Uh mah got!
'You are SO fired!' -- a tale of love and intrigue from the house of Boeyink
Apparently my children have found a new way of castigating each other. When one of them makes another mad, they yell, "You are FIRED!"
This is rather interesting, especially since we don't watch 'The Apprentice'. In fact, since I discovered the awesome beauty of the thing that is Parental Controls, my kids are barely watching television AT ALL. Remind me to sing you that song sometime; it will bring tears of joy to your eyes, as it did mine. But I digress.
Whatever the source, the manifestation of this trend has been amusing. Susanna, now 3 and a half, is very much at the age of assertion. She adores her older brothers, WORSHIPS them, in fact. But like any little sister, she instinctively knows that simply standing by and admiring them from a distance is not going to get their attention, and their attention is downright CURRENCY. Therefore, she flings herself into whatever they're doing, faithfully mimics everything they say and do, makes herself available for any job they see fit to delegate her way. Often, lately, the latter involves crawling into tight places to retrieve balls or other lost toys flung about in the heat of some battle or other.
Since Zack and Noah were the first to adopt this practice of 'firing' each other when they make each other angry, it was certainly inevitable that Susanna would pick it up too. This morning, Emmie is with us for a playdate. The two of them came tromping upstairs just now, Susanna issuing a stream of bossy-toned reprimands at the boys for some transgression or other. She marched in here and said, "I so mad! My brudders SO fired!"
It was the emphasized 'SO' that got me. ;)
Emmie, of course, was not to be outdone.
Luke has had a fever for the last 24 hours or so, the first of the usual autumn run of colds. He's particularly susceptible because he, like Noah, has eczema and makes a hobby of clawing weeping patches into his legs and feet. Fortunately, he rallies well, and I will even sheepishly admit that the Mommy in me rather likes it when he's under the weather. Not that I'd wish it on him or deliberately get him sick or anything, but he's such an independent little guy now that the moments when he just wants to be held and will put his head on my shoulder and let me cuddle him are few and far between. When he's sick, this is ALL he wants to do, and I guess I eat it up. He's my last baby; I don't want to give up that 'Mommy, hold me!' stuff too soon.
Anyway, he's in better spirits today. Slightly warm still, but otherwise recovered. Emmie and Susie wanted to go outside and wanted to know if Luke could come too. I said no, that Luke is still a little sick and should probably stay inside today.
Emmie said, "Sick? Why he sick?"
I said, "Well, I don't know. He caught something, I guess."
Emmie said, "Tell him to let it go?"
It actually took me a minute to realize what she said.
School is going better. I got smart about it. I have decided that while I applaud the Calvert curriclum's emphasis on writing, I am not doing any more writing with Zack. I'm going to give him a journal and let him write journal entries about stuff he likes, and that's it. I am not going to 'Write a Math Story' or 'Write a Song' with him anymore, as these ALWAYS manifest as serious chores, always make Comm Arts take FOR-FRIGGIN-EVER. So screw that. I will work on sentence structure, handwriting, and spelling with him. I will read and critique his journal. I will not do anything more than that.
I have also decided that sometimes, it's okay to say, "Don't do the book assignment today. Just do the review page." I have had it up to here with forcing my boys to sit in desk chairs for six hours a day. I'm not doing it anymore. We will do our work, but I will pick and choose what seems important to me, just as a normal teacher would, and dispense with the rest.
So there.
Apparently my children have found a new way of castigating each other. When one of them makes another mad, they yell, "You are FIRED!"
This is rather interesting, especially since we don't watch 'The Apprentice'. In fact, since I discovered the awesome beauty of the thing that is Parental Controls, my kids are barely watching television AT ALL. Remind me to sing you that song sometime; it will bring tears of joy to your eyes, as it did mine. But I digress.
Whatever the source, the manifestation of this trend has been amusing. Susanna, now 3 and a half, is very much at the age of assertion. She adores her older brothers, WORSHIPS them, in fact. But like any little sister, she instinctively knows that simply standing by and admiring them from a distance is not going to get their attention, and their attention is downright CURRENCY. Therefore, she flings herself into whatever they're doing, faithfully mimics everything they say and do, makes herself available for any job they see fit to delegate her way. Often, lately, the latter involves crawling into tight places to retrieve balls or other lost toys flung about in the heat of some battle or other.
Since Zack and Noah were the first to adopt this practice of 'firing' each other when they make each other angry, it was certainly inevitable that Susanna would pick it up too. This morning, Emmie is with us for a playdate. The two of them came tromping upstairs just now, Susanna issuing a stream of bossy-toned reprimands at the boys for some transgression or other. She marched in here and said, "I so mad! My brudders SO fired!"
It was the emphasized 'SO' that got me. ;)
Emmie, of course, was not to be outdone.
Luke has had a fever for the last 24 hours or so, the first of the usual autumn run of colds. He's particularly susceptible because he, like Noah, has eczema and makes a hobby of clawing weeping patches into his legs and feet. Fortunately, he rallies well, and I will even sheepishly admit that the Mommy in me rather likes it when he's under the weather. Not that I'd wish it on him or deliberately get him sick or anything, but he's such an independent little guy now that the moments when he just wants to be held and will put his head on my shoulder and let me cuddle him are few and far between. When he's sick, this is ALL he wants to do, and I guess I eat it up. He's my last baby; I don't want to give up that 'Mommy, hold me!' stuff too soon.
Anyway, he's in better spirits today. Slightly warm still, but otherwise recovered. Emmie and Susie wanted to go outside and wanted to know if Luke could come too. I said no, that Luke is still a little sick and should probably stay inside today.
Emmie said, "Sick? Why he sick?"
I said, "Well, I don't know. He caught something, I guess."
Emmie said, "Tell him to let it go?"
It actually took me a minute to realize what she said.
School is going better. I got smart about it. I have decided that while I applaud the Calvert curriclum's emphasis on writing, I am not doing any more writing with Zack. I'm going to give him a journal and let him write journal entries about stuff he likes, and that's it. I am not going to 'Write a Math Story' or 'Write a Song' with him anymore, as these ALWAYS manifest as serious chores, always make Comm Arts take FOR-FRIGGIN-EVER. So screw that. I will work on sentence structure, handwriting, and spelling with him. I will read and critique his journal. I will not do anything more than that.
I have also decided that sometimes, it's okay to say, "Don't do the book assignment today. Just do the review page." I have had it up to here with forcing my boys to sit in desk chairs for six hours a day. I'm not doing it anymore. We will do our work, but I will pick and choose what seems important to me, just as a normal teacher would, and dispense with the rest.
So there.