never told you that before."

Joe: "Can you spell my name out of order?"
Julie: "O-E-J."

Joe: "Daddy, I know how to spell yo-yo.  Y-O-Y. . .O!!!!!"

Clara: "Daddy, I picked 'High Cookies.'" [Fans of the Sandra Boynton Philadelphia Chicken album might recognize this as Clara's shorthand for Faraway Cookies.  The bambini passed a good portion of the the trip down to Des Moines passing the book that accompanies the CD back and forth selecting what song they wanted to hear.]

Clara: "HI MINNESOTA RIVER!!!!!  I love you Minnesota River!"

The Great State of Iowa

Fans, we are back from The Great State of Iowa. Many Midwestern states are vastly underrated, and Iowa is certainly among them. We stopped off at Iowa State University in Ames on our way to and form Des Moines  which has a truly beautiful campus that is worth a stop should you enjoy observing nature (or today's youth; skateboards seem to be big, at least in Ames). The ISU campus is park-like, with a 20-acre central lawn flanked on one side by a campanile. It was the perfect spot for Birdie to gather up fallen leaves and pine cones and the like to take to school where her class is studying autumn. It was also the perfect place for the boys (we were in Des Moines with our friends Anne and Brent who have two boys, Nathan, seven, and Andrew, five) to chase and tackle each other.

ISU is also home to the Reiman Gardens where, incidentally, the theme this year is More Than Meets Iowa. It is a 14-acre botanical garden and includes a butterfly wing that is particularly well done. When we were there, the butterflies were perhaps too active even; Birdie was rather frightened by their flitting about in such great numbers. But our brave girl agreed to go in if Julie held her.

We also had great barbecue, saw the Science Center, went trick-or-treating at this place called Living History Farms, and swam in our hotel's pool. It is worth mentioning that at the Science Center, there was an exhibit at which on could construct a rocket and then launch them into an area measuring 40 feet long. It is also worth mentioning that Clara and Joe's rocket flew 40 feet at first flight. Joe actually started to cry because his got stuck in the netting bounding the flight zone and he thought he wasn't going to get it back. Happily, many more missions were flown.

Ted planned the whole trip and drove both ways. Iowa is great, and so is Ted.

The pack runs across the ISU campus. (Joe was mostly running with Nathan and Andrew all weekend so get used to not seeing much of him in these pictures.)

Birdie steering clear of the boys.

Birdie with her daddy walking toward the campanile. 

Birdie with her leaf bouquet.

Birds.

Oh there he is again!  Joe being surprised by a butterfly.

The Bambini Chat It Up

On our way to FFN, the bambini were chattering away in the back seat.  Julie typed the exchange below into her phone before she decided to try recording it.  That's usually when they decided to fall silent, or say "cheeeeese!" for the camera.  But they kept going last night, so here, you can hear what Birdie, in particular, sounds like these days.  The clip is about three minutes long, and is really one of these videos we shot for the audio.  Birdie and Tinks will appear at about two and a half minutes, but admittedly Fans, this is not our best camera work.

Clara: "I don't like rocket ships." [This prompted by spying some contrails in the sky which Joe calls rocket ships.]
Joe: "Well, you have a lot more in your life Clara."
Clara: "I only like princesses and ballerinas."
Joe: "Do you like flying to vacation?"
Clara: "Yes!"
Joe: "Well, there's another thing you like."

Family Fun Night

Joe's Pumpkin, Apple Which Clara Found at the Orchard to Which She Is Very Attached, Clara's Pumpkin

Tinks and Ariel have already been on a field trip.  (And they thought the Magic Kingdom was where it's at.)  They accompanied us in the car last night on the way to Family Fun Night.  This weekend is "MEA weekend" when all the Minnesota educators get together and talk about education in the state, and many elementary school parents split with their children for hotel pools and water parks in Midwestern destination locations like Duluth, Brainard, the Dells, and Door County.  (We are going to Des Moines.)  In the Park, it all begins with a few pandaemonium-filled hours at the middle school known as Family Fun Night.  Kids dash all around the middle school through stations adult volunteers have set up with things like temporary tattoos (the bambini are both sporting SLP temporary tats on their forearms) while parents trail after them.

"Mrs. D," as we understand she is sometimes called, was there.  (Kindergartner celebrity sighting!)  Joe greeted her by running up to her with no words and wildly flapping arms which he eventually calmed down enough to throw around her.  That was nothing compared to the reception Joe apparently received.  Julie wasn't there to see it because she was helping Clara decorate a miniature pumpkin, but understands that a small mass of screaming girls ran up to Joe like he was a Beatle arriving at Shea Stadium.  Joe Invasion!!!!!  Joe Mania!!!!!  After finishing his ration of two slices of pizza, three grapes, a cookie, a cup of water, and some popcorn*, Our Hero spent much of the evening tearing around the cafeteria after one of those girls: Nora.

We met Nora's mom and as she said, "They are IN LOVE."  We knew Nora was a special friend because Joe's take home-folder has come home with artwork from Nora in it.  But whereas we are left to dope out the stories from clues like this, Nora has, apparently, been more forthcoming with her mother.  Nora's mom reports that while she was hoping to meet Joe, she felt like he must be good people after Nora told her that Joe had said his favorite thing to do was snuggle with his mom and dad.  Oh Fans.  If these are the lines Joe is feeding he ladies, look out.  Julie and Nora's mom exchanged phone numbers as Joe and Nora swirled around chanting "Play date!  Play date!  Play date!"  Probably the only reason that Joe isn't insisting that play date happen TODAY is that we are going to Des Moines.  (Des-Moines!  Des-Moines!  Des-Moines!)

We were at FFN less than an hour, Fans, but what an hour.  Running. . .screaming (in a school!!!!!), a celebrity sighting, NORA!!!!!, pizza and grapes. . .and to think we said Tinks and Ariel had to stay in the car.

*Worst volunteer position at the Family Fun Fair: working the popcorn cart.  Never-ending line.  Smelly.  Hot in room filled with wildly running and screaming bodies.

When You Wish Upon A Star

Fans. Ariel and Tinkerbell are in. . .the. . .HOUSE!!!!! The bambini were greeted upon their arrival home by a large box from their Grandparents Trump. Inside were two different Lego sets for Joe and an giant-Ariel-head pillow and blanket along with an Ariel doll and a Tinkerbell doll for Clara. There were also pajamas featuring these ladies and a frilly skirt. O. M. G. Fans. O. M. G. Ariel and Tinkerbell are Birdie's two favorite princesses (Oh Tinks is royalty. A fairy? What's that? Birdie will brook no discussion on this point.) and now she can sleep on top of, surrounded by, and with them?!?! She got right to that on the kitchen floor after she flew Tinks around with Joe with whom she'd shared Ariel. When you wish upon a star, Fans, dreams come true.

Daddy Day

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 2013, Clara Jane was treated like a queen!  Kindercare was closed but school was open (surely not our last frustrating misalignment of calendars), so Ted stayed home to make it a Daddy Day. Joe got to benefit by not having to go to Kids Place, instead we walked to Starfox where Clara ordered a Morning Bun (aka "the swirly one") and Joe got the same (deviating from his beloved raspberry doughnut). Once Joe was off at school Ted asked Clara if she wanted to go to the zoo expecting shrieks of delight, but instead she said in a whiney voice "I don't want to go to the zoo".  Fortunately Ted offered it up again with a reminder that it was a special treat and we would see animals and she quickly changed her tune.

At the zoo we packed Dolly and Little Chloe in the backpack so they could see and headed in. Clara wanted to start with fish and then chose to go outside to see animals. We took the long route past the otters, bears, boars, leopards, takins, bison, camels, tigers, and caribou. Then we went inside, first stopping for a souvenir penny squished and stamped with a penguin picture, then to some turtles, monkeys, flamingos, birds, and lots of fish. After all that we sat down to our lunch we had packed that morning just like Joe's. All and all it was smooth sailing for the little queen.

Clara looking like he bison is nudging her.

Clara with a packed lunch just like Joe.

Joe's First Field Trip--and What We Come To Know

Observant readers will have noted from a previous post that Joe went on his first ever field trip on Friday.  This event occasioned another: his first ever ride on a school bus.  (Since White House is only a few blocks from school, he's not allowed to take the bus.)  Joe and his class went to the Westwood Nature Center, where they made apple cider and went on a leaf hike.  Joe said he sat by the window on both the ride to and from Westwood, and that he sat by Miles on the way there, and Aaron on the way back.

It's interesting what one learns about Joe's days, and what one does not.  A lot depends on what questions one poses.  They need to be specific; broad questions will get you nowhere.  But in order to as specific questions, of course, one needs some background in the details--the sort of thing that comes from specific questions.

For example, yesterday, at Joe's soccer game, Julie and Ted realized that Joe knows his teammate Benjamin, or Ben, from school.  In confirming this fact, Julie asked Joe, "Do you know Benjamin from school?"  To which Joe, replied, "No."  Julie kept quit, waiting for it, and Joe said, "That's Ben."

Ben's dad introduced himself to Julie on her way off the field after the game.  Ben is in the other full-day kindergarten class.  Apparently Ben came home one day and announced that a kid at school was on his soccer team; he (Ben) had met him (Joe) in the hallway.  Because we are Joe Fans, and we know that you are also Joe Fans, we will also shamelessly report that Ben's dad then said that he'd asked Ben if Joe was a good guy and Ben said, "Dad, he's a GREAT guy!"

So now we can ask about Ben.  But not Benjamin.  There's no one named Benjamin in kindergarten.

If You Think Three Is Tough, Try Five

No. 1 Bro, No. 1 Son

Now if it hard to be three, it is also true that it can be tough to be five--and the older brother of a three-year-old sister.

After all, when you're five, you still have to do things you don't really like and sometimes, on top of all that, you have to endure some adult telling you why it's not so bad, or it's good for you, or why you'll be glad someday you did the thing you didn't like today. For Joe, one of these things is navigating Kid's Place at drop off which every morning is like walking into a party when you aren't sure if your friends have arrived, except there's no punch bowl if they haven't.

A week ago Friday, Julie dropped Joe off instead of Ted.  She spent more time at home with the bambini in an effort to maximize the amount of time Joe would have to be at Kid's Place.  It was only after she and Joe had dropped Clara off and were walking down the hall at KinderCare that Joe asked if they were going to Starfoxes, and Julie learned that this was how Joe and Ted roll on Friday mornings. She told Joe she was so sorry, but that she wasn't taking him to Starfoxes before they went to Kid's Place.  He all but trudged down the hall, and Julie's heart twisted all up.  So she sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby and called Joe over.  Instead of trying to push some silver lining on him, she just said the situation sucked.  (She said it in five-year-old appropriate language, but that was the gist.)  Joe hugged her, and while they were hugging, Julie said, "Let's go do this Kid's Place thing," which they did, or rather Joe did, and he did it great, even if it remains not so great most days.

Julie felt really solid about that bit of parenting.  But in this game, one minute you're up, and the next minute you're down.  This morning, Julie and Ted took the bambini to the apple orchard they've been going to for a number of years now.  There is a train-playground thing there on which the bambini were playing in a huge scrum of kids until a teary Joe came streaming toward Julie and said that Clara had stepped on his hand and didn't even apologize.  Julie told Joe it must have been an accident--so many kids and all--but that Clara should have apologize.  Julie called Clara over so that Joe could tell her instead what he'd told Julie.  He did, but no sooner had he said his piece than Clara started protesting that she had to step on Joe's hand because he wouldn't move--!!!!!  After they'd sorted that stepping on someone else's hand is never o-kay, Julie apologize to Joe.  She told him she was sorry for immediately assuming that it must have been an accident; that she'd just wanted to think the best of Clara--not that she'd stepped on his hand on purpose.  To which Joe said, "Well, she DID!"  Can't argue with that.

It only looks like there are no other children here.  That is an illusion created by an opportune perspective and click of the shutter.  In reality, there there approximately 3,000 children at the orchard.

Riding the train pulled by a little tractor.

Headed back to the station!

Before the hand was stepped on.  (After faces were painted.)

Three, Still Tough

So how's it going with Birdie?  Brigade, sometimes it's sunshine and roses and sometimes, it's piss and vinegar.  For example, Friday night brought us an epic tantrum at the dinner table, made all the more explosive by Ted, Julie, and Joe's steadfast refusal to acknowledge it in kind.  Dinner was roast chicken, red potatoes, and carrots.  Birdie announced that she did not want carrots.  As our longtime readers know (and, incidentally, as Birdie knows), the cook decides what to serve and the diners decide whether they would like to eat it--without color commentary.  Birdie threw her carrots off her plate.  When this was ignored, she broke into a long and rambling rant, a portion of which Julie jotted down.  Now, you need to imagine this at top volume and through tears:

I not hungry and I don't want dinner!

I not hungry!  I just want a cupcake!

I don't want Daddy to talk!" [Here, Ted and Julie were attempting to have a conversation with Joe about his day which included his first field trip!]

I want a pink fork.  I don't want a purple fork.  I don't want a purple fork  I don't want a purple fork like my room.  I don't want a purple fork.

[Purple fork pitched down the table.  Placed out of reach by Julie.  Birdie shrieks.]

I want an orange fork.

I don't like to color on paper.  I don't like to color on paper.  I don't like to color on paper.

I don't want Mommy to write!  I don't want Mommy to write!

I want Baby Kitty to give her a hug.

Once Baby Kitty (who, we hasten to note, is a stuffed animal) was procured, and hugged, Clara calmed down a bit and deigned to eat some of her dinner and the night unspooled without further incident.

Julie read with Joe Friday night, and Ted with Birdie.  Ted was still reading to Clara with Julie walked out of Joe's room, so Julie went in, cupped her hand behind Birdie's head, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and said, "I love you, Birdie."  That's when Clara reached up and held on to Julie's arm, kissed it, and said, "I love you, Mommy."

Thank goodness for the sunshine and roses.

All tuckered out after the fit.

Wanna See Something?

We had some time to play at the playground after picking up Joe at school, so Joe raced over and asked Clara and Ted, "You wanna see something I can do all by myself?!"  Joe then went to the monkey bars with the middle rung that's elevated that used to require Ted to spot him and help move him up to that rung.  Well Joe had figured out how to swing himself and reach up to the rung without any help. He was very proud of himself and Ted and Clara were very impressed. He tried it again later and slipped off a few times, but he kept brushing off the wood chips and trying again until he got it. Ted was very proud of his determination.

A Face to Break Your Heart | A Morning Gone Wrong

Brigade, look at this forlorn little face.  Doesn't it just break your heart?  Ted texted it to Julie this morning with the message, "Daddy did ponies!  Slightly askew."  Ted has many, many strong suits, but pony-making isn't one of them.  But Birdie wasn't really crying because Ted did the ponies this morning.

Now last Tuesday, Clara petulantly told Julie that she wanted to pick out her own underwear.  Julie--who had selected everything for Clara to put on her body except her underwear--told Clara that would be just wonderful.  And Clara screeched, "I want to pick out my underwear!"  Uh huh.  So do it.

This Tuesday, today, Clara told Julie she wanted Julie to select her underwear.  So Julie did.  Clara then proceeded to throw her underwear at Julie, making what sort of statement we can really only imagine; perhaps:  "I am three and I can throw my underwear at you if I want to!  So there!"  Julie was certainly irritated, but she kept her cool and calmly told Clara that if she couldn't get herself dressed by the time breakfast was done being served downstairs, then she wouldn't be having any, and that she--Julie--certainly wasn't going to let Clara hijack her--Julie's--whole morning.  So there.  By the time Julie was ready for the day, Birdie was wrestling with her pants and wailing, "I can't do it!  I can't do it!"  Julie told Clara she could certainly ask for help by saying, "I need help please."  But Birdie looked right at Julie and wailed, "I can't do it!"  So Julie gave Birdie a kiss, told Birdie she loved her and would see her on the flip, and walked downstairs.  (Julie couldn't do it either.)

Not long after that, Julie trudged out the door, sad that she'd left Birdie bawling, and sad that she'd left the boys with the Birdie bawling.  Her only comfort was that she'd kept her cool.  The bawling did not abate of course, since Birdie was not served breakfast.  Ted reports there was consternation related to socks and shoes--historically tremendous flash points both.  Ted kept his cool until it was Shoe Time.  Then, he lost his temper.  Voices were raised, doors were slammed.  But eventually, all of the White Housers made it to school and work.

We have said it here before many a time: it is hard to be three.  It is hard to live with someone who is three.

Later this afternoon, while the Birds were walking to Joe's school to pick him up, Julie told Clara that she was sad that she didn't get to do Clara's ponies today.  Clara said, "Yeah, Mommy left early.  I was sad."  Julie knew that "leaving early" were the only words Clara had for how Julie had left and that the more important words Clara had said were "I was sad."  So Julie said that maybe tomorrow, Birdie could get dressed more quickly, and then Mommy could do ponies before Mommy left.  Birdie agreed.  The Birds relayed their plan at dinner.  Ted said he would try not to lose his temper.  Birdie reiterated that he would "keep it in."

So that's the plan.  Here's to a brighter tomorrow.

I Know That Already

As we may have reported here before, these days, Joe will respond to approximately 50% of the things he is told with, "I know that already."  We live with a know-it-all.  It is charming only because he is five.

This past Sunday, Julie and Joe were over at Graham and Connor's house for a play date, and the three boys were tearing about in their track pants and long-sleeved tees looking all boy in a way that was just so endearing because, of course, Julie and Sara have been watching their boys play and tear around for a little over five years now--five years that have gone by in a blink.

Joe was standing at the threshold of the hallway leading to Graham and Connor's rooms when Julie, caught up in how wonderful and fleeting it's all been, said, "Pal, I love you."  Joe just looked at her and walked off down the hall.  That's when Julie and Sara heard, "I know that already."

Advanced Reading

Joe has been doing a great job with his reading. He happily settles into a chair, or plops down on the floor, or lies in his bed to read his books. This morning found him reading upside down for a little extra challenge. Dr. Seuss would be proud.

He can read on the floor. 

He can read by the door. 

He can read in his bed. 

He can read on his head. 

Faith

Julie was rearranging some things in her closet on Saturday, some of which were laying out on the bed when Joe bounded into the room and flung himself on the bed.  He proceeded to go through the garments he found there including the dress Julie wore to his baptism.  Joe referred to it as a shirt and when Julie corrected him, she added that she'd worn it to his baptism. Of course Joe wanted to know what a baptism is. Julie told him that it is a ceremony in which one joins some religions, which are formal expressions of faith.  Well of course he asked what faith is.

Now Fans, we've fielded questions on death so this wasn't our first Big Talk, but admittedly, we haven't yet had occasion to have that many. We have nevertheless noticed that it's good to have thought about Big Talk Topics in advance since they tend to come up when one is, you know, rearranging a closet on a Saturday afternoon.

And faith! How to explain it in a way that a five-year-old would understand that it's what makes you decide to take another turn at bat after you've been pitched a curve ball? To love! To have children! To take all kinds of leaps in life.  And that you've got to keep the faith.  Got to keep the faith that all things work together for good.

Julie was ready to talk about faith.  We don't get to church every week, but there was a week we did when Father Dale (who is awesome) spoke about faith.  He likened it to Rainer Maria Rilke's swan and the ease with which it glides, an ease which is only apparent, because underneath the water, its feet are beating away like mad.  Father Dale's point was that you work your faith so it can buoy you up, so you can glide, and you can't see it, but you know it's there.  Julie felt like that was as perfect a definition of faith as she was likely to ever get, and it stuck with her.  So she made the swan a duck, borrowed the rest, and told Joe: "That's faith."  And boy did she feel proud.  (Nailed it!)

And Joe said, "Like fake food?"

No.

And Julie said, "No, Joe.  No.  Faith.  Not fake. Nothing like fake."

Maybe she should have gone with the baseball metaphor.  (Can't use that for the Sex Talk after all.  All wrong.)