Profanity

These crazy kids keep telling on each other for using vulgar language. Last night we had a conversation regarding a bad word that Gavin may or may not have used. It went something like this:

L-Mommy, Gavin said the "s" word today.
Me-Gavin, is that true?
G-No.
L-Yes you did, Gavin.
Me- Didn't you tell on Emma yesterday for using the "s" word? (word in reference here is stupid)
G-I didn't say it.
L-You said the "s-w-" word.

Gavin got really quiet and looked down, seeming totally guilty and ashamed, almost ready to cry. All the while, I was a little confused. I was searching my brain for what the word could possibly be, and could not for the life of me figure it out.

Me- I have no idea what word you're talking about.
L-It starts with s-w
Me-I'm still not following you.
L (whispers as she spells)- s-w-a-r-e
Me- What? He said the word "swear?"
L- yes, like, "I swear.."
Me- That's not really a bad word. Also, it's s-w-e-a-r. But, just to clarify, if you know a word is a bad word, don't use it. If you think it's a bad word, don't use it. If you're not sure whether or not it's a bad word, don't use it.

This morning, Emma was talking to Mike.

E-Daddy, Jonna says the "f" word at school. And so does Jaylon.
Mike- Really.
E- Yeah. It starts with an "f" and ends with "art"

Still innocent

I overheard this from the basement:

E- Gavin, did you fart.
G-No. I'm telling on you for saying the "f" word!

I guess he was too busy to tattle, because he never came upstairs.

Later the same evening, Gavin informed me of this...

G-Mommy, Emma said the "s" word today.
E- No I didn't!
G- Yes you did!
Me- What word are you referring to?
G- I can't say it. But, it's the "s-t" word.
Me- What?
G- (Gavin comes up to me, cups his hand around my ear and whispers) STUPID

Kissing Up

The kids stayed up past their bedtime tonight, so they were deprived of the nightly backrub. Emma tried to convince daddy to give her the backrub...

Emma-please!?!
Daddy- No
Emma- Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty please!?!?!?!
Daddy-No
Emma- You look very handsome, Daddy.

God works in mysterious ways

Gavin asks a lot of questions about God.

Not too long ago, I was unloading bags of groceries from the car. One of the handles of a bag broke as I was carrying it into the house. The contents spilled all over the sidewalk. I was obviously frustrated with the situation.

Gavin asked:
Did God make that happen?

A preview of teenage years to come

Recently, I've noticed a certain 3 children challenging my authority and opinions along with many of the decisions I make.

The other day, I was getting a snack ready and the kids were playing outside. The door was open, so I could hear what they were doing in the backyard. And, boy, could I ever hear them. They were playing some sort of game, pretending they were hurt. With all the screaming, I was worried about what the neighbors might think. I went outside and said:

Hey, you guys, stop all the screaming. The whole neighborhood can hear you.

Gavin responded- How do you know?

Hello! What do you mean, how do I know. I'm your mother. I know everything.

Lilah responds to requests she doesn't like with..."Why can't I just..."

Example:

Me- You can go outside after you clean up your room.
L- Why can't I just clean it after I go outside?

Gavin adds a "but Mommy,..." when things aren't corresponding to his wishes.
Example:
It's time for bed. Get your pj's on.

But Mommy, why can't I have just one more book?

Emma is pretty cooperative most of the time. Sometimes, though, when things don't go her way, she stars in her own drama show. She'll go to her room and throw herself on the bed and sob into her pillow. I've actually caught her peeking up around her pillow to see if anyone is watching. When she realizes this behavior doesn't get the results she's looking for, she moves on to something else.

Interpreting the world

A conversation on our way to music class- (Gavin noticed a man smoking while sitting on a bench)

G-Mommy, why is that man smoking?
Me- I don't know, but it's bad for him.
E- You should only smoke if it's really cold outside.
Me- Well, you should never smoke. It's bad for you, and it doesn't have anything to do with warming a person up.
G-Why did God even invent smoking?
E- Why did God invent fire?
Me- Well, fire is good for many reasons.
G- The sun is made of fire and gases. How does the sun stay up in the sky anyway?
E- I know! It stays up there with a giant string.

Inquiring mind

G- Mommy, when you're dead, do you feel anything?
Me- I don't know. I've never been dead.
G- When you're dead can you tell me that?
Me- I don't think I'll be able to, since I'll be dead.
G- Ok, then, when I'm dead I'll know.

Bedtime Rituals

Every night, as part of our bedtime ritual, we play a game called- "I'm thinking of a ______." With Gavin, it's always an animal. It used to be o.k. to just say something like:
-I'm thinking of an animal. It's gray, with big ears, and has a long trunk.

Now, he likes more of a challenge. I usually start off by saying, "I'm thinking of an animal. It's a mammal..." Then I usually describe the attributes of a mammal. Last night, I reminded him that mammals have fur or hair, the babies drink milk from their mothers, they're warm blooded, and the babies are born alive. He was confused by the last part, then I said they are born as live babies, not eggs. Then I said,
"You know Gavin, you are a mammal."
He responded, "I know that. So, then you are an amphibian?"

Inquiring mind

During books before bed, upon the turning of a page, Gavin randomly asked this of Emma:

Hey, Emma. Do you still got that hole in your private?

Fish Killers

We've had fish as pets for the past couple of years. Mike got the tank and fish once when I was out of town. I wasn't all that keen on the idea of having fish- what with the responsibilities involved- remembering to feed the fish, assigning the task of who would feed the fish, remembering whose turn it was to do the feeding, watching over the kids so as not to let them feed the fish too much or too little, and finally the daunting task of cleaning the tank. This just seemed like more than I could handle, so Mike said he would be the caretaker of such duties.

When Mike and the kids first brought the fish home, the poor creatures kept dying. Mike kept going back to the pet store to get more, and would return with three new fish that would perish within about 3 days. After repeating this a couple of times, I went to do the duty of replenishing our pets and asked the pet experts what we were doing wrong. Why did our fish keep dying? It turned out that we were buying feeder fish- the kind that are destined to be eaten by animals such as turtles and snakes. The kind that aren't supposed to be kept as pets. The kind that are not expected to live in our tank for more than a week.

When Mike first started cleaning the tank (this task is done about 3 times per year), the fish would inevitbly die. They are so sensitive to water temperatures and chemicals within the water. Over the past year or more though, we have- I should say Mike has- learned to clean the tank and keep the fish alive in the process. Up until this last tank cleaning...

Last weekend, I went out of town with the kids while our floors were being refinished. The tank was filthy, and this was a perfect opportunity to clean it, since we had to move it out of Gavin's room anyway. In one of our phone conversations, Mike informed me that the fish didn't make it. I was particularly concerned about how Gavin was going to react to this unfortunate event. We talked about what we were going to do. Should Mike buy more fish before the kids got home so the death would go unnoticed, or should we inform the kids and go get new fish together, or should we just take a break from being owners of pet fish for a while. We never really came to a decision, so when the kids and I got home, there was the empty fish tank sitting on the island.

The empty tank didn't go unnoticed for long. Gavin was too busy playing on the computer, but both Lilah and Emma inquired over the whereabouts of the fish. When I broke the news to her, Lilah asked when we were going to get new fish. Before stopping to think and process the idea that popped into my head, I blurted out- "Maybe we should get something easier to take care of, like a hermit crab, or something."

My concern about how Gavin would react comes into play here.

About 30 minutes later, Gavin came to me and said:

G- Can we go to the store to get hermit crabs today? Did you know that hermit crabs are my new 5th favorite animal?
Me- What's your favorite animal?
G-Everybody knows that. It's an elephant.
Me- So what's your second?
G- A snake.
Me- And third?
G- Hmm. I forgot that one.
Me- And fourth?
G (thinking hard)- I forgot that one too. But 5th is definitely a hermit crab. Can we go to get one today?
Me- No, not today.

The kids keep asking when we're going to get hermit crabs. My response so far has been:
-When you can be responsible for putting all your toys away and keep them in thier place (unless, of course you're playing with them), then we'll talk.

Toying with modesty concerning her body

Yesterday, I was folding clothes while Emma and Gavin were taking a bath together. I heard Emma yelling at Gavin- "GAVIN, STOP IT!!!!" So, I walked into the bathroom to see what the problem was. Emma had gotten out of the tub to use the toilet and pulled the shower curtain closed while she was out of the tub. She was yelling at Gavin because he was trying to open the shower curtain, and she didn't want him to see her naked- this occurred after she had already bathed naked with him, and was about to get back in the tub without any clothes on.

Conversation with Gavin

I think Gavin is a pretty smart kid, but sometimes common sense eludes him. For instance...

Gavin tried to have a conversation with 4 week old cousin Ben.

G- Ben, do you want to go outside and play?
Aunt Bri- I don't think he can.
G- Why, did he forget his snowpants?

Easter

Here are some photos recapping Easter weekend.

Duncan was totally thrilled with the hunt for Easter baskets.

The kids had a blast playing in the snow.

Emma is pictured here sitting in her snow chair, with her feet propped up on the snow ottoman, watching tv on the snow television.

They had fun building giant snow people- with the help of daddy and Uncle Joe.