Hug Twice

One of the great benefits of CJ going to school is that they teach him things it doesn’t occur to me to teach him. He constantly surprises me with the information sheets he brings home and the new things he has learned.

This month they have been learning the days of the week. I found this out when CJ brought home a chart for toothbrushing (it is Dental Health Month) and happily told me “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday”, pointing at the appropriate box for a sticker each day. I was really excited, and asked him what the other days were. He looked at the chart carefully, and said “Wednesday Wednesday Friday”.

He has a little song he sings, that includes Saturday and Sunday, and he sings it well. But every time, Thursday is omitted and replaced with an extra Wednesday. I’ve been trying to correct it, and tell him “Thursday” and he laughs and says “No mommy, Wednesday Wednesday”. I’m sure he wasn’t taught it that way, so I wonder why he’s so insistent that it is so.

He is a funny little guy. I think I will miss the “Wednesday Wednesday Friday” when it is gone.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yesterday I tried to register both kids for an Easter Egg hunt held by our Parks and Rec Department. Longtime readers of the blog may recall the disaster that was gymnastics and CJ, which also was through our Parks and Rec Department. But this is just a one day event, and even has an age category for Alexa to participate in. The cost per child was $3, which I thought was reasonable for how much enjoyment I think CJ will get out of it (and maybe Alexa too, even).

So I opened up the website, as I have done every time in the past, and tried to register. But it wouldn’t recognize my username and password. So eventually I tried to just create a new one, but it wouldn’t do that either. It recognized my phone number (but refused to acknowledge my last name belonged with it) so I got stuck in an endless loop of “You already exist, answer your challenge questions” (which it wouldn’t recognize) and then “You don’t exist, re-register”, back and forth, back and forth.

So, frustrated, I called the program directly. And the woman on the phone told me my “customer number” I could use to log in… but I couldn’t! She even tried to log in with my customer number and last name… and it wouldn’t work for her either.

I admit, I suspect the problem is that I have a hyphenated last name. We all do. Matt and I hyphenated our names when we got married (yes, he did too) and passed that on to our children. But even trying one half of the hyphenated name, then the other, then the whole thing, with and without the hyphen - none of them worked.

I did manage to get the kids registered for the Easter Egg Hunt through the phone, and I had to email their tech support to get the online part restored. Which I hope they fix soon, because I’d like to register CJ for a “Sports Sampler” as well but I am waiting until next month’s budget to do so. I hate registering by phone. I am an internet aficionado addict.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I was nursing Alexa on the couch in the family room a few days ago while CJ played a preschool readiness computer game on a DVD as a gift.  Or, so I thought.  That is what I had left him doing, at least.  His computer (yes, the kids have a computer of their own, Matt is a computer programmer, what can I say) is in our office which is on the other side of the kitchen from the family room.  He has limited specific access to the internet through the web browser if he decided to do that, so I wasn’t worried about what he was doing.

Or so I thought.

CJ comes into the room and announces “I play cards!”.  I have no idea what he is talking about, and all he’ll say is “I play cards!”.  He runs off, and a few minutes later after Alexa is finished nursing, I walk over to the office to see what he means.

He’s “playing” hearts.  On the internet.  With real people.  Of course, he has no idea what he is doing, so people leave him at empty tables in frustration with his lack of cooperation, but still.

Under “programs” on the start menu, Microsoft nicely lists a bunch of card games you can play live, with other people.  I had no idea.  But CJ found them, and he “played” cards.

So if you were playing hearts with a very uncooperative three year old two days ago, I apologize. 

I deleted all the shortcuts to the card games except the ones that were just specifically on the computer itself and do not require internet access, and thought about all the grey hairs my kids have given me.  That child is too smart for his own good.   I play cards, indeed.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yesterday afternoon, Alexa was napping and CJ and I were playing in the family room. He was giggling and rolling around and I was snuggling him and kissing his head and cheeks, and generally being silly. All of a sudden CJ stood up and said “It Too Much!” and ran off.

When he came back, I asked him what was too too much. He climbed into my lap and tickled me, and I kissed the top of his head. Again - “Mommy, it too much!” “Too much what CJ?” “Too much!”

Then he held his finger up and covered his lips, and said “That too much.”

Awww. Too many kisses. I might not be able to snuggle whenever I want any more. My baby is growing up. Sniff.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

So, I am kind of at a loss.

I have a 3 1/2 year old who steadfastly refuses to use the toilet. If he’s naked, he pees on the floor. If he has underwear on, he pees in his pants. He doesn’t even seem to notice until after the fact, and he has no discernible “pee pee dance” that I can fathom. He just… pees.

Things that are not pee, I at least have some warning of. There are behavior cues I can pick up on. Consequently, we have had more success with that.

But pee - never. Not ONCE has he peed on the toilet. Or his little small potty. Or anywhere one is supposed to pee, except diapers. He has peed on my couch. And the rug. And in so many pairs of underwear I stopped counting. But never in an appropriate place. We’ve tried having him read a social story about how he is a big boy and needs to use the toilet. That made him sit on it more willingly, but didn’t cause any peeing to happen. We’ve got books on Elmo using the potty. He thinks they are funny, but they don’t help. We’ve tried stickers, we’ve tried timers, I am at the verge of offering lollipops. I guess I could duct tape the small potty to him…

Okay, I won’t do that. Until he is at least 4.

Eventually. I think, at least. Maybe I can find a potty training boot camp to send him to.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!