"Do you ever wonder if ducks are listening in to your conversations?"
"PLEEEASE listen to TomTom!"
"Look, it's like a plunger."
"Is dis for meeee?"
"If you eat these leaves... They're poisonous."
"TomTom scares me."
"I don't care about the hobbit house!"
"I'm gonna eat your babies."
"Great. Grrreat."
"A duck's quack doesn't echo."
"Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica."
Friday, December 17, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Oh, to be 5 again....
I'm sure all of us have a fond memory of our kinder days.
One of mine is the time my class and I went to the zoo. We were in the African Animals section and stopped in front of those tall, yellow animals with orange dots and necks that touch the sky. One of them bent its head toward me and let me feed it. This is when I overcame my fear of giraffes and decided they weren't too scary afterall :)
Today the next door neighbor's 5 year old daugher came over to play with the Sarah's 5 year old son.
Usually these two get along great and have a grand time playing together (and, in all honesty, I love it when she comes over because it keeps both of them occupied so I can focus on cleaning up the messes belonging to the 1 year old... Okay, AND it's so I can take a 5 minute breather here and there).
Things were off to a great start... Until I heard the screaming.
I went into the parent's bedroom, where the PlayStation is set up, and saw them fighting over one of the characters in the Crash Bandicoot game. They both wanted to be the crocodile.
Well, the little girl threw the remote on the floor and stormed out of the house, yelling rude names to the boy as she left.
This left him in tears.
He ran into his room and buried his tear stained face in the pillows, and asked, "Macey, why are girls so stupid?"
I didn't know what to tell him, to be honest. Why? Because I still haven't figured that out myself :)
So I told him that little girls sometimes have days when they think they are a princess and everything has to go their way, and if it doesn't, then they get angry and push everyone away. He seemed to understand this because he said, "Does that mean boys are like kings and they get sick of the girl's attitude? Because sometimes I just get so sick of her. Seriously."
Yes, I told him. Exactly.
I told him that she would get over it and realize she was mean, and apologize when she was ready. This made him a little happier, so he went back to playing his game.
Sure enough, she came back... And even brought him a fruitsnack.
One of mine is the time my class and I went to the zoo. We were in the African Animals section and stopped in front of those tall, yellow animals with orange dots and necks that touch the sky. One of them bent its head toward me and let me feed it. This is when I overcame my fear of giraffes and decided they weren't too scary afterall :)
Today the next door neighbor's 5 year old daugher came over to play with the Sarah's 5 year old son.
Usually these two get along great and have a grand time playing together (and, in all honesty, I love it when she comes over because it keeps both of them occupied so I can focus on cleaning up the messes belonging to the 1 year old... Okay, AND it's so I can take a 5 minute breather here and there).
Things were off to a great start... Until I heard the screaming.
I went into the parent's bedroom, where the PlayStation is set up, and saw them fighting over one of the characters in the Crash Bandicoot game. They both wanted to be the crocodile.
Well, the little girl threw the remote on the floor and stormed out of the house, yelling rude names to the boy as she left.
This left him in tears.
He ran into his room and buried his tear stained face in the pillows, and asked, "Macey, why are girls so stupid?"
I didn't know what to tell him, to be honest. Why? Because I still haven't figured that out myself :)
So I told him that little girls sometimes have days when they think they are a princess and everything has to go their way, and if it doesn't, then they get angry and push everyone away. He seemed to understand this because he said, "Does that mean boys are like kings and they get sick of the girl's attitude? Because sometimes I just get so sick of her. Seriously."
Yes, I told him. Exactly.
I told him that she would get over it and realize she was mean, and apologize when she was ready. This made him a little happier, so he went back to playing his game.
Sure enough, she came back... And even brought him a fruitsnack.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Sanity... Myth or Reality?
Here's a question for the day: Is there such a thing as sanity?
As I was babysitting my brothers yesterday I asked myself this question. They were driving me UP THE WALL, as usual (I love them dearly... But they are quite a handful) and I found myself coming up with ways to distract them so I could have a few moments of peace.
Okay, in all honesty, I was thinking up schemes to get rid of them. Sssh. :)
After they shot a million spit wads on the kitchen ceiling while I was using the restroom, I sent them to their room for a good 30 minutes. Ahhh. Finally, some peace and quiet. Right?
Not so much.
They were kicking the walls, bouncing on the bed, throwing toys, yelling at each other, and doing every other loud and obnoxious thing you could think of. Frustrated, I went upstairs, grabbed one of their ears each, and took them downstairs to the kitchen, where they sat on hard stools for 40 minutes.
You may be thinking, "Wow, that's pretty harsh... How can she be left in charge?"
To be honest, I was thinking that exact same thing. I felt horrible. But really, spit wads? Kicking and screaming? Throwing toys? That's so preschool!
And just a side note, I only do that to my brothers. I never have to seriously discipline kids I babysit and nanny. :)
Of course, when their 40 minutes were up, I apologized and made them a yummy lunch, then allowed them to play the wii. My apology was accepted.
When mom got home from work I broke down. "The boys were driving me absolutely INSANE!" I told her. She just nodded, offered her condolences, and went upstairs to change out of her work clothes. All this time I was thinking, "How does she do it???"
So, my answer to the question, is sanity a myth or reality? Well.... It depends on the day.
As I was babysitting my brothers yesterday I asked myself this question. They were driving me UP THE WALL, as usual (I love them dearly... But they are quite a handful) and I found myself coming up with ways to distract them so I could have a few moments of peace.
Okay, in all honesty, I was thinking up schemes to get rid of them. Sssh. :)
After they shot a million spit wads on the kitchen ceiling while I was using the restroom, I sent them to their room for a good 30 minutes. Ahhh. Finally, some peace and quiet. Right?
Not so much.
They were kicking the walls, bouncing on the bed, throwing toys, yelling at each other, and doing every other loud and obnoxious thing you could think of. Frustrated, I went upstairs, grabbed one of their ears each, and took them downstairs to the kitchen, where they sat on hard stools for 40 minutes.
You may be thinking, "Wow, that's pretty harsh... How can she be left in charge?"
To be honest, I was thinking that exact same thing. I felt horrible. But really, spit wads? Kicking and screaming? Throwing toys? That's so preschool!
And just a side note, I only do that to my brothers. I never have to seriously discipline kids I babysit and nanny. :)
Of course, when their 40 minutes were up, I apologized and made them a yummy lunch, then allowed them to play the wii. My apology was accepted.
When mom got home from work I broke down. "The boys were driving me absolutely INSANE!" I told her. She just nodded, offered her condolences, and went upstairs to change out of her work clothes. All this time I was thinking, "How does she do it???"
So, my answer to the question, is sanity a myth or reality? Well.... It depends on the day.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Bring Brothers to Work Day
Yesterday, my mom and dad were both at work and unable to find someone else to watch my 11 and 6 year old brothers.
Who did that leave? Me.
So, I got the boys ready in the morning, packed some games and dvds, and loaded them into the car.
When we arrived at Stacy's house, the boys immediately made themselves at home and became friends with her kids. They started playing wii with Stacy's two boys while I read "Pinkalicious" to her little girl.
Elyse and I made brownies for the boys to come home to after school. I let her measure some of the ingredients, and she did a great job. The batter was a little too runny though :)
I made 7 PB&J sandwiches.
We watched the Berenstain Bears 3 times.
The kids got dressed to play in the snow, played outside for 10 minutes, then undressed about 5 times.
The boys got home, ate the entire plate of brownies, and drank an entire gallon of milk.
What made my day was Elyse. Her tummy was hurting and she had a little fever (no, her being sick wasn't what made the day). So... She curled up in her blankie on my lap and fell asleep. We stayed like that for about two hours :) When she woke up, her baby doll was feeling sick too she rocked her baby and sang to her. Soooo adorable! She also drew lots of pictures for me and we did a puzzle together.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened... Sorry this post isn't the most entertaining to read. But I guess this is more for me than anyone else :) I came home exhausted as always... But it's so worth it.
Thanks to all the wonderful women in my life who have taught me to enjoy the small, simple things kids do. Without your infinite widsom and advice... I'd be going crazy :)
Who did that leave? Me.
So, I got the boys ready in the morning, packed some games and dvds, and loaded them into the car.
When we arrived at Stacy's house, the boys immediately made themselves at home and became friends with her kids. They started playing wii with Stacy's two boys while I read "Pinkalicious" to her little girl.
Elyse and I made brownies for the boys to come home to after school. I let her measure some of the ingredients, and she did a great job. The batter was a little too runny though :)
I made 7 PB&J sandwiches.
We watched the Berenstain Bears 3 times.
The kids got dressed to play in the snow, played outside for 10 minutes, then undressed about 5 times.
The boys got home, ate the entire plate of brownies, and drank an entire gallon of milk.
What made my day was Elyse. Her tummy was hurting and she had a little fever (no, her being sick wasn't what made the day). So... She curled up in her blankie on my lap and fell asleep. We stayed like that for about two hours :) When she woke up, her baby doll was feeling sick too she rocked her baby and sang to her. Soooo adorable! She also drew lots of pictures for me and we did a puzzle together.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened... Sorry this post isn't the most entertaining to read. But I guess this is more for me than anyone else :) I came home exhausted as always... But it's so worth it.
Thanks to all the wonderful women in my life who have taught me to enjoy the small, simple things kids do. Without your infinite widsom and advice... I'd be going crazy :)
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