Angels and Devils

Sophie is going through a stage, a lot of screaming "No!", tantrums, and other means of asserting herself. Good for her development, I am sure, bad for her chances of surviving the next few months. Sometimes, it is a trial to get through the day. The screaming and rebellion over the smallest things. The clear sense that she knows what she is doing, and that it is not what she is supposed to be doing, but nonetheless, what she will do, is incredibly frustrating. Stepping back and recognizing this as an ego building moment is not easy.

On the other hand today leaving the playground with the kids I was carrying Will, his little legs are just not up to the task of keeping up with the rest of us on long journeys. At some point, I don't remember the instigation, he decided I needed some hugs and kisses. He grabbed hold of my neck and pulled in tight. Planted a couple of big ones on my face, and hung on for a good long while. Not little pecks or squeezes, but a long strong embrace. Sometimes the kids hug and kiss like they are performing for us. It is sweet and fun, but I don't get the idea that there is much behind it. But today, I could feel the love. I nearly wept. I live for moments like that.

Aweful Aweful!

Today, as a special treat for Carly's Birthday I made Blueberry Waffles.
Will actually ate them. Though he called them "awefuls."

Kids say the darnedest things.
I wish I could recall Sophie's exact rendition of "Row Row Your Boat"

The ending goes....
"Mary Mary Mary Mary Apalotta a dream." Or something like that.

The Great Debate

Tonight we went to Holly's and Vince's for combined birthday dinner. It was yummy. The kids were considerably better behaved than the adults (discussing immigration reform). They played and played, ate well and were all around fun.
But the highlight for me was the ride to their house. For the better part of the trip, Will and Sophie were engaged in the sort of witty repartee not scene in recent years. The topic?
How best to transverse a gap: bridge or tunnel?
Will is a proponent of Tunnels.
Sophie a fan of bridges.
As Will put it "TUNNEL!"
But, on the otherhand, one cannot deny Sophie's retort "Bridge!"
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge
Tunnel
Bridge

Really, they both have good points.

Tea Time Commiserations

I came home early today (had to miss that Division Meeting though, darn) so that Carly could get her Driver's Licensed renewed. Will was napping, so Sophie and I had some time to spend alone together. A while back someone, gave her a cute little china tea set. And whenever she sees it, she wants to play with it. Usually Will is around, and the foreseen smashing of china has caused us to divert to another activity. I always promise, next time you and I are alone we will do it.
So, today, as we pondered what to do I made the suggestion.
It was grand.
We chatted about her music lesson, the passing cars, and such.
In the spirit of sharing, I volunteered that work had been hard today (my Religion students haven't cracked the text yet, and we are in our fourth week!). Sophie nodded with a knowing look. Then she added "sometimes it is hard to make a poopy."
Indeed it is.

Guilty Pleasures

Last night after putting the kids to bed Carly and I watched four or five episodes (Damn you TIVO!) of Who wants to be a Superhero. The "Reality" show on SciFi. It was actually pretty compelling TV. The cool part was that despite the standard obstacle courses, and confessionals standard to these sorts of shows, the real tests were tests of character. Typically reality shows reward the bad character traits, or at least the dubious ones (sneakiness, etc..) In theory, at least, Stan Lee was watching the behavior of the people, checking to see that they were follwoing the law, setting good examples, showing courage and fortitude. In general, a more rewarding experience than I thought it would be.
The best part is that there is virtually no mention of the super powers, and Lee has been quick to punish people who let slip their ulterior motives.*
We will probably watch the last few this weekend. We are both hoping for FAT MOMMA to win.

*SPOILERS


1. Lee kicked out one guy at the beginning of the episode for admitting on a hidden camera that he planned to make his own action figures based on his character depending on his marketing.
2. He kicked out another person recently after she admitted to lying about her job, she claimed to be in Real Estate, when in fact she was an Actress trying to get exposure.
It is a silly game show, but the idea that to win you have to be sincere (or fake it well) is pretty cool.