Apparently I'm raising a mini George Lucas

Santa brought Thing 1 a digital camera last Christmas. I envisioned him taking lots of pictures with his friends, documenting good times. We recently uploaded his latest batch of memories to Picasa, and while there were a few random pictures of his friends and brothers, we had a lot of this kind of stuff mixed in:

Okay, so maybe he's not George Lucas.

I am a lousy mother

I am not the most supportive mom ever, and little league baseball tends to broadcast it to the world. I still believe that the best thing about little league is how cute little kids look in catcher's gear. Last year, I was bitter about the snack. Last week, we found out that Thing 2 made the baseball all-star team, and my first reaction was, "Aw crap. Now I'm going to have to go to more games!" Then I realized that normal parents don't react this way, so I gave a half-hearted "Go Thing 2, go!" to keep up appearances. I think there's something wrong with me. There's another family with a kid on this team that totally makes up for my lack of enthusiasm. They have their kid training year round, and they are really into the games. I'm pretty sure they would have been devastated if he hadn't made all-stars (he did). I think they're having a parade in his honor next week, and the paperwork is being filled out to make his all-star debut a national holiday.

Anyway, I was lying in bed this morning, thinking what a lousy mom I am, when Thing 3 came in for his usual early morning snuggle (or "snug" as he calls it). After a few minutes, he turned to me and said I was his best friend, which of course made me smile. I'm not a great mom, but at least I have my kids fooled!

Mother's Day Fun

On Friday, I found this video clip of Thing 1 at age three when I was searching on our computer for something else. I'm sure I knew about it at one time, but I'd completely forgotten about it. I think it was a particularly fun find since it was so close to Mother's day:




And since it is Mother's day, I'd like to thank all the women out there that are helping me raise my boys. It truly takes a village to raise a child. My kids have the best grandmothers a kid could ask for, and the coolest aunts. They've had the most wonderful teachers at school and church. And a big thank you to all of their friends' moms who I sometimes think they love more than me, including two of my friends to whom Thing 3 lovingly refers to as "his girlfriends." You know who you are.

Edit: I just made the video public - apparently I didn't do that before, so people couldn't watch it. Let me know if you still can't view it.

The 9th Ward

I found a new comic strip that makes me laugh - it's called The 9th Ward. Most of them are only going to be funny if you're LDS or are familiar with LDS culture. It's put together by a father/son combo. They produce about one strip a week. Here are a couple of my favorites:

The Downside of Running

I generally enjoy running. I know, I know. I'm a freak. But it's my escape, my "me time." Plus I feel better when I do it. Gotta love those endorphins! I have had some bad experiences while running, though. I have been chased by many scary big dogs. I was flashed once when I was running by myself on the Provo river trail (nasty!). I lost my key once and had to backtrack for a mile and a half, looking for it while praying for a miracle (I found it!).

And now I can add yesterday to the list. I was at the corner of Myhre and Mickleberry, and I passed a crazy man who started screaming at me and scared me to death. He was yelling "You stink!" and asked me if I rubbed dog s*** all over myself. How do you answer a question like that? I kept going, but checked multiple times to see if he was following me, and I turned my key so that the jagged side was sticking out of my hand, just in case. I don't know why, but that always makes me feel a little better. If I have to ever defend myself, then it's - look out! I've got my key! And I can somehow hurt you with it! Anyway, I'm hoping for an uneventful, pleasant long run this Saturday, so help me get the word out for the crazies to stay off the streets from about 10 to noon.

Get Smart = Not Funny

When I was about 10 years old, my sister and I loved watching Get Smart on Nick at Nite. We thought it was hilarious. Agent 86 was stupid but loveable, and we adored Agent 99 with her mini skirts and go-go boots. It was predictable and full of slapstick comedy, just right for an eight year old and a ten year old.

So when I saw the Get Smart season one DVDs at the library, I grabbed them and thought it would be fun to watch since I haven't watched the show in decades. I watched the first episode last night, and it was... lame. I had trouble making it through the whole episode! No wonder I loved it before, a fifth grader must have written the script. I think part of it is just a difference in the times; the show was from 1965, and things hadn't changed that much when I was watching in 1986, but they've changed enough now that the jokes aren't funny anymore. So there's a phone in his shoe. Big deal. That's a stupid place to put it, but whatever. But back then we thought it was brilliant. The other part of it I'm just chalking up to youth. When you're ten, a little tiny man named Mr. Big = funny. A man slipping on a banana peel = funny. Now... not so much.

Anyway, it was weird to watch it last night and realize how different the show was from what I remembered, and how much I've changed. I wanted to call up my sister last night and ask her what we were thinking back then. I didn't want to wake her up, so I'll ask her now: Skeeter, was mom slipping a little crazy in our bologna sandwiches or what? And I'll ask my 2 or 3 readers - Do any of you like this show? And have any of you loved anything as a child and then had a completely different opinion of it as an adult? Discuss.

The Easter Bunny Blues

***Spoiler alert: Don't read this post with little kids hanging around. It will totally ruin the holidays for them!

One of my pet peeves is when well meaning adults try to give my children a bit of fun that leads to me doing damage control. Example: Yesterday at preschool, the Easter Bunny hid eggs all over the playground while Thing 3 was in class. The kids got to go find the eggs and take them home. Fun, right? Well, I have been fielding questions ever since. Why did the Easter Bunny come when it's not Easter? Did he go to the big boys' school? Is he coming back tomorrow? Last week we walked by the Easter Bunny at the mall, and I totally had to distract Thing 2 and Thing 3 as we walked by - not because they would want to sit on his lap and get their picture taken, because of the questions that would result. That's the Easter Bunny? Why is he bigger than normal bunnies? Why is he here and not at a mall in a different city? Does he like to eat carrots?

The worst is Christmas. All the different Santas. I know they mean well, but they don't look anything alike, and kids are smart. Last year's church Christmas party was nice, and my 17 year old neighbor got to play Santa. Very fun, but it didn't work for my kids AT ALL. After sitting on his lap, the boys had things to say about it. Thing 2: Mom, I just sat on Matt's lap! Weird! He's not really Santa. Thing 3: Mom, why is Matt wearing Santa's clothes?

Every year we go to Sparky's work Christmas party for the kids of the employees. At least there they have the same Santa and Mrs. Claus every year. Things 2 and 3 are convinced that this is the real Santa (he really looks great), although they still ask me why he's here and not at the North Pole, and where is his sleigh and reindeer? Shouldn't he be getting ready for Christmas eve? Why can't my kids be like the other kids at the party and just blindly accept Santa and live in a state of pure bliss?

About a year and a half ago, Thing 1 and I were in the car together without the others, and he admitted to me that he knew that Santa wasn't real. I remember feeling really conflicted about it - I couldn't decide if I wanted to cry or pull over the car so I could dance a jig of celebration. I asked him how long he'd known, and he said since before last Christmas. When I asked him why he didn't tell us then, he said that he didn't want to ruin it for me and his Dad, so he just went along with it.

I know I'm going to miss everything when the other two stop believing. Thing 2 is already on the verge. But until then, everyone pass the word around to play it cool with the world of pretend. I heard the Tooth Fairy came by Thing 2's classroom recently, and I'm not looking forward to THAT conversation.