10/31/10

Trick or Treat

We spent Halloween in our hometown, since E was trick-or-treating with BioDad this year.  We had a ton of candy left over from our Halloween party, though, so we took a big plastic punch bowl, threw the candy in it, and left it on our front porch.

When we came home tonight, we still owned all of our outdoors Halloween decor, including several portable items.  However, we were bereft of a punch bowl.

I hope that little brat gets gingivitis.

10/20/10

"When I Grow Up"

My husband and I are having a Halloween party this year. My son will be out of town anyway, and I haven't seen my med school friends in a while, so it seemed like a good time to get everyone together.  In anticipation, we put up Halloween decorations the first or second week of October, and while hanging cobwebs with E, he expressed some jealousy...

"I can't wait till I'm a grown-up."
"Why?"
"So I can have parties!"
"Um...you do have parties."
"No, Mom, parties where people stay a long time until the morning."
"Those are called sleepovers, and you've had those before."
"You know what I mean!"

He's going to turn out a party animal.  As long as he invites me, I suppose that's ok...

10/8/10

Desertion

My boys and I went to a haunted corn maze today.  It was a really neat place on the outskirts of our suburb, with a central play area, a children's maze and an adult-height haunted maze.  They had a cornbox (as opposed to a sandbox...very strange concept, but less like a catbox, I suppose!), giant hay bales and piles for the kids to climb on and jump into, a rubber ducky water trough race, and a ton of campfires and picnic tables.

We waited until dark to enter the haunted maze (after the distant screams had already begun), and were promptly terrorized by all of the horrifyingly-masked teenagers chasing us through the maze.  Oh, and we didn't have a flashlight.  Smart.  At several points, blocking the way were tunnels made out of tarps, with fog machines and strobe lights adding proper spooky atmospheric touches.  To continue on through those particular paths, you had to go through the tunnels.  We came to one such point while running away from the sounds of a chainsaw behind us (truly one of the scariest things in the world, to hear a chainsaw and screams in the distance while you're in the dark, in a maze that's several feet taller than your head).  E and I were not entirely eager to go into the tunnel, but we wanted to get away from the massacre that was obviously happening behind us, so we made D go first.  Unfortunately, as soon as he took a step into the tunnel, he disappeared into the fog and was literally invisible.  I tentatively reached a hand in, searching for him, but he had moved out of reach, also.

So I refused to go in.

E started screaming: "Let's go, Mom! There are monsters in there!"
"But we have to wait for D!"
"No, we don't!!"

Bravery and loyalty only go so far when you're 7.

Eventually, our indecision lasted long enough that D came back out for us and we made it out of the maze without any unfortunate consequences or limb losses.

Happy Halloween!!

10/1/10

Sticks and Stones May Hurt You...

We have strong rules on language in our household.  No matter what your parents tell you when you're a child, words freaking hurt.  I hate the thought of my son hurting some other child with the words he chooses to use.  And I hate to hear kids speaking cruelly to each other.  Kids have to hear those phrases from somewhere/someone, and the next step is that no one tells them it's not ok to say such things.  Once they reach school-age, kids' teachers can run themselves nutty trying to keep the little boogers from sprouting potty mouths (in this case, meaning saying ugly things, not necessarily dirty things...), but it won't do any good unless the initial effort starts from home.

Speaking of, I happen to have a very sarcastic, critical, hurtful tongue (that my poor siblings and parents are fully acquainted with).  I know they don't believe me, but I do actively work on curbing it (stop rolling your eyes, Family Members).

But ever since he was old enough to know what words were and how to use them, my son has not been allowed to call people names (especially "stupid") or to say "shut up".  These are simple phrases that you or I may say every day to a hundred different people.  But just because they're common doesn't mean that they can't be used to hurt.  I figure that if certain words or phrases happen to crop up most often when you're angry (and shouting them at someone), it's probably a sign that you shouldn't be using those words at all.  Especially around the little creatures who are learning how to be people by copying everything you do.  My son will reach his hateful teen-angst years soon enough.  I don't need to hear him be casually cruel to anyone before Mother Nature takes a hand with her hormones.

It helps that he doesn't have a sibling, of course.  I'm sure that if he did, we'd be having another conversation entirely.  Because goodness knows that my brother, sister and I called each other all sorts of things that my parents knew nothing about (most of the time).  Also, he has thus far failed to try any swear words out (although I know he's heard them...don't ask me how I know...just accept that sometimes Mommy gets startled...), and he hasn't brought home any language from school (despite the fact that I've heard the way some of his friends talk to each other).

As it is, my only child calls no names and shouts no "shut up"s when people tell him things he doesn't want to hear.  He still finds plenty of ways to make his displeasure known, but without saying anything hurtful.  We talk about word choices frequently, and he's fully aware of the power of the words he chooses to use.  He has moments when he gets in trouble for things he says, but usually that's because of his tone rather than the actual words (and that, I have to admit, he comes by honestly. Or you've never met me.)

This diligence, however, has somewhat bitten me in the backside.  Because he also happens to be an excellent word policeman.  Which helps me curb my own word choices around him.  But I just had to relax the rules regarding "stupid," so that I would be able to describe some of the things that happen to me at work on a daily basis... I'm not allowed to call people names.  But I can call stupid events whatever the heck I want.
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