I Did That
The kids sat at the table finishing their lunch after being reprimanded to not make uncivilized sounds at the table (farting and blowing sounds if you must know). I was washing some dishes at the sink with my back to them. Suddenly I heard giggling, then laughter, then uncontrollable cackles of laughter by turns, first Segundo then Primera and so forth. I confess that I kept doing dishes; I knew I would have to turn around and put an end to the laughs and the fun, but I too wanted to enjoy the laughter; it was unfettered, free, joyful and innocent. I imagined food was involved and so I better turn around to save myself a bigger mess. As I turned around I saw Primera pushing her eyes up until they looked like smiles and Segundo having fits of laughter, then Segundo did the same, while Primera cackled uncontrollably. Thankfully no food was injured during the making of this episode.
Matthew 18:20 “Where two or three have are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Television Free Kid
As it is now we do not allow any television watching by the kids. The only unfortunate thing about it is that you cannot then ground them from television. In addition when you send a kid to their room to think about what they have done, they are likely to become very involved in something else. There really is no punishment in being sent to your room. It is like sending a television watching kid to his room to watch television. Oi!
Movie Time
As Craig and I sat watching a movie, we heard Primera’s loud cackling laughter from her room. Then all was quiet again. The next morning Dad asked her what was so funny the previous night. She explained that she was watching a movie “Bee’s and Bubbles” and it was so funny, especially Winnie the Pooh. Since then, she tells us that she watched this or that at night, and talks about events from her imaginary films. If you have imagination you can watch movies before bed, even without a dvd player!
Pipes and Smoking
There are examples in Primera’s books of smoking. Have you run into this? Curious George’s friend with the yellow hat allows him to smoke a pipe before bed. Also in the book Everyone Poops the dad has a pipe while sitting on the toilet. So Primera says to me, Mom I want to try a pipe, see what that’s like. What would you say? geez! I said well smoking is not good for your body, in fact it damages it, it wrecks it, it is a bad choice to make. Then as luck would have it we go to the store and park next to someone who just has to have a cigarrette and smokes it out in the parking lot before going into the store. Primera stood on the sidewalk and stared at the lady the whole time I was getting Segundo out of the car. I thought yikes! I don’t think I could have a smoke with a kid staring at me like that.
On the Bright Side
Yesterday Craig snagged his t-shirt sleeve on the doorway. As he said, “Oh shoot, I snagged my sleeve and got a hole on it!” Primera replied, “Good thing it wasn’t your underwear Dad!”
Enjoy Life!
