Childrearing and other thoughts
There are so many children that you see every day who are brats. What are parents thinking? I am sure Beau would love to be a brat. bratiness isn't allowed. Why do people let their kids act like that?
We live in Mormonville. While that creates some issues, namely that of dwelling among vast numbers of people who do not share our beliefs, children are valued here. A lady whose daughter had played in the High School Orchestra with me years ago approached us in Walmart to admire our children. "You are rich." she said. Where we lived before, a small university town, we got the "Haven't you people ever heard of birth control?" line. When you have two children and people ask you that, you really have to wonder.
How many words does a child have to know before you say he can read? Beau can read at least a dozen. We have the alphabet and a bunch of words taped to the wall. Well, sometimes they're taped to the wall. More often they are pulled off to be played with. Hemi gets labeled with his name, Baby, and Brother pretty regularly. Beau likes to bring words to where ever Daddy or I are working. "Mommy! Pizza?" he says, bringing 'Pizza' over. "Yes, Beau, Pizza. Put it back on the word wall, please." He runs off. "Mommy! Mommy?" he says, bringing the next word he knows. He knows words relating to family, food, furniture, and certain actions he is asked to perform regularly, please and thank you, and feeling words that he uses. I decide which words to put on the wall based on how well he uses them. Hemi just likes to eat them when Beau doesn't put them up high enough.
To brag on Hemi, though, he can actually say one word. That is, he pronounces it clearly, at the appropriate time, without someone else saying it first for him to echo. This word is "Uh-oh." For instance, he will be sitting in his high chair, playing with a toy. He pushes the toy off the tray. He leans over the edge, looks at the toy on the floor. "Uh-oh!" he says. Aside from meals he gets stuck in the high chair sometimes when I am cooking or cleaning and Daddy is not available to watch him. Making fries or doughnuts and having a baby underfoot is just not happening here.
Well, I have got plenty to do. We got the bookcase, and my husband bolted it to the wall, so now I need to put books on it. There are always dishes, and since today is Monday, the sheets need to be washed. And did I mention there are always dishes?
We live in Mormonville. While that creates some issues, namely that of dwelling among vast numbers of people who do not share our beliefs, children are valued here. A lady whose daughter had played in the High School Orchestra with me years ago approached us in Walmart to admire our children. "You are rich." she said. Where we lived before, a small university town, we got the "Haven't you people ever heard of birth control?" line. When you have two children and people ask you that, you really have to wonder.
How many words does a child have to know before you say he can read? Beau can read at least a dozen. We have the alphabet and a bunch of words taped to the wall. Well, sometimes they're taped to the wall. More often they are pulled off to be played with. Hemi gets labeled with his name, Baby, and Brother pretty regularly. Beau likes to bring words to where ever Daddy or I are working. "Mommy! Pizza?" he says, bringing 'Pizza' over. "Yes, Beau, Pizza. Put it back on the word wall, please." He runs off. "Mommy! Mommy?" he says, bringing the next word he knows. He knows words relating to family, food, furniture, and certain actions he is asked to perform regularly, please and thank you, and feeling words that he uses. I decide which words to put on the wall based on how well he uses them. Hemi just likes to eat them when Beau doesn't put them up high enough.
To brag on Hemi, though, he can actually say one word. That is, he pronounces it clearly, at the appropriate time, without someone else saying it first for him to echo. This word is "Uh-oh." For instance, he will be sitting in his high chair, playing with a toy. He pushes the toy off the tray. He leans over the edge, looks at the toy on the floor. "Uh-oh!" he says. Aside from meals he gets stuck in the high chair sometimes when I am cooking or cleaning and Daddy is not available to watch him. Making fries or doughnuts and having a baby underfoot is just not happening here.
Well, I have got plenty to do. We got the bookcase, and my husband bolted it to the wall, so now I need to put books on it. There are always dishes, and since today is Monday, the sheets need to be washed. And did I mention there are always dishes?
posted by BoysMom @ 11:01 AM
3 Comments:
At 3:10 AM, February 08, 2005,
Anonymous said…
Just wait until the next child comes. I got more comments with the 3rd pregnancy than any others. "Was it planned?" was the most common. Planned? What do you mean? I have no idea how I keep getting pregnant. Idiots. I've been told by family members that I have the most well documented children. I take loads of pictures and I won't tell you how much video of them. It goes by so fast I want to be able to hit the rewind when they have all gone on to their own lives. Enjoy your boys!
Spacebunny
At 11:15 AM, February 09, 2005,
BoysMom said…
Thanks for coming by, Spacebunny. My folks gave us a digital camera for a Christmas present just after we got married, and we've used it a lot. They really are wonderful inventions, aren't they? Especially since when Beau gets his hands on it and takes pictures of whatever happens to be across from it, it doesn't cost anything!
Where we live now, the average family size is probably around six or seven. I grew up here, and was the only child I knew who didn't have any siblings. Families with twelve kids are more common than families with one! It was really funny, when we first moved here, and walked into the Walmart. The first two people we saw in the store were two moms, one with four kids and one with five. My husband had to pick his jaw up off the floor. He hadn't realized that there were places like this in the USA.
At 1:20 PM, February 09, 2005,
Anonymous said…
I think it's fantastic that you live in an area with so many large families. Growing up it was just my brother and I, although my mom told me she always wanted five kids (my parents divorced when I was about 4). It makes me a little sad that my kids won't have as many cousins around as I did (mom is the youngest of 15), but I'm sure they'll be just fine ;)
I don't know how old your oldest is, but one of the cutest things I've seen recently was a tape my sister-in-law showed me. She gave her oldest (5 at the time) the video camera and let him loose. It was hysterical to listen to his commentary and see everything from that point of view. I'm going to have to try it.
Spacebunny
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