On Saturday, I left the boys unattended for a little bit while I worked on my lesson for Sunday. When I finally went in their room to see what they were doing, I was appalled to discover that they had written all over every wall in that room (plus the furniture) with a purple crayon.
So I grounded them from playing for the evening. They had to sit on their beds until dinner. Then, after dinner, they went straight to bed. I also had them clean off one wall before they went to bed on Saturday night. They weren't allowed to do anything on Sunday (made Sunday a really long day). Then on Monday, they had to clean the crayon off the furniture and two more walls. Today they finished cleaning the rest of the crayon off. They also weren't allowed to have any crayons or pencils until the walls were all clean.
I'm trying to make the punishment fit the crime. Taking away their toys, or grounding them for a very long time just didn't fit. But maybe, if they see how hard it is to get crayon off of walls, then maybe they won't do it again. Especially if they know that they will be the ones scrubbing the walls, not me.
Yesterday, we were sitting in Sacrament Meeting. Westley had a crayon and paper and was happily drawing. He drew a picture of a cow and even drew the underneath side, complete with udders. After he finished his drawing, he said to me, loudly, "Look, Mom! The cow has five [insert plural form of male reproductive organ here]!" He was so loud! There were three teenage girls sitting in the pew right behind us, and they burst out laughing, which made me laugh. I finally gained composure, leaned over and whispered to him, "They're called udders, Westley. Udders." Hopefully next time he'll remember.
I have decided today that the only toys my kids need to have are these:
1) a set of building blocks of some sort 2) some toy cars 3) puzzles 4) dress up clothes 5) books
They don't need anything else. I decided this after spending about 1-1/2 hours putting together a hot wheels "car wash," complete with a real system for washing the cars (not that I'm ever going there, though). The whole time I was putting this together, Westley was with me, trying to play with it. At one point, he even got his finger stuck in one of the pieces. The thing has dozens of tiny parts, all requiring stickers, and the instruction page was such a bad photocopy that I could hardly see what went with what. I finally got it together, and Caleb and Travis got up from their naps. Originally, I wasn't going to let Travis play with it, and we were going to put it away somewhere before I got him out of his crib. But, then I thought, if I watch them really well while they play with it, then maybe Travis won't swallow a piece.
Well, he didn't. But I took a few minutes to answer a phone call and started having a nice conversation with a friend. This whole time, I was in the same room as the boys who were playing with the car wash. After a few minutes, I looked down and saw that they boys had managed to take the whole thing apart and the pieces were strewn everywhere! This after a long conversation with Westley while I was building it about how much work it was, so he was not going to take it apart. Guess he really didn't listen. Or was just too curious to stop himself from taking it apart. When I got off the phone and started cleaning it up, telling them (mostly him) that they weren't supposed to do that, he said, "But Mom, they were having an earthquake and it fell apart!"
So, I can handle blocks falling apart due to an earthquake because most likely, I will not have spent the time I could have been napping putting it together. This weekend I think I will go through their toys and weed out all the ones that are like that--lots of pieces that they always take apart and throw all over.
I love watching my boys play sometimes, just sitting back and watching their little minds work. These episodes of imagination are all from just today too...
The Machine They decided to build a "machine," so they put together in a row Eliza's swing, her bouncy seat, and her car seat, and threw in different knick-knacks in between. Then they turned on the swing, turned on the vibrator of the bouncy seat, and pretended that it was a big machine with a big "boggadine" on it. You see, when I was little, my dad made up a song for us kids that went like this: "If I had a big boggadine and I put it on a big machine, I could make most anything as I move it and I groove it on the big machine." I taught the boys that song, and today they had their big "boggadine" and they were putting it on their machine to make stuff with it!
Westley-dog, Caleb-dog, and Travis-baby-dog When I called them into the kitchen for a snack, they all came in on all fours. When I said their names, asking what they wanted, a cereal bar or a cup of goldfish crackers, Westley said, "no, it's Westley-dog, Caleb-dog, and Travis-baby-dog." I kind of liked it before when Caleb was "Breck" the dog and Westley was "Bickie."
Spider-man kids Westley got everyone dressed this morning in their spider-man shirts. So today they have also been "spider-man Westley, Caleb and baby."
Murder-cycle Guys Lately, Westley has decided to finally try riding his bike. He has a bike with training wheels that he's barely touched since he got it for Christmas in 2006. Anyway, last week, he was with me at Wal-mart and I saw a big kid's bike with real training wheels (his training wheels are part of the bike, non-detachable), and I had him try it. Being that they were "real" training wheels, you actually need to practice balance to use them. Well, he didn't know and fell off right there in aisle at Wal-mart and cried all the way to the register and then all the way home. I said (not the best thing to say out loud, by the way, I realize that), "Man, you are never going to learn to ride a bike if you won't keep trying until you can do it." Well, a few days later, he was up on his bike and has been riding it every day since. He and Caleb (on his tricycle) zip around the back patio with their helmets on playing "murder-cycle guys" (that is how Westley pronounces motorcycle, which I find to be quite hilarious, since I actually think motorcycles are dangerous).
At the office During the 3 younger ones' naps, Westley shut himself in the office with some paper, a pen, and a pencil (along with whatever else he found on my desk) and declared himself to be "at work, at the office, so don't bother me, Mom." I dozed on the couch while he created. It was great!
Here's a moment that makes me wish I was anywhere else. My 3-year-old is standing next to me at the computer screaming that he wants another snack because his 18-month-old brother took his last fruit snack and popped it in his mouth. I keep saying no, which just keeps making him scream harder. It's moments like these when I realize that teaching school wasn't so bad...at least I could send them home at the end of the day!
4 people who email me regularly 1. USANA Health Sciences 2. Facebook 3. ldsmoms 4. sensehelpsite (If anyone would like to email me, please feel free! I get so tired of getting stupid mail from these above 4 mentioned sources--it would be nice for a regular person to drop a note just to say hello...)
4 places I would like to visit 1. New York City 2. Hawaii 3. England 4. Texas
4 favorite restaurants 1. Outback 2. California Pizza Kitchen 3. Olive Garden 4. Cafe Rio
4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year 1. Adam and Eve's wedding 2. Maybe going to Texas to visit Jordan and Andrea 3. Corey turning 30 4. Westley starting kindergarten
4 things I am not looking forward to in the coming year 1. more school for Corey (though there is a light at the end of the tunnel) 2. turning 31 (reality will sink in then) 3. lots of things about my mundane life in general 4. the hot hot summer with a backyard swimming pool and three non-swimmers
Westley hates getting his haircut. I can understand why. When we first started doing it at home, Corey would strip him down to the waist and shave his head, causing the hair to fall all over him and itch. After cutting the hair, Corey would throw him in the shower to rinse it all off--another unpleasant part. So it's no wonder the kid doesn't like haircuts.
On Saturday, Corey took him to this place called Sport Clips where he likes to have his hair cut. When they called Westley to the chair and put the cape on him, he pulled it off. They finally got it back on him, but he kept pushing it up around his head. Then, Corey sat him on his lap and held his arms down, but Westley kept dodging the razor. They gave up and Corey and Westley came home.
His hair was looking pretty shaggy, so I told Westley that I would do it myself. Amazingly, he actually agreed , but told me he wanted Daddy to do it. So on Sunday morning, Corey took the razor and cut Westley's hair, leaving it longer on top and shaving the sides. But it didn't look very good. So I also tried to clean it up a little, but it still looked pretty bad.
If you look closely, his hair is shaggier on one side than the other, the front is all uneven, and the line around his head looks pretty bad (where it goes from longer to shorter). We told him next time, he should let the professional do it!
I was sitting here looking at blogs just now and Westley comes up behind me. "Mom, I'm going to flush Goopy down the toilet, okay?" I turn around to see Westley holding the dead goldfish by the tail.
The back story--Goopy was the goldfish that Caleb got in Sunbeams on Sunday, where they learned to be grateful for fish. We didn't expect him to last this long, as the only "tank" we had for him was a rather large vase, not even a fishbowl. He died this morning. Actually, it was pretty pathetic, as we watched him die. He'd float down to the bottom on his side, like he was gasping for air (or whatever fish gasp for), then he'd suddenly swim up to the top, very lethargic-like though, and then repeat the cycle until there was no more swimming to the top and his little gills had stopped moving. So, how many of you can say you've actually watched a goldfish die?
