The "Sh" Word

For the most part, I am loving our new life as parents of four kids. We've never really had four kids before.

We had two babies.

Then we had two toddlers.

Then we had two toddlers and two babies.

Eventually we had two kids, but still two toddlers.

But now, we have four kids. Independent kids who can do most things for themselves, are capable of listening and following directions, and have the reasoning skills to understand threats when they don't listen. It's a whole new--and much easier--world.

But with growing up comes a certain loss of innocence.

Charlie and Joe had never heard of a "bad" word until they started public school. They soon came home talking about how you shouldn't say the "sh" word -- which I learned was "shut up." Or the "f" word -- "fart." Or the "d" word - dummy. Pretty cute, really. And I agreed with them that we don't say those words. But we don't have consequences for saying them.

This morning, however, the landscape changed. Charlie told Joe: "Say S-H-I-T." Joe was clueless, and obliged: "Shit!" Charlie: "Ohhhh, you said a bad word!!" Joe: "Shit is a bad word?" Charlie: "Shit is a bad word!" Joe: "I didn't know we can't say shit!" And just like that, they both have learned their first curse word. And given the frequency that they violate the rules above regarding "shut up," "fart," and "dummy," we're going to have to deal with this one. I can't have my second graders cussing.

I know this is just a small thing. But it's the beginning. There have been so many sexual abuse scandals in sports lately, and I know that topic--the abuse, sex, or both--is going to have to be addressed soon. Not too mention all the new "bad words" I'm sure they'll be learning in no time.

Maybe this growing up thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Communication is important in a marriage

Yesterday Cort sent me this email:

I just deleted 2243 emails from you. 449 were "unread."

Parent-Teacher conferences

We had parent-teacher conferences for three of our four kids this week.

We found out from Joseph's teacher that he is doing wonderfully. At the beginning of the year we were a little worried about his reading, but she says he is reading on a 4th grade level as a 2nd grader and is in the top reading group in his class. She said he skips 98% of the math work because he has already mastered it before she introduces it, so he is given extra work to do independently or with one other little boy. She teaches her class algebra (in the 2nd grade!) and he is loving it. He is also writing stories way above his age level. And he has had no discipline problems.

We found out from Will and Helen's teacher that they are doing wonderfully, too. She recognizes that Helen is headstrong and independent, but says she is very much a leader and it serves her well. She loves Will and obviously "gets" him. She told us that they both pick up on things very quickly. And even though they are the youngest in their class, they are ahead of many of the much older kids.

So now, of course, the question is: Do we go ahead and schedule a conference with Charlie's teacher? Or should we just quit while we're ahead?

Love that girl

Before soccer started, Helen proclaimed that she did not want to play. We signed her up anyway.

The first game, she hovered around the ball, but she would not kick it.

The second game, she kicked it a few times, but fell back as soon as someone took it away. Then she started crying. She spent the entire second half sitting on the sidelines crying. When I asked her why, she said because "I can't score a goal."

During the next week, we pointed out that Joseph had not yet scored a goal for his team, but he wasn't crying. We told her that a player who is sitting on the sidelines crying will never be able to score a goal. And when Joseph scored a goal in his next game, we pointed out that if he had been crying, he would not have scored.

At which point she looked me in the eyes and said, "You can stop telling me that Mom. I know that. And I am not going to cry ever again in soccer."

And then she went out in her game and played her little heart out. She did not score that game. She did score in the next game. Twice. Since then, she has scored more. And not scored. She has been aggressive, she has played great defense, she has been enthusiastic and competitive, she has been in the thick of things every game, and she has loved it. And she hasn't cried once. I really don't think she'll ever cry again.

I absolutely love that girl's determination. She's going to do okay in life.

Snaggle-toothed

Coach Cort

He's really so good at this.

Halloween 2011

Happy Halloween

from Super Why

and Princess Presto

who despite her newfound princess-ness still insisted on wearing Crocs with her dress

and also Harry Potter, the seeker (we were running out of sports themes!), with the snitch

and Quidditch Captain and keeper Oliver Wood and his quaffle.

We sure enjoyed our loot

and, as always, handing out the candy with Dad.

We found out too much candy is a little like too much of something else, in that it can make you fall backwards into bushes.

But we thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

. . . . We are not, however, looking forward to tomorrow.

Gramma's here!

The kids went to the airport last night to pick up Gramma and her suitcase.

Conversations in the car

Helen: "Daddy, C-A-T spells cat."

Cort: "Very good. What does C-A-T-E spell? Remember that the E is a silent E."

Helen: "C-A-T [using a long A] spells Cate!"

Joe: "Ha! Like Cate [last name omitted]"

Charlie: "Yea, she was the first girl I kissed on the lips."

The little advantages that come with having twins

When one kid comes home with the word "frixy" on his spelling list, it's nice to have another kid in the same grade. Because then you can look at his spelling list and figure out that the word is actually "frisky."