Volunteering with the Old People

Tomorrow will be a big day! A National Holiday and the Presidential Inauguration! Wow! Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday! So Daddy and I thought it would be nice to volunteer, as a family on this holiday since he was about service. My suggestion was to volunteer with the elderly. There is an assisted living facility nearby- actually just a five to ten minute walk. I just thought it would be different and I have a heart for the elderly. "Aren't they old people?" our son asked. "Well, yes but doesn't elderly sound better?" I responded. "And we need to respect our ElDERS." I added. More questions followed: "So what are we gonna do with the old- I mean the elderly people?" Our eleven-year-old chuckled. I didn't ask what she was laughing about. I'm not elderly yet but wise in my own right. I was once a little, silly, girl too. "Well, we you and your sister could read to them. They would appreciate that." "They don't read the same books I read Mama," he replied. I tried to suggest other things. "Well, the people who work there may have suggestions. When I was a teenager and volunteered a lot, I played games like BINGO with the elderly and they enjoyed that." Surely other activities have been created after 25 years. Smiling, his sister said, "Maybe we could let them listen to music on our MP3 players." She can be so charming and creative. "Do we have to go help old- I mean elVerly people we don't know?" he asked. "I know some, old, elVerly people we can help." "It's elDerly. Who?" I asked. "Grandma and Papa!" I'll probably break a nail calling them to tell them this! My parents are in in their early 60s and so are my in-laws!

Bob

Okay...we've always-well I've always used big girl words with the kids when referencing body parts. Boys don't have "little wee-wees" and girls don't have "pocket books". And we have always purposely allowed them to see us be affectionate with one another. They need to see hugs and kisses. And we like to have conversations when topics come up. We had planned to talk with our nine-year-old son about sex soon. Well we should've sped it up. We planned to use our big words too. SEX! Not "Bob". So he comes home and just jumps right into it... Targeting me. He looks me up-and-down, deplorably, and asks, "Mama...you had Bob with Daddy two times?" Now I teach students how to use context clues to figure out new, unfamiliar words so I put the clues together. Caught off guard but too cool to be embarrassed, I calmly used my big girl words, "OMG!" He just continued on. "Well technically you did it THREE times because you [voice goes down with some slack] got IMpregnant with that other baby who didn't make it- And Mama I think that was gonna be a boy BUT that makes THREE times Mama!" He held up those three little fingers. I did the only thing I knew to do at that moment... "Boy! Look at your fingernails! Go get the clippers. Makes no sense and you questioning me. I'm grown!" I flipped on him so quickly that it got him off track. Briefly. While I clipped his nails slowly, he watched me. He looked as if he didn't know me. The mom he'd had since May 2003. He is wise. Knew I had the clippers. Waited until I clipped the last one then said, "Mama?" Apple don't fall far- "What's this 'Bob' mess you talkin' about?" He explained that on the playground he and other boys use it as a giggly code word. After some interrogation on my part I discovered he didn't find out too much on the streets- I mean playground. After wrapping up- no pun intended- for bed and saying prayers, he walked upstairs and said, "Well, when I get older I don't know about having a baby with my wife." I laughed. "Your wife would HAVE the baby. Not you." "But I gotta process all that with her."

Lego Shoes

Happy 2013! Wow! When I blogged for the first time our daughter was just entering kindergarten and our son was in daycare. Now she has started her first year of middle school (6th grade) and he is in fourth. She is trying to find herself- and I am trying to find her too!! Our son is cool but doesn't know it and... he wants to be taller. How tall does a fourth grader need to be? I think he has been comparing himself to the wrong kids. "Ma... this one kid is really tall- he is almost the same height as her (pointing to his sister as if he doesn't know her name)!" Without looking up at my book I asked him, "How old is he?" "Well... he almost 11." Huh? "He's really smart and he is really tall," he added. "Um, naw. He's supposed to be tall and he is SUPPOSED to be in a higher grade," I assured him. "Maybe two grades higher." Silence. He had to think about it. I thought that would cure the height issue that plagued him. Then, last night, just before bed he came downstairs and asked, "Do I look taller?" I looked over and noticed he had on his black and purple high-tops. Upon further examination I saw that the heels looked indented- and he had a peculiar stance. "Something is wrong here," Daddy said. Our son tried to create height by putting his lego blocks in the heel of his shoes! We should have made him wear them like that!