kid stories

A treasure I found today is a story Carly told me when she was 3 years old. I had written it down word-for-word.

Once upon a time, there was Suzy and Lucy and Mary and they had some mommies. Mimi and Doo-Doo, their mommies could be. They fighted over the toys and so Doo-Doo and Mimi said, "Little girls, we have to put them in time out," said Doo-Doo and Mimi to the little kids. They fighted over the crayons and the pencils, and so Doo-Doo and Mimi said, "We have to put the pencils and crayons in time out." And then they went with the stroller to the park because maybe they have a white stroller just like these two white pencils. They played on the playground. Then they went to their house and went to bed. You know, they all have nightgowns to wear to bed. Lucy and Mimi and Suzy and Mary and Doo-Doo - they all have nightgowns. The End.

I wondered how Isaac's storytelling might compare, so here's the story he told Carly and I tonight:

Once upon a time there was a house and some people and there was a book right on a roof of their house. Then, there was a train coming on the top of the roof and it wrecked on top of the roof. Then it went home, but soon a hotdog come walking on the street and an icecream and some cake. There was a lizard and a smiley-face and then a orange paper comed, and a blue paper comed. They comed on the roof, but they were a long ways from home. And there was a . . . . (Mommy stopped recording because Isaac started getting silly.) And that was all that comed. The End.

fall fun

We call this post 'fall fun' because I think Halloween is the dumbest holiday, thus making the title 'halloween' the dumbest title. The past few days have been spent thinking about whether or not we should participate in trick-or-treating. Every bit of research I've done on the origin and meaning of Halloween has just verified my stance.

Okay, okay, I remember trick-or-treating as a kid, and we had a blast. Dressing up, driving from house to house, knocking on doors, eating candy,...it was all fun. One old lady in the A.C. Home apartments didn't have any candy, so she sprinkled a few pretzels in our bag. To this day, we call her "pretzel-lady." Halloween was fun and games back then.

And now, I'm an old geezer who has a humbug attitude about it all because I know where Halloween comes from. There were several resources I used in researching this 'holiday,' but here's one from MacArthur. This year, we will not be trick-or-treating. But instead of being snotty neighbors with our lights turned off, pretending like we're not home, we will be handing out candy to other kids. We even have a jack-o-lantern. And here's why:

I found this fun story online about how a Christian is like a pumpkin. Visit the link for the full version. We went through the analogy while we carved the pumpkin this afternoon. We are like pumpkins in that God picks us from the patch and brings us in. He cleans us out, and sticks His light inside of us to shine for all the world to see. Here are a few images.

And here's a little bit of fun we had last night:

Since we saw the $6.00 sign for funnel cakes at Sea World, we've been hungry for them. We decided that we could make our own funnel cakes for $2.00, so we did. (These funnel cakes cost us 25 cents each. Sea World's $6.00 charge?! What a rip off!!) A piece of advice for you funnel cake lovers out there: fry them outside, so when you're sick to your stomach from eating all those funnel cakes, you won't have to smell the greasy fumes that stay in your house for days.

polishing off #3

(Jared ate most of #1 and #2.)

Funnel Cakes

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

2 c. sifted flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2-4 c. cooking oil (I used part Crisco.)

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to egg mixture; beat until smooth. Heat oil in 8" skillet to 360 degrees. Cover bottom of funnel with finger. Pour ½ c. batter into funnel. Remove finger and release batter into hot oil in a spiral shape. Fry until golden (about 3 minutes). Using a wide spatula and tongs, turn cake carefully. Drain on paper towel; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot. Makes 4-8.

mops: first time

The Mothers of Pre-Schoolers group started weekly meetings yesterday. The kids and I stood in line with other moms, waiting to drop our kids off in the appropriate child care rooms. This was an organized system. The computer lady at the front of the line quickly took my name, printed off name tags with barcodes for the kids and receipts for me to pick them up. Room P4 for Isaac. Room P5 for Carly. Separated? The kids were thinking they'd get to stick together. Now, for all of you who know how our kids have done in the nursery at church, you know that this seemed a little intimidating. We dropped Carly off in her room first. She stared at us with you're-gonna-leave-me-here-alone? eyes. She transformed to her quiet self and started to play. Next, I dropped Isaac off in his room. LOTS of kids in there....seemed chaotic with 2-3 girls crying for their mommies. I'm thinking, There's no chance I'm getting out of HERE today! But to my surprise....(Karla, listen to this!)....Isaac started playing, and he didn't cry, and he didn't throw an I-want-my-mommmmmmyyyy fit! In fact, two hours later, they were still playing and having fun! MOPS was a good time of meeting new women. I'll admit, I was watching the clock because two hours of childcare is a while. (I know: Myra, get over it.) But I think Mondays will be good for us. It'll be good for the kids to have interaction with others their age. And it'll be good for the recluse-me to socialize, I suppose. :)

mops: drive to

8:00...take Jared to work

9:10...pick up bread at Wal-Mart

9:12...cell phone rings. It's High Rise stuff. Self-checkout so I can keep talking.

9:13...another cell phone call. Rainbow wants to update High Rise modem.

9:14...kids push on self-checkout scales.

Self-Checkout voice says, "There are unexpected items in bagging area."

No, it's just my kids.

9:15...scold kids, continue talking on the phone.

9:16...pay for bread.

Isaac mimics the machine loudly, "PLEASE take your ITEMS!"

9:18...driving...get on Highway 67...cell phone rings. It's Rainbow again.

Do I want to increase internet speed?

No, not really, but I want to take Highway 67. I wonder what exit to take to get to MOPS.

9:19...Midas calls. Our car is finished and fixed....for now anyway. We can pick it up.

9:21...call High Rise to finalize Rainbow plans. Do I take this exit? Looks familiar.

Oops. Wrong exit. Light's turning yellow. Speed up.

Hang up the phone. Get back on Highway 67.

9:24...Smith Blvd. That's the right exit.

Dumb cell phones. No wonder people have wrecks.

We continue our previous review of what to expect for the morning...

Share toys with other kids.

Be kind.

Be loving.

Play nice.

9:26...arrive at church where MOPS is held.

9:27...get in line to drop kids off at childcare.

Disclaimer: Don't worry. Our mornings and drives are not usually like this. And I usually do not drive while talking on the cell phone.

school

San Angelo schools started today. Our kids are staying home. Isaac's too young anyway. (He's still running around in his underwear this morning, which, I guess, is becoming a common practice around here.) When we return home to Kansas, Carly will attend her second year of preschool at the Lutheran Preschool. Meanwhile, the kids have been and will be going through a homemade curriculum. We have 2-week-long themes integrating math, handwriting, and reading, but most of what we do is crafts. Our current theme is an animal theme (broad, I know).

My original goal of homeschool-preschool was to sit the kids down in a semi-formal setting and make them do structured classwork for at least 15-30 minutes a day. This sounds a little rigid to some, but I think kids need to know how to sit down, listen, and do what they're told to do. Our kids need handwriting help, so that's what we're practicing. Carly needs to learn how to read, so we've spent time at the table making words out of homemade letter tiles and reading simple books throughout the day.

I sound like a mean teacher with a stick. But what I really think is that kids will learn what they need to learn, especially with gentle parental guidance. I've told Jared before that I'd rather have a dumb kid who faithfully loves Jesus than a smart kid who rejects Him - not that it has to be one way or the other. But as we start sending Carly and Isaac off to school in the next couple years, I hope we can keep focus on what's really important.

the purpose of alum

Alum is a chemical compound, also known as hydrated aluminum potassium sulfate. You can find it in the spice section of your local grocery store. Alum can be used for pickling foods, in developing photographs, for preventing bleeding due to small shaving cuts. It was even used as a deodorizer years ago. And alum can also be used in punishing a child for saying naughty words. Just a tiny finger, licked and dipped in the alum will do the trick.

A year ago, we were using Dial soap. I remember getting soap as a kid if I called one of my sisters "stupid" or if I stuck my tongue out at one of them. It didn't taste good. We were using it with our kids if they had a problem with something bad coming out of their mouth. Soap would "clean out their mouth." (That came with an explanation of the reason why we use words that are pure.) I know that prayer for our kids is the ultimate solution; even being a strong, Christian model for them is crucial. Jared and I felt that using soap was a practical, immediate solution to the naughty-words problem. By "naughty words," I mean a defiant "NO!" or something of that severity coming out of the kids' mouths. Later, the kids started thinking it was funny to baby-talk in a snotty, sing-songy tone. Soap was the answer for that too.

But then, the kids overheard me laughing with Jared about Kaden's soap issue. If I can recall correctly, my sister Jeanne told me how Kaden claimed that he didn't care if she gave him soap anymore. He proclaimed, "I LIKE soap! It makes me STRONG!!!" Isaac adores Kaden. Shortly after that, Isaac started liking soap too. We needed something that didn't taste so good.

Enter ALUM

This idea came from sister-in-law Tara. Jared and I both tried it before giving it to our children. It does the trick. It does not taste good when smeared onto your tongue. And it fits well in my purse.

Now, as much as we try to shelter our children from bad language, they somehow come to learn it anyway. A lot of this comes from the words we say. For example, when the kids were just learning how to talk, I heard Carly say "DARN IT!" during her play. Years later, we caught Isaac saying "Dag nabbit." And we realized that what came out of our mouths truly shaped what came out of our kids' mouths. When I say "bad language," I'm talking about purposeful language, not the made-up syllables/words that end up sounding like bad words.

A few days ago, they learned and started using "Oh my gosh." This is not a terrible phrase, but it sounds terrible coming out of a small child's mouth. I looked at them and said that I didn't want them to use that word because it wasn't nice. Battle picked. A couple hours later, Isaac tried it again and looked at me. I looked back and reached for the alum. I told them that "Oh my goodness" sounded nicer. Then yesterday, he said, "Oh my....." and looked at me. I looked at him and didn't say a word. He smiled. Seconds later the kids raced for Carly's bedroom closet. I heard them both laughing loudly, saying "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" They weren't laughing anymore when I joined them in their closet with alum for each of them. Okay, so maybe this was a petty battle to pick, but I don't want them to end up changing their phrase, using the Lord's name in vain.

ALUM. Our current answer for pickling-the-tongue needs. Any other suggestions?