Tag Archives: children

The honesty of children

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Children are generally honest…in fact, brutally so. And my children are no exception.

For example, this evening while eating supper the TV was somehow left on. I usually pay no attention to it, but as we were eating I happened to notice that the show, “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” was on. As I went to shut it off, this is the conversation that occurred:

Big Bro: “So, Mom, women like, lose a lot of weight when they have babies?”

Scooter: “Well, duh, everyone knows that.”

BB: “So did you lose a lot of weight when you had us?”

S: “Well, of course she did.”

BB: “So…what happened after George?”

S: “Well, apparently having four kids makes you fat.”

*sigh*

Instead of supper I guess I’ll just have a protein shake.

Living with royalty

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Well, it was another busy weekend…which will lead to more busy weekends, but I’m OK with that.

This weekend was our local Applefest. Part of the celebration is a pageant-like activity that is called Lil’ Miss and Mr. Ellendale. It’s open to 5-6 year old’s and is kind of a mixer/social activity that gives local kids a chance to be on a parade float, play some games and bring home a cool lunch box/cooler.

Well, this year’s Lil’ Mr. Ellendale is none other than Scooter! He’s so excited! He can’t believe that he gets to wear a crown, a cape and ride on parade floats. Yeah, he’s even talking about learning cursive so he can sign autographs.

It’s been quite the deal. But as much fun as the weekend was, tomorrow will bring back our regular routine…whatever that is.

And I invite you to check out this great video…of the best 3-year-old mechanic in town. EJ’s calendar is filling up fast, so if you need some work done, you better schedule it soon!

Vocabulary for today’s third grader

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A few months ago our oldest son, Big Bro, asked why he didn’t have any stepbrothers. He didn’t think it was fair that he only had one mom and dad and no “extra” family members.

The outburst took me a bit by surprise. I didn’t know if I should be apologizing to him that his father and I have decided that whatever it took, we were going to make our family work. Or if I should be chastising him for taking our family for granted. Well, I went with option c: I told him how lucky he was to have a family of people that loved him, no matter what.

I was wondering where all of this came from then, but now I have an idea. My son just brought home some vocabulary words and work that he did last week. The lesson was titled,”Me and My Family,” but the four vocabulary words were: family, divorce, values and sibling.

Wow.

Out of all the words that could be used to describe family, divorce is in the top four? Perhaps this is part of the problem with today’s society? Maybe if we start giving children outs at such a young age, it just becomes second nature.

Well, I was a little proud in the fact that Big Bro didn’t know how to use the word “divorce” in a sentence. I know he knows what it means, but it’s not part of our daily vocabulary, and I’m not planning on using that word regularly. It cost him 3 points on his paper, but it was the only one he got wrong on the whole lesson.

I’m thinking that maybe he should have got extra credit.

The responsibility of parenting

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A group in North Dakota is seeking to start a graduated drivers’ license in our state. (The article is here: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/292067/ in the Fargo Forum.) And although it is being discussed with good intentions, I’m a little leery as to the consequences that may come up.

Now, I agree that I’m not real excited about the prospect of having teens that are too young to make responsible decisions to legally be behind the wheel, driving a death machine in the middle of a winter blizzard. But on the other hand, I know plenty of adults that I don’t want to see behind the wheel either!

From the viewpoint of a farm family that lives about 15 miles from town, having another licensed driver in the house will be a great benefit for us. Even though I dread going through the whole permit/licensing process, I know that when the time comes for my sons to get their licenses, I will be comfortable with their driving abilities before that appointment is made.

Why should the state be stepping in where a parent should be? At what point are we going to just turn child-rearing over to the state altogether?

Now, before I get a million messages about those parents that don’t take an active involvement in their child’s upbringing, don’t care about what the child does or with whom, etc., etc. Let me say that I get that. I understand the concern. But yet, at some point in time we need to take responsibility for our children and actually be a parent.

Is a year-long permit process going to actually force those parents to all of a sudden become responsible? Are restrictions and regulations the answer to the teen-driving concerns? Or are we just increasing the burden on law-enforcement and those that actually follow the law?

I know the reasoning behind the requested change, but I’m doubting the outcome. And although it will be a few years before this law change would have any impact on my life, as a parent I know I need to be involved.

Imagine that.

This is how it goes

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So, mommy duties trumped farm-wife duties today. Although I was planning on driving truck all afternoon, plans were changed on me. Imagine that.

George decided that he would start a fever today. He’s been cranky for a few days, so I had a feeling it was coming, but it’s been a long time since we’ve had fever issues. For those that aren’t aware of my family background, “George,” our youngest son, has been battling mysterious health issues for most of his life. His only diagnosis so far has been Failure to Thrive. Doctors throw ideas at us left and right, but nothing ever sticks, and we get passed off from specialist to specialist like a nasty church potluck dish.

Anyway, I digress.

So I spent my day trying to entertain an ailing child, debating with myself as to whether or not I should call in and just at 8 p.m., as the walk-in clinic an hour from here was closing, his fever decided to spike. Yeah, we roll like that.

So we loaded up some Motrin (Tylenol is a no-no right now, since one of our first major issues were liver enzyme levels close to 300, both AST and ALT), and now he’s resting well. I’m guessing ear infection, which is about as close to an accurate diagnosis as any doctor gives us, and will probably be visiting the clinic in the morning.

Can I tell you…I’d rather drive truck.

Laughter: Best medicine

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I’m exhausted…mentally, physically, emotionally. I’ve been getting the one-two punch from all sides, but I’m still standing and I’ll persevere…I know I will, it just takes time.

Doctors are the bane to my existence. I understand the appeal of not involving them in your life at all. Yet, my duty as a mother and caretaker trumps all discomfort, impatience and absolute frustration. So, as I said, I keep on keeping on.

My comfort in all this is a little pint-sized farmer that can make the world brighter with a game a peek-a-boo with a flip cam. Watch this and see if you don’t agree:

My canner is smoking!

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Literally my canner was smoking earlier today. In the last few days I have made a TON of salsa and stewed tomatoes…including 26 quarts of salsa today. I am exhausted! My feet are aching and if I see another tomato again within the next few weeks, I’m likely to hurt someone.

Just as I was getting done with my last batch today, I decided that next year I will either do my canning during the dead of night, or send the little troops to daycare. They managed to destroy the house in the hours that I was some-what distracted. Little turkeys.

But with all the mess, I did find that EJ has finally found a really good use for those double-page farm ads that drive me nuts in the magazines. Check it out:

Great us of advertising!

I took this ad out of the middle pages of a farm magazine, because EJ wanted to farm it.

 

I wonder if they sell a farm-themed laminate for the kitchen floor…like wheat stubble, or corn? Maybe then I could even talk EJ into washing the floor! 🙂

Fish are patient

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Big brother was invited to have a sleepover at Grandma B’s house last night, so that he could go fishing with my family today. Scooter was a little peeved about this, so I promised him that we would go fishing this afternoon. Little did I know what it would all take to get there. Here’s the rundown:

$45 – money spent on snacks, drinks, etc.

$11 – money spent on in-state fishing license

25 – number of minutes spent waiting for someone able to sell me a license, since apparently they wouldn’t just let me fill it out myself and leave them the correct money

2 – number of children I took with

3 – number of poles that I took with

1 1/2 – number of worms used…don’t ask about the 1/2

15 – number of minutes spent fishing before I was told it was too cold, they were too tired, they were too hungry, etc., etc.

26 – number of minutes spent on the road, driving to and from the lake

1,376 – number of times I had to recast after both kids reeling in the fishing line as soon as I gave them their rods

1,377 – number of times I told them not to reel in the line as soon as I gave them their rod

Oh well, a good day fishing…you know the rest of the saying. The quote of the evening goes to Scooter, who looked at me after about 27 seconds of fishing and said, “Boy, these fish must have lots of patience.” Yes, my son, they must…and it’s a good thing your mom does too!

Full day

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I can’t believe how today went. Well, I can, but I’m exhausted thinking about it.

It started out this morning with EJ waking up, heading outside and coming in to tell me that his kitty was dying. Nothing wakes a mom out of her morning fog like a 3-year-old sobbing hysterically about his kitty. I headed outside to assess the situation, and indeed it was dire. Unfortunately Pip passed on this afternoon. I’m not sure what happened, but she was a runt of a litter that we brought home from the fair, and she had been sick off and on. Just another lesson that nature taught us.

After that, boss man decided that today would maybe be a good day to can. Now, to tell you the truth, there are NO good days to can, but today wasn’t going to be any worse than any other. So after breakfast I started the process of canning 10 quarts of salsa.

Once those were done, I took the boys out to the hay field about 15 miles west of here, to do some video of Mark loading up a semi of small squares for a trucker out of Wisconsin.

Next we checked the cows, then I took the boys past the house I grew up in. We don’t go there often, even though we own the land now. It makes me kinda sad to see the house…but that’s another story.

This is the house I grew up in.

My house

Then we enjoyed supper with my folks and sister, came home, got the boys ready for bed, and now I’m canning another 7 quarts of whole tomatoes. Yeah, I’ll get to bed late, and I’m sure tomorrow will be similar to today, but that’s the beauty of it all.

The day’s are always full.

My problems start with Y

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As in the XY chromosome…yep, you guessed it…males.

Yeah, I know, I’m gonna get flak for it. Men don’t cause ALL the world’s problems, but they do cause most of mine! 🙂 Of course, most of that is because I’m surrounded by them…completely.

Let’s take today for example. I had a hair appointment at 9:45 this morning. This appointment was rescheduled from Wednesday, when two of my boys did not make it home on time on the bus (which is also driven by a male, might I add). Hair appointments are kind of a big deal for me. I usually only get into town once or twice a year, since you need to schedule these things in advance, and let’s just say that my life doesn’t allow for advanced scheduling that often!

I woke my lil’ boys up and got them ready to go, so I would make it into town in time to drop them off at the drop-in daycare and get my haircut. After fighting with EJ to get dressed, changing George twice (he’s allergic to clean clothes…makes him poop right through, I swear!) and putting gas in my van, I take off with a few minutes to spare.

Then another version of the XY chromosome got in my way. This morning our bulls decided to take a leisurely stroll down the road. ARGH!

So me, two boys and my minivan did some off-roading, got them going in the right direction, I turned around, came home and called the boss man to let him know what HIS bulls were doing, and headed back to town. I was NOT going to take the hour or so it was going to take to get the bulls back in the pasture. I was NOT giving up my hair appointment! Not this time!

Needless to say, my hair is shorter, the bulls are back in and all is well, even though I was a few minutes late.

Seriously, I started out on time…and I truly TRIED to get there when I should, but that stinking Y had other plans. *sigh* It’s a good thing they’re so darn cute…the boys, not the bulls.

P.S. I’ve even added a category for running late, ‘cuz I know I’ll be writing about this often!!!