Apparently I have angry children.
A few days ago...
"Mom, please rock me to sleep" says Bailey. I respond with "I'm already rocking Kes to sleep." She quips, "But mom! I am grumpier than Kes!" Good point.
At church we are doing a service tree in Primary and every time a kid does a good deed they get to put a leaf or a blossom on the tree. Bridger always wants to put a blossom on the tree but rarely does anything extra to serve others (as that would cut into his play time!)
Here is his attempt to get a leaf a few weeks ago.
"Ummmm.....my mom made me clean the downstairs." The nice other counselor was still trying to salvage it and make it service so she asked "how did you feel when you helped your mom clean?" to which he responded, "angry and bored."
Bridger was starting to cry about doing homework after school, so instead of getting mad at him I tried positive reinforcement...I said, "Bridger, your teacher said how mature you have been acting at school lately. How you don't let little things bother you. Don't you think you could try acting that way at home?" He responded with, "I don't want to act mature at home, I just want to be angry." Lucky me!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Snow, snow go away...come again...just not in May!
I am so bitter! I was planning on planting a garden on Saturday. Unfortunately, we are getting dumped on with snow and it is 37 degrees outside. This is so wrong! It is May! Time for tulips and baseball--not time to shovel the sidewalk!
Monday, May 3, 2010
why I will never look at orange juice in the same way again
Warning--this story is not for the weak of stomach--
A few days ago the kids and I had been inside (because it has been yucky and rainy outside) watching Man vs. Wild. For those of you who haven't seen this show, this guy gets dropped in different places around the world and has to survive without food or water on his own for about three days. It is a pretty interesting show. Anyways, we had been watching this when Bridger did something to offend Bailey and she called him a "meanie". Bridger was not happy at earning this name (he felt unduly) and went upstairs to pout. He came back about five minutes later with a cup of orange juice for Bailey. I thought, way to go Bridger, you are really proving her wrong with your kindness! (that should have been my first warning--Bridger rarely does that sort of thing without being asked). Anyways, he hands her the cup--meanwhile I am saying--"See how nice Bridger is, he brought you this glass of orange juice--you should say your sorry for calling him a meanie." Bailey took the glass and took a drink of it and said, "mom this tastes funny." I assumed that he had put lemon juice in it as a joke and so said, "here let me taste it." I took a big swallow...hmmmm...not lemony...warm...and it tastes kinda of watered down. I looked over at Bridger who was grinning from ear to ear...warning bells dinging louder in my head! "Bridger what did you put in this--if there is a harmful chemical I need to know." He responded with, "If I tell the truth I won't get in trouble, right?" (always an omission of guilt). And followed it up with, "there are no harmful chemicals in pee right?" Still it took my brain a minute to register that I had just swallowed a mouthful of pee. Bailey was actually quicker on the uptake than I was and began sobbing hysterically. I called in Levi for reinforcements--because all I could think was I just swallowed a mouthful of pee! Bridger of course started crying at this point too saying, "but I told the truth, why am I still in trouble"! Levi followed Bridger upstairs with the cup of offending punch. He told Bridger as his punishment he too would have to take a swallow of the pee cocktail. Bridger refused. Levi came back downstairs to confer with me about an appropriate punishment. We decided that he would clean his sister's room for a week. When Levi went back upstairs to deliver our verdict--Bridger began crying again and said now he would rather drink the juice than have to clean Bailey's room for a week. You might be asking yourself how he even got such an idea in his head--but we had just seen the guy do it on Man Vs. Wild. I can just imagine Bridger's thought process--"wow, I didn't know you can drink your own pee. That will be a good thing to try on Bailey." I was the innocent victim of his conspiracy. Lesson learned: never share a drink with your kids. Forget backwash--watch out for urine! Later that day I went upstairs and saw a nice tall glass of OJ I had poured for myself earlier that day...guess where it went? Right down the drain. Yes, I will never look at orange juice again in the same way!
A few days ago the kids and I had been inside (because it has been yucky and rainy outside) watching Man vs. Wild. For those of you who haven't seen this show, this guy gets dropped in different places around the world and has to survive without food or water on his own for about three days. It is a pretty interesting show. Anyways, we had been watching this when Bridger did something to offend Bailey and she called him a "meanie". Bridger was not happy at earning this name (he felt unduly) and went upstairs to pout. He came back about five minutes later with a cup of orange juice for Bailey. I thought, way to go Bridger, you are really proving her wrong with your kindness! (that should have been my first warning--Bridger rarely does that sort of thing without being asked). Anyways, he hands her the cup--meanwhile I am saying--"See how nice Bridger is, he brought you this glass of orange juice--you should say your sorry for calling him a meanie." Bailey took the glass and took a drink of it and said, "mom this tastes funny." I assumed that he had put lemon juice in it as a joke and so said, "here let me taste it." I took a big swallow...hmmmm...not lemony...warm...and it tastes kinda of watered down. I looked over at Bridger who was grinning from ear to ear...warning bells dinging louder in my head! "Bridger what did you put in this--if there is a harmful chemical I need to know." He responded with, "If I tell the truth I won't get in trouble, right?" (always an omission of guilt). And followed it up with, "there are no harmful chemicals in pee right?" Still it took my brain a minute to register that I had just swallowed a mouthful of pee. Bailey was actually quicker on the uptake than I was and began sobbing hysterically. I called in Levi for reinforcements--because all I could think was I just swallowed a mouthful of pee! Bridger of course started crying at this point too saying, "but I told the truth, why am I still in trouble"! Levi followed Bridger upstairs with the cup of offending punch. He told Bridger as his punishment he too would have to take a swallow of the pee cocktail. Bridger refused. Levi came back downstairs to confer with me about an appropriate punishment. We decided that he would clean his sister's room for a week. When Levi went back upstairs to deliver our verdict--Bridger began crying again and said now he would rather drink the juice than have to clean Bailey's room for a week. You might be asking yourself how he even got such an idea in his head--but we had just seen the guy do it on Man Vs. Wild. I can just imagine Bridger's thought process--"wow, I didn't know you can drink your own pee. That will be a good thing to try on Bailey." I was the innocent victim of his conspiracy. Lesson learned: never share a drink with your kids. Forget backwash--watch out for urine! Later that day I went upstairs and saw a nice tall glass of OJ I had poured for myself earlier that day...guess where it went? Right down the drain. Yes, I will never look at orange juice again in the same way!
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