Its all about the kids
I saw KikI again today for day two of her birthday celebrating. Whoo hoo! This time we met up with Mom for lunch. Chris had just gotten back from a quick jaunt to Virginia for her friend so she had plenty of stuff to talk about. Thomas charmed the pants off our waitress. He kept changing his mind about whether he would eat or not. Apparently only french fries are a constant. She came over and said her son was the same way at his age. And so she's being friendly and talking to us and directly to Thomas. I appreciate it when people do that. Speak to him like he understands you and he will talk back. Talk over his head and ignore him and he will ignore you back. So she was there a few minutes when Thomas decides she had been here long enough. He stands up on his highchair and waves his arms back and forth like he's signaling a plane. She asks him what he wants and he starts playing hi mime game. "I don't talk but you understand me just fine." And he starts pointing at her with both hands really quickly and then gesturing really wildly all around the room. I was mortified when I figured out what he was saying! But she just laughs and says "So you think I've been here long enough and its time for me to go, huh?" Totally didn't take it personally just tickled his ribs and ruffled his bald head and wnet on her way. Thomas just sat down like "ok that jobs done whats next on the list?"
Sydney has been testing out some new impressions today. A few of them are her new people I know impressions which boils down to Daddy and Mama. I can't say I appreciate them but she does have a certain flair for it. And who am I to squash her talent, (even if it does get me mocked and ridiculed by a four year old!) Luckily most of them come from Brother Bear which unfortunately refuses to be bootlegged. It leads me to wonder if those old rumors that Disney knew how to prevent people from making copies is true. We have had no trouble copying anything unless it is Disney and animated. Anyway Sydney has been making real progress with the lines from the movie and says them over and over trying to get the voice just right. All the charaters names are indian and she was getting frustrated when she couldn't remember them all but I told her if she loved the movie than that was all that mattered and if she relaxes they will creep into her brain when she's not looking. Lo and behold she can now say "Then Sitka says "I don't blame the bear!" In a very good male voice. But her favorite is the Tina Turner song at the begining of the movie. It is totally out of her key but that doesn't stop her. She alreayd knows the kid friendly sing along song and wanted to learn the hard one. She is so disappointed this isn't her movie and has to go back to the store. Of course this means it is a required birthday present. I'm thinking we should rent Lion King 1 1/2 next to see if Thomas wants that for his birthday!
I also helped ViVi with her homework today. She gets homework every Monday and if she remembers to bring it back Tuesday she gets a cookie. And not in the "What do you want? A cookie?" kind of way but like an oreo or something. Now at first I thought this was a bit weird and spoilish but then once I forgot to check and see if she had homework and she didn't turn it in until Wednesday and she came home and was like "its ok Mama. Maybe I'll get a cookie with the other kids next week . . " and I realized its not about teaching the kids to do homework and get it in on time. It is totally about teaching the parents to check for homework. We even have to sign the bottom so our smart yet neglected kids don't go around doing homework without being reminded and the parents stay oblivious to the accomplishment. (Did that make sense?) Anyway they were doing spring time things and this homework was to plan a garden, label what you grew and explain how you would take care of it and what you would do with what you grow. This may be kindergarten but this is no colorsheet homework ok! So my brilliant ViVi decides that her garden would be an orchard like the one we read about in the last Wizard of Oz book. Only the peaches on her tree "wouldn't have an Ozma trapped inside." I was flabergasted. How does she remember details like that? I know probably no one reading this has any clue what the hell that was all about but trust me it was an obscure reference to a book we read like four weeks ago. So then she divides her paper into five sections and draws really good fruit trees. She made the ones in the back smaller because they were farther away. And then changed her mind and said they were in the same place but they were younger trees so thats why they were smaller. She even drew little tools leaning up against them, like shovels and rakes, since she was probably so busy planting she didn't get to put them away yet. She planted apples, peaches, plums, lemons (because nobody really likes oranges but everyone likes lemonade) and pears that looked like green peanuts. It was so good! She had a little packet of seeds and a big bag of "tree food" and a watering can. It was the best thing ever. She spent so much time on it and I tried to tell her the trees didn't have to be perfect and she gave me this scathing look and said "Mrs. Arnold only wants your best work. I always do my best, Mama." I stand corrected! Then she labeled each tree and I wrote what she said at the bottom. She could totally have written her own description but it takes so long to spell out each word she forgets what she was going to say next. But she said how she planted the trees using each of the tools pictured. Then she said she was going to sell the ripe fruit and use the money to buy more supplies for the orchard. Isn't that cute? My little business woman. And then when she was all done I asked her if she was proud of her work. I mean it took her more than an hour she should be pleased! She stepped back to look at it from a critical distance and said "It makes me feel like a real artist."
The mime, the comedian, the artist.
My kids are so talented.
Where did they get that from?
Sydney has been testing out some new impressions today. A few of them are her new people I know impressions which boils down to Daddy and Mama. I can't say I appreciate them but she does have a certain flair for it. And who am I to squash her talent, (even if it does get me mocked and ridiculed by a four year old!) Luckily most of them come from Brother Bear which unfortunately refuses to be bootlegged. It leads me to wonder if those old rumors that Disney knew how to prevent people from making copies is true. We have had no trouble copying anything unless it is Disney and animated. Anyway Sydney has been making real progress with the lines from the movie and says them over and over trying to get the voice just right. All the charaters names are indian and she was getting frustrated when she couldn't remember them all but I told her if she loved the movie than that was all that mattered and if she relaxes they will creep into her brain when she's not looking. Lo and behold she can now say "Then Sitka says "I don't blame the bear!" In a very good male voice. But her favorite is the Tina Turner song at the begining of the movie. It is totally out of her key but that doesn't stop her. She alreayd knows the kid friendly sing along song and wanted to learn the hard one. She is so disappointed this isn't her movie and has to go back to the store. Of course this means it is a required birthday present. I'm thinking we should rent Lion King 1 1/2 next to see if Thomas wants that for his birthday!
I also helped ViVi with her homework today. She gets homework every Monday and if she remembers to bring it back Tuesday she gets a cookie. And not in the "What do you want? A cookie?" kind of way but like an oreo or something. Now at first I thought this was a bit weird and spoilish but then once I forgot to check and see if she had homework and she didn't turn it in until Wednesday and she came home and was like "its ok Mama. Maybe I'll get a cookie with the other kids next week . . " and I realized its not about teaching the kids to do homework and get it in on time. It is totally about teaching the parents to check for homework. We even have to sign the bottom so our smart yet neglected kids don't go around doing homework without being reminded and the parents stay oblivious to the accomplishment. (Did that make sense?) Anyway they were doing spring time things and this homework was to plan a garden, label what you grew and explain how you would take care of it and what you would do with what you grow. This may be kindergarten but this is no colorsheet homework ok! So my brilliant ViVi decides that her garden would be an orchard like the one we read about in the last Wizard of Oz book. Only the peaches on her tree "wouldn't have an Ozma trapped inside." I was flabergasted. How does she remember details like that? I know probably no one reading this has any clue what the hell that was all about but trust me it was an obscure reference to a book we read like four weeks ago. So then she divides her paper into five sections and draws really good fruit trees. She made the ones in the back smaller because they were farther away. And then changed her mind and said they were in the same place but they were younger trees so thats why they were smaller. She even drew little tools leaning up against them, like shovels and rakes, since she was probably so busy planting she didn't get to put them away yet. She planted apples, peaches, plums, lemons (because nobody really likes oranges but everyone likes lemonade) and pears that looked like green peanuts. It was so good! She had a little packet of seeds and a big bag of "tree food" and a watering can. It was the best thing ever. She spent so much time on it and I tried to tell her the trees didn't have to be perfect and she gave me this scathing look and said "Mrs. Arnold only wants your best work. I always do my best, Mama." I stand corrected! Then she labeled each tree and I wrote what she said at the bottom. She could totally have written her own description but it takes so long to spell out each word she forgets what she was going to say next. But she said how she planted the trees using each of the tools pictured. Then she said she was going to sell the ripe fruit and use the money to buy more supplies for the orchard. Isn't that cute? My little business woman. And then when she was all done I asked her if she was proud of her work. I mean it took her more than an hour she should be pleased! She stepped back to look at it from a critical distance and said "It makes me feel like a real artist."
The mime, the comedian, the artist.
My kids are so talented.
Where did they get that from?