Mon, 15 May 2006
Split Opinion
Joshua came to where I was sitting at the computer.
"Mum" he says.
"Yes, Joshua?"
"Look at me!"
I look at him.
He points to one eye... "Mum, I like Dora the Explorer with this eye..."
"...but I don't like Dora the Explorer with the other eye" he says, pointing to the other one.
And then he turns around on one heel and walks out, leaving me no wiser than when he had walked in.
What could that possibly possibly mean?
[6] comments
Mon, 08 May 2006
Dissed
Tonight I'm in the living room with the family. Joshua holds up his latest B-Daman (a kind of robot/transformer-like thingee that shoots marbles out)
Josh: Mum, do you know what this B-Daman is called? (Well, I did happen to know, because I'd bought it)
Mum: Yes. It's Chrome Zephyr. (Who makes up these names?!)
Josh: Wrooonnnggg... it's Winged Zephyr. See? He's got Winged Zephyr's mask on... so he's Winged Zephyr... DUH!!
Have you ever had a four year old say DUH to you with such obvious glee? Matthew and Michael cracked up laughing...
Michael: You've just been dissed by a four year old!
Sigh.
[6] comments
More Josh Art
Joshua loves to play with Microsoft Paint. He creates the most amazing things.
[1] comments
Mon, 24 Apr 2006
Going crazy
It's 10.30am on a Monday morning... school holidays and I'm home. Already I'm pulling my hair out and ready to have somebody take me away to a quiet padded room....
Matthew is driving me insane. He's wandering around... still in his pajamas, I might add... whining.... I mean really really whining "I'mmmmmmmm boooooooored" in this pathetic whiny voice...
"I'm sorry, Matt, I'm cleaning at the moment. I'm not responsible for your boredom. You have more toys than you know what to do with. You have a big back yard and it's a nice day. Go play. "
"Nooooooooo, Iiiiii don't want to goooo outsiiiiide."
The whining continues. This time it's "I'mmmmmmm huuuuuuuungreeeeee."
"Well, get yourself something to eat."
"Iiiiiiiii caaaaaaaaan't."
Sigh. I wash my hands. I make him some toast. I butter it. I put it on a plate. I give it to him.
"Iiii don't like that sort of bread."
I calmly put the plate down on the table, and walk away. He can eat the toast, or he can go hungry. His choice.
At the moment, he's sitting on the couch making little whimpering "I'm so misunderstood" noises.
Needless to say, I'm not sympathetic to the cause.
Joshua, on the other hand, who's only four years old, is happily playing by himself. No whining. He can play an entire day by himself with no whining, just amusing himself.
How can two kids be so different?
Sigh.
[2] comments
Thu, 20 Apr 2006
Cheese!
When Joshua holds up his glass and clinks it with someone else's, he says "Cheese!" rather than "Cheers".
It's so cute.
[1] comments
Thu, 13 Apr 2006
Painful
Joshua is going through a phase of not wanting to go to kindy. I'm not sure what the cause is, but it seems to have something to do with his best friend Caleb finding a new friend.
It breaks my heart... when I drop him off in the morning, he clings to me. Doesn't want me to go. I finally have to get one of the teachers to hold him, and turn my back and walk away.... all the while hearing him call out to me.
There have been days when I have stayed for a long while... not wanting to leave. Wanting to know that he is happy and okay. Interested in what he is doing at kindergarten. But in doing so making myself so late for work that I've long since given up any notion of making up the time.
I know that this is not something I can do every day. I can't always be with him. He has to learn to be independent, to solve problems for himself, to make friends on his own.
And for the most part he does. The teachers tell me that he is usually quite happy after he settles down. Sonya, his caregiver who picks him up, always tells me that he is always happy when she picks him up.
It's just heartbreaking to see him go through this painful transition. I want to fix all his problems, but I know too that doing so would not only be impossible, but would do a disservice to Joshua, who needs to be given the chance to find his own solutions.
[2] comments
Mon, 03 Apr 2006
Not exactly
My little boy is growing up. I figured at four, they are still adorable and cuddly little boys. But no.
On the weekend I swooped Joshua into my arms and gave him a big hug and a kiss, and when I finally let him go, I said to him "You still love mummy's hugs, don't you, Josh?" Expecting this to be a rhetorical question.
Joshua looked me straight in the eye and said with just a tinge of sarcasm "Not exactly."
Ahh, it starts so young. My mother's heart is breaking.
[0] comments
Mon, 27 Mar 2006
Joshua playing dress up
Grumpy tiger!
My first attempt at face paint! It's a lot harder than you think. It's a wolf, by the way. In case you couldn't tell by my outstanding artistry :)
[0] comments
Fri, 24 Mar 2006
Mum, I wanna be a rock star!
Matthew is still crazy about music. His latest obsession has been Green Day, although he has in the past few days insisted on listening to the Arctic Monkeys.
Last week, Matt, Josh and Caelin, the boy who lives next door, gave us a concert...
Matthew has that pouty angsty rock star look down to a tee!
Matt and Caelin having a discussion about lyrics. As you do.
Josh jamming with the big boys.
***
So now the latest thing is guitar lessons. Matthew insists he really wants guitar lessons. I never had the opportunity to play a musical instrument when I was growing up, and I always said that if my boys wanted to, I'd make sure they would have the opportunity.
So... we're trying to find a good guitar instructor for children. And we've already looked at three-quarter size acoustic guitars. It's not going to be cheap, so I hope this is more than just a passing fad!
[0] comments
Thu, 26 May 2005
Mystery Bug
Matthew has been home sick for the past couple days with a stomach virus that has swept through many schools here in Wellington over the past 48 hours.
In Matthew's small primary school there were at least 12 reported cases yesterday. Other schools have been hit harder, with one Anglican school in town being forced to close with more than a quarter of its students stricken. Throughout Wellington, other schools have reported large numbers of students home with the virus.
They don't know why it has hit only schools, or what has caused it to spread so quickly. The speed with which Matthew came down ill was quite alarming. He was fine the night before, and in the morning he was okay right up until we were ready to leave. Then he started to complain of an upset stomach.
At first we thought he was faking it because we were supposed to have a meeting with his teacher that morning to discuss some of his behaviour in the classroom. We thought he was pretending to be sick to avoid the meeting. But he started crying, and was insistent that he wasn't well. He became quite distraught, so I agreed that I would stay home with him. Even if he was pretending, he was obviously very upset and needed some time and attention.
A short while afterwards, he began vomiting and developed a high temperature. He couldn't keep anything down all day, not even water. I kept encouraging him to drink water, but afterwards he would vomit. There was nothing left in his stomach to bring up, so he would dry heave. It was awful.
In the afternoon he moved from the couch to his bed and slept. When he woke up in the late afternoon he seemed a little better.
Today he stayed home again. He was much better, but was still washed out and tired. At least he was able to eat and hold down some food.
It's so awful when your child is really sick. He doesn't understand why he's sick. Telling him that he'll feel better tomorrow doesn't really help right then and there. All you can really do is just hold him.
[2] comments
Sat, 02 Apr 2005
Buzzy Bees and Honey Trees
My mother-in-law sometimes says she can see the look of the "old ones" in babies and children. She believes in reincarnation and that some children show the wisdom of the ancients that they once were.
I sometimes think I see this in Matthew. Mostly he is just a normal, rough and tumble six year old boy. But sometimes he belies a determination and intelligence beyond his years.
I will never forget the first time I held him in my arms as a baby. I had not been awake during his birth, and we were separated for six hours. When I finally held him, he looked up at me with the most incredible look. He was so calm, so peaceful. But he looked straight into my eyes with such a knowing, piercing look. He knew who I was. I will never forget that look.
Every night Matthew and I have a little ritual. He asks me "Mum, what can I think about?" And I reel off a list of things for him to think about, play words, rhyming words, and I always end with "...and Christmas!" His eyes light up and he says "Okay!" with a big grin on his face. It has become a little game for us.
"Mum, what can I think about?"
"You should think about polar bears and panda bears and brown bears and and cuddly bears and Cookie Bear and Fozzie Bear and teddy bears.... and Christmas!"
"OH, okay!"
Or "You should think about soccer games and cricket games and playground games and baseball games and rugby games and marble games and pick-up-sticks games and musical games.... and Christmas!"
Or "Buzzy bees and honey trees and sunshowers and rainbows and pretty flowers and pink bats and yellow cats... and Christmas!"
I love his big grin and the way his eyes light up before he eases down into his pillow to snuggle into sleep.
[2] comments
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