Jack's Creative Play

The alternative title to this post should be "or How an Empty Container With Lid is More Fun Than a $30 Toy." Once again, I'm going to treat you to my observations of Jack playing in his natural habitat -- the living room. Sometimes I wish I could see into his mind to understand what he's thinking. Some of the things he says while he plays are intriguing. Anyway, here are my observations:

"Windmill! Windmill! Where's the Windmill?" he says while holding two DVDs in his hands. He throws them down and picks up the little satin box Lily got in Chinatown. He brings it to me. "Take it!" He put it on my lap and examines the little Chinese men with braids that are all around the box.

He goes over to the high chair and then comes back. "Milk!" He trips on his Hot Wheels track and falls down. "Ow!" He picks up a Play-Doh container and sys "Coffee! My milk! Milk! Milk" He starts crying. He struggles to climb into my lap. "Up, please!"

I lift him up and he points to the plastic tea pot lid next to me. "That one, please." I hand it to him. He half reclines next to me and puts the lid on the Play-Doh container. Then he takes it off and puts one of the chips from his snack into the container and shuts the lid. He opens it and says " Look!! all gone! No, all gone coffee!" He dumps out the chipand gets down from my lap, saying "B. U. B. U. B. U." He walks over to the radiator cover, turns around and says "Nope! All gone!"

He walks back over and climbs onto the sofa. He shows me the Play-Doh container. "Please, please, please. Look! All gone. Look! Hot hot! Look, all gone, hot! Look!" He pretends to take a sip. "Nope, all gone milk." He pretends to sip again and sings "me me me me my L L L L L." He gets down and walks over to the radiator cover again. He pretends to sip, pauses a moment to look at the TV, where they just showed an explosion. He comes back over to the couch, humming "MMMMMMMMM." He eats one of his snack chips and climbs back onto the sofa. He puts the lid back on the Play-Doh container. He opens it and says "All gone, no more. Uh oh!" He shakes the lid and then puts it back on. He cuddles next to me, and continues to open and close the container.

Suddenly he gets down. He carries the container to the middle of the room, turns and shows it to me, saying "Here take, take, I make bed. Where's blanky?" He goes over to the chair to get the brown throw. "Brown ! Brown! Brown! Little brown, brown brown, play. I make brown please. Brown, brown, brown. A brown. I make bed. Mmmmm, MAMA, make the bed, please. Make the bed please! MAMA! MAMA!"

I fold the throw to make it into a "bed". He gets in and lies down. He lies there playing with the Play-Doh container and lid. Suddenly he says "OWWW!" He turns onto his stomach and crawls out of the bed. He stands up. "I out of, please. Out." He whistles very faintly and walks over to the couch. He eats another snack chip and sings "'Doot doot doot. Dun dun dun dun dun, hmm hmm hmmm." He walks closer to me with his container and lid. He eats more chips. He holds the container with its lid on in two hands. "Hot! Hot! Oh, all gone!" He opens and closes the container repeatedly. "Oh, all gone! Oh, uh-oh! Breaking! Uh! Wow! Where'd it go? Uh? Uh-oh! Hee hee hee hee (giggling). Up high! Oh! Mommy, uh, way up. Uh oh. I hide, I hide. Uh oh, Uh! Uh-oh, where'd it go?" He pretends to twist the lid while opening and closing it. He pretends to sip and a chip he stored inside falls into his mouth. He eats it.

He climbs up on hassock at my feet and lies down. He kicks one leg into the air. He hops down and then gets up and lies on my leg. He hops down. "Other one, one, one," he says as he gets another chip and stores it in the cup. He comes back to hassock. He puts the lid on the container. "Uh-oh!" He opens it and closes it, and then "drinks" the chip out of the cup." He hums tunelessly "hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm." He tries to climb into my lap while continuing to hum. I ask if he wants to sit with me. He laughs and says "Uh oh, please!" He climbs onto me and the lid falls behind the couch. No doubt the lid will make it onto this week's couch detritus list!

What's Under My Couch This Week

I spent about 2 hours cleaning the living room today and there was a bumper crop of detritus under the couch. Here's this week's list:

Windows software box (empty)
small rubber octopus
a Bionicle toy from McDonald's
1 Hot Wheels car
Jack's toy cookie jar
about 30 foam stickers
3 children's books
a wooden frog pull toy
1 red marble
a plastic donut hole
1 blue rubber ball
1 red marble
1 pink rubber ball
an empty potato chip bag
1 knit alphabet block
Lily's stuffed penguin
1 pair of Play-Doh scissors
a nectarine
1 screw driver
a yellow marker with no cap
1 and 1/2 chocolate chip cookies from last weekend
1 lens from my sunglasses that Jack destroyed
a plastic teapot lid
a pair of manicure scissors
Jack's toy mop
a wooden jewelry tray
2 magazines
2 cat toys
1 child's croc
1 Lego piece
1 binky
my knitting pattern book (I'm crocheting a sweater)
1 child's sock

Most of the toys that were under the couch are already out of the toy basket and on my floor again. This room never stays clean for long if the children are in here.

Lily Checked Out Her New School

Well, possibly her new school, anyway. As some of you already know, we have to register Lily for kindergarten in a couple of weeks. In our town, there are 10 kindergarten classes at five different schools. Because they try to keep all of the classes the same size, you have to enter a lottery to determine where your child will go. Apparently, 95% of the kids get into their first choice school, so we are hoping Lily will get into the school closest to our house, which is supposedly the best primary school in the district.

Anyway, in preparation for the upcoming registration period, all of the primary schools are holding tours. I thought it would be a great idea to take Lily along on the tour so she could see what her new school would be like. We've been talking it up to her for a couple of weeks, and she seemed excited. When I first told her, she asked "Will you be coming there with me?" and when I told her I would be there, she said she wanted to go by herself.

The night before the tour, her tune had changed. She started telling us she didn't want to go. We tried to explain to her that it was just a tour and she wouldn't be staying there, but she was adamant. The morning of the tour, she had a meltdown and refused to get dressed to go to the tour. It took both Jim and me an hour to get her calmed down and out of the house. Since Jim had to go to work (or so he claimed!) I was dreading what would happen when we got to the school.

Sure enough, once I parked, Lily clung to her carseat with a grip of steel and screamed "Nooooo! I'm staying in the car! I hate this stinky school!" Jack just sat there and enjoyed the scene. I had to promise I would not make her talk to anyone and I would not let go of her hand.

When we got inside, the school principal came over and introduced herself. She asked if Lily was the one who might come to the school. In accordance with my promise, I answered yes and said that Lily was already familiar with the playground, where she'd been going since she was a baby. The principal commented that the playground wasn't as easy to use in this weather (we recently had a foot of snow). Suddenly, out of nowhere:

Lily: You have to be really careful when there's snow and ice. You could fall on the slide or fall down.

Principal: That's right! But if the kindergarteners have snowpants and boots, we let them play even if there's snow and they seem to have a lot of fun.

Lily: They could play but they would have to be careful. I know a lot of safety rules. Look! I have on two different socks! (Sticking her foot out).

Principal: I thought that was on purpose because it looks very cool.

Lily: I know.

Lily would have happily continued the conversation, but another parent arrived for the tour.

The parents were very interesting. There was a couple who asked a lot of questions about curriculum, after school programs, volunteering, advanced education programs and lord knows what else. There was another mom who inexplicably asked "Does this school have a kindergarten? I'm scrambling to find a kindergarten!" and then mentioned that her child was already enrolled in the early education program. It seemed odd that she would already be in the system and not know that all of the primaries have kindergartens. The other parents were me and a mom with her younger child in a stroller. The other mom mentioned that she had already been to one of the other schools and would be touring a third after this one. I felt ashamed when the principal asked me where we were touring and I said "Just here." Jim and I will probably look at a couple of the other schools, but I didn't want to confuse Lily by taking her to more than one.

We saw Lily's friend Tyler's classroom, and our neighbor Matthew's classroom, which was very exciting for Lily. She also loved the library. Both she and Jack said "Look at all the books, Mama!" and "BOOOOOOKKKS! OH! BOOOOOOKKKS!" The principal asked if Lily liked books and she said "Yes, I really do."

Overall, the school looked a lot like the one where I went to kindergarten, only more cluttered. As we left, Lily mentioned that the school was nice, and then asked me "What if I forget what it looks like before I have to go there?" I reassured her that we would be visiting it again for an orientation before she had to start school.

Registration is next week. I have the paperwork ready and will drop it off on the first day. Hopefully, we will be in the 95% that go to their closest neighborhood school.

16 Safety Rules

Lately, Lily's has been telling us a lot of "did you know?" things. Like, "Did you know animals have ways of telling you how you're feeling?" She learned that on Zoboomafoo, a kid's show she likes. Her "did you knows" also include something she calls "good safety rules." She told us she is learning them at school, but I suspect most of them are of her own creation. Last night, she woke up around 11 pm and came into the living room to sit with me. She told me these sixteen safety rules so that I could share them on my blog.

1. No hitting people while they're driving. They could have a car accident or get hurt.

2. Don't go inside a treasure box in a creepy place, or a closet in creepy place, or in a refrigerator. You don't have air in there and it could lock and you couldn't get out and you couldn't see.

3. Don't put water on anything it because it could have a fire. You can only put water on stuff that's not electric, like yourself.

4. Don't eat things in a jar that look like candy. Ask your mom and dad if you don't know. Ask them to eat it or to get you food you can have. Also, don't eat little round things, they could be pills.

5. Don't get dessert by yourself. You could spill it or get a different bad dessert. Your mom and dad know what's good and bad.

Nobody knows what God eats. Probably whatever he likes. (I know this isn't really a safety tip, but she did mention it at this point in the conversation. I think it's hilarious.)

6. Don't climb a rotten tree. Here's a funny joke. What if the tree falls on our house? In my book, Wemberley Worried, Wemberley thought it. She also worried that something would come out of the crack in the tree.

7. Don't lose your pet. They can get lost. Keep on a collar. If you lose your pet, your mom will be mad if it's her pet, but not if you find it.

8. Don't give a pet to a friend that you don't know. They could keep it forever, and then you need to find out her name and where she lives. Keep your pet at your house with mama and you.

9. Always turn the front and back lights on when you drive so cars can see you and you can see them. If you don't, you could get in one big accident.

10. Don't touch hot lights.

11. Don't hurt the cat.

12. Don't step near a slide or swings. Someone could slide down or their feet could bang into you. It's good to be a grownup, because they can push you, but not when they're little.

13. Don't have 3 people on the seesaw, because then they can't get up. You need just 2 people, unless you have two seesaws. Then you can have 4 people.

14. Watch out for bad bugs. They can hurt you and do anything bad.

15. Don't eat candy unless dad and mom tell us to, and clean up. Always bring a napkin. Candy will rot and get all over the place.

16. Don't tug dogs and cats on the leash, they might scratch or bite.

I hope these helpful safety tips make your week a lot safer. This has been a Lily Deeds Public Service Announcement.

May Today Be a Better Day

Yesterday evening was rough. Jack knocked an entire glass of milk onto the kitchen floor and then later used his broom as a bat and took swing at my glass of iced tea on the table. It went flying and the glass broke into a million pieces. Did I mention that he broke three of these glass last week by throwing them on the floor? No? Did I mention that I had just replaced said three glass yesterday morning at IKEA? Yep. Now I am one glass short. Again.

While the whole iced tea/glass mess was going on in the dining room, Lily was in the kitchen kicking the basement door with her heels and screaming "Argue! Argue! Argue!" over and over at the top of her lungs. What, that seems odd to you? Let me explain. Lily got mad on the way home from school because I told her that I bought bins to organize the clothes in her closet. See? Doesn't that explain the 45 minute temper tantrum that led to her time out in the kitchen? Seriously, what kind of a mother would buy bins and organize clothes? Making it so one can look in the shirt bin and, lo, find a shirt! is just EVIL. And mean.

Annnnnnyway... the evening was difficult. This morning, at 9:11 am, all appears to be calm so far. I'm a little nervous that things will degenerate into the hell that was last night. Will keep you all posted.

Two New Blogs

I just added two great sites.

Skull A Day features artwork by a man who is making a skull art piece for every day. Some of them are pretty amazing and clever.

Bent Objects is another art site where a man makes humorous scenes from bent wire and every day household items.

Check them out!

The Faster I Go, The Farther I Get Behind

Yesterday, I had big plans to clean out the second closet in Lily's bedroom, which was packed full of my business attire and other clothing. After I did that, I was going to shred the three bins of old paperwork in the office and organize and file all of the other random stuff that has showed up in the last couple of weeks. I also planned to simultaneously do the laundry that's been piling up since I got sick.

Right. Yesterday, I cleaned out the closet. It took me almost 3 hours, because I had to deal with two children who would not stay put in the playroom and wanted to "see what you're doing, Mom!" I also had to deal with "Why are you throwing THAT away? I need that!" and "MILLLLKKK! Mama, MORE MILLLLLKKKKK!" I ended up throwing some stuff on the newly cleaned top shelf, and promising to go through it and organize later. I never got to the shredding or filing. I did one load of laundry (and I realized this morning it was set for the lowest water level, so I don't even know how clean the clothes got).

Today, I woke up with a plan to clean and declutter the living room and dining room, shred the paperwork, file and organize and do the laundry. Today, Lily would not put on her ballet outfit, Jack dumped an entire container of yogurt on the carpet, chair and couch before I could stop him, and I ended up agreeing to watch Emma while her parents went to an appointment at 2pm. In the midst of that, our freezer stopped working and started leaking water onto the floor. I had to clean the kitchen up before the repairman came. He just told me that they don't have a replacement part for me and if he can't find one in one of their floor models at the store, it may be 3 or 4 days before we have a working refrigerator. Terrific.

I did do two loads of laundry this morning and I was able to vacuum the rugs in the living room and dining room. I had picked up all the toys, but Jack immediately walked over to the bin and dumped everything out so he could find his hot wheels.

So...my plans for tomorrow are:

1. Go to IKEA in the morning to buy boxes, baskets and folders to organize the stuff in the office and from Lily's second closet. I also need to buy a coat rack. I'd planned to do this trip on Thursday because Lily is in school.

2. Organize the pile of stuff thrown on the top shelf of Lily's closet into labeled boxes.

3. Sort, organize and file the things that have turned up in the office over the past few weeks.

4. Shred the three cartons of paperwork in the office.

5. Take the clothes from Lily's second closet (2 garbage bags full!) and drop them at Salvation Army.

6. Declutter the living room and dining room. By this, I mean that I hope to either throw away, donate or find a home for anything lying on a flat surface in those two rooms.

7. Wash and fold any laundry that I don't finish today.

8. Deep clean the kitchen and bathroom (my usual Thursday chores).

Obviously, I'm not going to get anywhere close to completing all these things. What I really need is a week at home alone without kids. That would catch me back up to a normal level of cleanliness and order.

Arrghhh!