Christmas 2008

What a blessed Christmas season we have been enjoying! Check it out…

Jonah and Levi both spent lots of time lying on the floor looking at the tree and/or the presents.  Not certain which one was so fascinating to them…

I had to bribe Jonah into looking at the camera, rather than the tree, by allowing him to hold a present.  Here, I’ve just informed him that he can’t OPEN the present…he can just hold it.  His expression says it all….even if he can’t speak he lets me know when he’s displeased!!

Here are the kids on Christmas Eve, celebrating with all their cousins.  Aren’t they a fine looking group of kids…discounting the “homeboy” in the sock cap…..who just rolled out of bed after an afternoon nap…and the sock cap was a better alternative than his hair.  Trust me….

And I included this picture of Sarah, just because her legs are too short to touch the ground while sitting in the recliner.  And I found it funny… and of course, she did not see the humor in this…..

And this is my Mom and Dad….and they hate to have their picture taken.  When I told my dad I was going to post his picture on my blog… he looked slightly confused and then smiled.  He has no idea what a blog is….but is too polite to ask….

Jonah, charming his Nana.  It doesn’t take much effort on his part….

The smile says it all.  I am now officially the “best mom in the whole world”…..according to Levi.

And this is Jacob.  With “the” gift of the year….my athletic, academically talented, socially outgoing, oldest son can NOT shuffle a deck of cards to save his life.  So I bought him an automatic card shuffler….I’m not certain, but I may not have gotten his vote for “best mom in the whole world”….

Christmas at the Edge house was a very blessed, very special time this year.  It’s been a hard year.  And for this week…we are thankful for our blessings, ever mindful of Him who bestows those blessings, and we are always, always, always grateful for our wonderful friends and family.  Who are quite possibly the biggest blessings of all.

I pray that each one of you had a Christmas as wonderful as ours….

Anji

Lost my religion….

Have you ever heard the old saying “that was enough to make a preacher cuss!!”?  My mom used to say that when we were younger…and I’m assuming she was substituting this phrase for what she really wanted to say. Which was curse words…but I digress.  I finally experienced this first hand in my life on Monday.  I’ve been angry before.  Trust me.  I’m no stranger to anger.  But I’ve never been so angry that I didn’t care who was listening (Sarah was with me on this day), what their feelings were, or what other people thought (the greeter at WalMart is probably still traumatized). 

You might recall that we had family pictures made a few weeks ago.  On two separate occasions, because the first attempt just didn’t work out for us.  I requested a different photographer for the second session, in the hopes that she/he would relate to Jonah a bit better than the first one.  I was upset to find that we had the same photographer…but in her defense, she did a much better job.  And I was much more articulate about what she could do/say to help Jonah understand what she wanted him to do.  So, I was pleased with our family pictures.  And thrilled beyond words with the shot that she ended up getting of the four kids together.  It was darn near perfect…and I was happy!  And spent more money than I had planned, but this pose of the kids was too good to pass up.  I have been patiently waiting for our portraits to arrive, and on Monday, trotted into Wal-Mart to pick them up. 

For some reason known only to the lab technicians, some of our pictures are…off.  The shot itself is perfect.  But when they started sizing them, somehow the shot got off center.  In one size of picture, Larry is missing about 1/4 of his face, and Levi is missing an ear.  Hmm….I’m getting a bit upset, especially when I ask to have them re-printed and the photographers response is…less than helpful.  I really lost it when I got to the pictures of the kids…the pictures that I love, and that for once, are good of ALL four of them.  Some of them turned out OK.  Some of them have Sarah missing about 1/3 of her head….grrr…. I’m not happy at this point, and steam is probably starting to wisp out of my ears.  If I’m not careful, I’ll start whistling like a tea kettle.  Wouldn’t that be embarrasing?

So, I took a deep breath, and requested a refund, since the photographer is certain that the lab CAN’T re-print the pictures for me.  I don’t even understand what she was thinking.  Of course they could reprint them… the original picture is fine.  That’s what she couldn’t grasp…She thought we needed to retake the picture.  Which is not what I wanted.  After she made a quick phone call to her supervisor, she was instructed to give me a refund.  I was still upset at this point…yes, I was going to get my money back, but I still had no pictures…. The photographer didn’t have enough money in her drawer to refund my purchase….so her answer to the dilemma was to keep my money, keep my pictures (even the good ones) and send me out of the store empty handed.  With instructions to call the 1-800 complaint number.  I’m fairly certain that my head did a full rotation, and that steam was definitely escaping from my ears at this point.  Suffice it to say that I left there with my pictures…and a shaken Sarah.  Not really, Sarah was as upset as I was…

Anyway, I’ve spent some time feeling guilty about my anger, and the fact that I wasn’t very nice to this woman photographer.  But you know what… she wasn’t nice to me either.  And she was incompetent at doing her job. I understand that you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to take kid’s pictures all day long…but you’ve got to have some intellect.  Right?  And I’ve decided that my anger and words were justified.  And I’m tired of feeling guilty about standing up for myself.  Or my family.  Or my child… So many times women are made to feel…hysterical and emotional.  When in reality they are just standing up for themselves, their families….and I’m not going to feel guilty anymore.   Wow.  This may take some getting used to…

Soap boxes

I have more than a few of them.  I try very hard to keep them hidden… or at the very least only show them off to my immediate family members.  But sometimes, somedays….I just gotta drag one or two out of hiding, crawl right up on it, and vent.  I realize that we don’t all share the same points of view.  That’s what makes life fun, right?  And if you don’t share my point of view, and you are offended by what I write…for goodness sakes, do yourself a favor and DON’T read it….’kay?

I have no problem with families discussing political convictions, opinions, lies, half-truths, half-baked conspiracy theories…whatever.  That’s what families do.  And I know that regardless of what outlandish claim my father makes about “his” choice of presidential candidate…he will at the very least not be angry with me when I make gagging and choking sounds to indicate my thoughts on his candidate.  And I know that listening to my teen announce that he wishesw he could vote, cause he’d vote for Nader… opens the door to some very important dialogue.  And when my 8 year old asked who I voted for and why…I was honest and open with him.  I told him my stance on the important (to me and God anyway) issues.  Levi was so excited when I came home from the polls with my “I voted” sticker, that he stole it from me and proceeded to wear it for 3 days, till all the “sticky” was done.  Not only had we talked about political issues…Levi learned that he has an obligation to vote…and was EXCITED about it.  WOO-HOO!!!

A few days prior to the elections, Levi’s school hosted their own presidential election.  The “candidates” spoke on tape to the classrooms.  The “voters” got a brief run down on voting and how it works.  Then they went to the “polls”.  The candidate that Levi supported didn’t win the election.  He was a bit bummed when he got home from school.  Until he saw his PB & J and banana waiting for him…..Ahhh…childhood.  So many things are solved with a little comfort food, arent’ they?  That’s one of the habits that I may have dragged into adulthood with me.  Chocolate can cure darn near anything that ails you….trust me.

Anyway, the elections are over and Levi has not often asked anything about our new President Elect.  Occasionally he jumps into a conversation taking place between me and Larry, or the older kids.  But the drama is over, and he has accepted that O will be the new president…sometime after Christmas.  Imagine my surprise when Levi told my mother that he hoped O died…because he didn’t put his hand over his heart when he said the pledge of allegiance.  After some gentle questioning, and some pointed correction… it came to light that one of Levi’s “friends” on the school bus had told him this.  Levi’s friend had overheard his parents talking about it… and proceeded to share that viewpoint with other second graders.  Nice.  Really, really nice.

My rant is this.  Children are like sponges.  They soak up everything in their vicinity.  And release it back out at the most inopportune times.  Mainly, in front of in-laws or preachers…but I digress.  Who in the world would say, in the hearing of their 8 year old, that they wished the president-elect would just die, and that would “solve all our problems?”  Do parents have any idea how stupid, cold, and plain uncaring THEY appear when their children spout ideas like this?  Do parents care?  And while I’m on the subject, why would any parent have a conversation like this in front of their 8 year old anyway?  Is nothing sacred anymore?  Yeah…this is the same little boy who “shared” with Levi that Santa Claus is really his mom….and Levi was confused and wondered how J’s mom could deliver gifts to all the kids in the world…. I didn’t mind that.  Santa has never been a huge deal in our home.  He brings one gift to each child…and once my kids start pre-school and can “compare”…they instinctively know that something is a bit off with the whole Santa story.  I’m really surprised that Levi has “believed” this long.  And was proud of him when he told me that he told J what Christmas was “really all about Mom”…..

So parents.  Be careful of little ears.  They are listening.  If you have birthed them and they live in your home…they WILL hear what you say, even if they have no understanding of the concept.  And they WILL repeat what you say…more likely than not in front of someone you’d prefer NOT to hear  your thoughts….and out of context, and just plain old INCORRECTLY. 

I still shudder when I recall the year that Jacob had just turned 2 years old.  We were at the mall, visiting Santa.  And Jacob proceeded to tell Santa that he was 2, he wanted a truck for Christmas, and that he had a penis ’cause he was a boy…wanna see?  And tried to pull his pants down…. I was mortified.  When I turned to Larry for help in corraling his rowdy son…I discovered that Larry had walked away like he didn’t know us.  And waded in to save the horrified and slightly shaken Santa Claus from more of Jacob’s anatomy lessons….

So tell me…what have your kids said, or overheard, that was best left UNSAID?  You can share…I won’t laugh.  I promise.  I mean come on… can it get worse than Jacob and Santa Claus?

Second grade homework

If my life were a gameshow, this is the point where I would have to look into the camera and announce to America that “I AM NOT SMARTER THAN A SECOND GRADER!!”  Can I drop out now?  What is UP with kids homework these days?  I just don’t get it….

Levi came home from school today with a “special project” homework assignment.  He is supposed to build a “robot” using items found here in our home.  Now, since they are second graders, the robot just has to LOOK like a robot.  It’s not required that the robot move, speak or perform amazing feats.  I’m assuming that would provide extra credit…anyway, once Levi has assembled his robot, he has to write a paper.  Explaining, in detail and in order, the steps he took to create the robot.

Now let me just ask you other moms out there….can your 8 year old sit down, plan a project such as this, get the robot to stay together using the materials in your home that he is allowed to use (glue and tape), and still have it LOOK like a robot?!?!  Perhaps I’m missing something in this assignment….and if I am, PLEASE clue me in as to what it is that I’m missing.  Levi has done nothing but obsess over this project since he got home.  He has emptied drawers, cabinets and plastic products in his quest for “building” materials.  And his “designs” all leave something to be desired.  Mainly a head.  Or an arm or two… sigh.  These assignments always did irk me.  When Sarah and Jacob first began bringing home these assignments, I wondered….WHO is this assignment for?  The kids or the parents?  Because really, the parents put in as much time as the kids do.  Someone has to use the superglue and hot glue gun and industrial strength adhesives…

And just last week Levi asked me to help him with his math homework.  Now, let me just admit right up front that math is NOT my strength.  At all.  But, since Levi is only in 2nd grade, I felt confident in my ability to help him figure out his word problems.  The real problem, as I saw it, was that Levi just didn’t understand how to write the problems in number form.  So I explained that to him.  And he did understand that.  What he was having trouble with was the actual performing the math computation.  So, I decided to jump in and explain it to him.  Within 15 minutes, he was in tears.  Literally.  Saying that he had never in his life heard his teacher say ANYTHING like what I was saying….so I did what any mom would do.  I called the teacher.  And asked how SHE taught the concept of regrouping (or carrying, for us oldtimers).  She wondered why I was trying to teach Levi regrouping.  I asked how SHE taught Levi to subtract 64 from 97.  And her answer blew me away….they are teaching the kids to COUNT UPWARD from the smaller number to the larger number, using tens and ones.  Levi is not learning subtraction….he’s just learning to count by tens and fives…..good grief.  I was sorely tempted to just hand him a calculator and be done with it.  But I refrained….

And then there is TENTH grade homework.  Good gosh almighty, don’t get me started on THAT.  Sarah is, sadly, on her own with HER math homework.  And this semester, it is showing.  I have no idea how to help her…I’m just praying the semester is over quickly, and she can move on to something else.  That’s how I help her….just pray for the problem to go away…. ; )

So tell me, what are some of your pet peeves about your kiddos homework?  Too much?  Not enough?  Seemingly stupid assignments that can’t possibly be teaching them anything?  Do share….