Super Villain in the Making...

photo credit

My son is five and has turned into a pathological lier.

At first it stated out as little lies when I asked if he did something wrong and he said no. Then he graduated into making up lies out of thin air to get his sister in trouble (next time you say your sister hurt you, don't tell me that she bit you but the marks are invisible). To get the truth out of him I use the age old mom weapon of lieing through my teeth (yes, call me a hypocrite if you must). I tell him that I saw what happened so he better tell me the truth or he will be in big trouble (right now the threat is I will erase Plants vs. Zombies from his Kindle Fire). This always works and the truth comes out. Then we have a talk about why lying is wrong and that he needs to always tell me the truth blah, blah, blah. Our conversation never sticks and then he is back to lieing at which time the whole process starts over again- I am hoping someday the lieing is bad thing will stick.

The other night at bedtime my daughter wanted her Kindle Fire to use for a bit (yes, my three year old has a Kindle- I was desperate to get her to poop on the potty and we only paid $140 for it. we got my son some super expensive toy to bribe him to poop on the potty that he doesn't even play with anymore so I figured a Kindle would be a better investment this time around). I couldn't find it so I asked my son if he knew where it was and he said no. My husband and I went crazy looking for it through the whole house and my husband took one for the team and looked through he nasty garbage. I asked my son one more time and with some cajoling he showed me where he hid it- under his star wars helmet on his dresser. Boy, was I angry. I asked him why he hid it and he said that Alli was being mean to him. I told him that was fine but when I asked him where it was he should have told me and then I took away his Kindle as punishment. We had another conversation about why lieing is wrong but for some reason I have a hunch that that one won't stick either.

Someday he'll get it and hopefully it is before he is an adult and I send him off into the world- the last thing I need is for one of my kids to be a diabolical super villain.

Crazy Little Monsters...

This picture really says it all...

My two older kids are crazy and Jilly Billy is saying "get me the heck out of here". Don't worry, I swooped in to save her from her over-cuddly siblings.

Pretty soon though she's going to have the learn how to hold her own against the older ones, but she's such a moose that I don't see that being an issue.

Kids are funny- one second they are making you want to rip your head off and the next the are so darn cute that you can't help but smile...

Who Needs Toys When You Have a Box?

I have been doing a ton of online shopping lately. There have been lots of great deals and in between being super pregnant and then not being able to drive for two weeks due to the c-section, online shopping has been a sanity saver.

Besides keeping UPS in business, my online shopping has produced many boxes in my home. If there is one thing that my kids love it is empty boxes- almost to the point where I wonder why I even bother buying toys.

But, like with most things, the kids playing with a box together inevitably turns into the kids fighting. Then the magical box gets confiscated and ends up in the recycle bin. The kids don't really mind though because they know that their mommy is an online shopping junkie and that the nice UPS man will bring more boxes to play with.

Popcorn Time!

We got our new popcorn popper in the mail the other day and yesterday we made some popcorn with it.

My kids thought it was the greatest thing ever. They had a hard time believing that the kernels I bought were popcorn but when the popping started you should have seen their faces! The look of excitement and amazement on their faces just made my husband and I laugh- it is so funny to see such a simple thing as popcorn popping making your children as giddy and they get on Christmas morning.

The popcorn came out good and the kids loved it even though it was completely plain (we did add a little oil to pop it). A cheap, healthy and awe inspiring snack for the kids sounds good to me!

Purely Amazed...

Tonight when my husband picked me up from work he told me something that was simply astounding- my four year old son rode his bike with no training wheels.

From what my husband said, it was a completely random event. My son went up to my husband acting like a little brat and said he didn't want training wheels on his bike anymore. My husband said fine, you want no training wheels so you'll get no training wheels thinking that my son would be begging to have them put back on.

Well, the next thing my husband knew, my son was riding down the street on two wheels. I guess everyone, including the neighbors, were slack-jawed and couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Let me tell you something- my son possesses no special athletic abilities and honestly seems a bit clumsy sometimes. The fact that he did this was so out of left field that I don't think I will fully grasp it until I actually see him do it (and yes, I did almost start crying when my husband told me what happened because my little baby is growing up way too fast and because I was so proud of him for doing something on his own).

Now, I know some parents would be patting themselves on the back for something like this. What great parents we must be for having a child who did something so cool. You know what- those kind of parents are mentally challenged. I feel no responsibility for my son riding his bike. The only thing we did was let him ride his balance bike in the house all last winter, any skills he learned were purely on his own merit. I am more of a step back and let the kids do what they are going to do parent (when it comes to learning)  than a hovering parent who tries to push things on them.

Now in my head I am going to balance my son's amazing bike riding abilities with the fact that he tried to take a dump in my neighbor's yard last week...

What Kind of Weirdo is Scared of Bubbles?

Tonight after dinner my husband was giving my 20 month old daughter a bath. She has a bit of a cough so I added some Johnson & Johnson vapor bath to the water which made mountains of bubbles. I ran downstairs to put the leftover roast in the fridge and I heard my daughter uncontrollably crying. I went back upstairs to the bathroom and saw her standing in the tub with tears rolling down her cheeks.

My poor husband had no idea what was wrong with her- he was trying his best to calm her down. My super mom powers kicked in at that moment and I told my husband that Allison must be scared of the bubbles. I lifted her out of the tub and held her while my husband emptied the tub and refilled it with bubble free water. Allison hopped right in and was fine- isn't it funny how toddlers can be having a nervous breakdown one minute and the next they are all rainbows and butterflies?.

My daughter is a weird one- what kid doesn't like bubble baths?

Unattended Child Alert!

This is what happens when you leave a 1 1/2 year old in her high chair with a cup of milk (the kind with a separate lid and straw). She manages to open the cup, dump the milk on her tray and happily splash it everywhere (and boy, was she having a blast).

I'm sure I will be finding miscellaneous milk droplets in my kitchen for weeks.

Kids Are Simple People

This is my new stove. I really love it because I can bake two things at once and it boils water way faster than my old one.

I love my new stove but my son also got something that he loves:

The stove box.

I cut out a door and a window and we even colored it with crayons. He thinks that it is great. There were also four long L shaped pieces of heavy cardboard that were used to keep the stove in place in the box that my son loves. We have been using them to make tracks for his Matchbox cars and have been setting up tracks to roll balls down.

It is really funny that such simple things make kids happy.