Friday Doings
Holy smokes, I’m tired. My friend had to go do something, so I agreed to watch her three year old son. He’s a good kid, but he’s a three year old boy. I forgot how exhausting they can be. I know everything he did was completely developmentally appropriate and he’ll grow out of a lot of it, but it was tiring to keep up with. At that age they just go from task to task to task, making a mess and not sticking with anything. A new place is even more crazy since there’s so many new things to explore. And the running. I forgot all about the running. He wasn’t even as bad as Erik used to be, but it was enough to make me call and get Mike and appointment for a vasectomy (not really, but maybe I should do so on Monday since he doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. Now that we are using a family Google calendar it should be easy to schedule, right?).
Then Erik came home from school, my friend came over with her daughter and Erik brought another boy over so I had three kindergarteners, a toddler and a preschooler running all over my tiny townhouse, tearing everything a part and beating each other with light sabers. Neighborhood kids were knocking on the door every five minutes wanting Erik to come out. I was very ready for Calgon to take me away.
Speaking of Calgon taking me away. . . I’m getting a new bathtub! And it’s going to be 3 inches deeper than my current tub!
We had some money back from our taxes, so we budgeted a certain amount for home improvements. One of my friends has a handyman husband who I really like and trust, so I gave him a call and he came over to give estimates on a few things. The new tub installation was cheaper than I thought it would be! I wish I could get a giant tub with jets and all that, but it is a very small space. I’m getting the biggest tub that will fit in the space. I can’t wait.
We’re also getting a new French door with built in blinds for the basement. That was way more expensive than I thought, but mainly because there is a lot of work that needs to be done around the opening.
But back to my day. Did I mention I’m tired?
While my friend was here, Erik started whining that he wanted them all to leave so he could go play video games at another friend’s house. So embarrassing. I swear this child has no tact at all. I suppose most 6 year old boys don’t. By the time the afternoon ended I was ready to beat him with his stuffed snake (literally a plush snake toy). I didn’t, but I sure could have. Rudeness and whining are two things I just can’t tolerate.
How do you teach a child manners when they want to argue with you about everything?
He has invitations to two parties on the same day. He picked the one he wants to go to. He says he is going to tell the other kid that he has a better party to attend. My mom and I tried and tried to coach him to say “Sorry, I can’t come to your party because my mom has other plans.” Full stop. No explanation. We went round and round and round. He keeps saying he is going to tell the kid “Sorry, I can’t come to your party because I have other plans. . . to go to a better party.” He doesn’t seem to have any understanding of why that would be rude and hurtful.
Anyway, I think I am going to go see if Elsa is asleep so I can watch Fringe! I am so excited that they are letting them finish up with a 13 episode season. I didn’t think it would happen. By all rights is shouldn’t happen. But it is happening! I even dreamed I was in Fringe last night.
Also, I think I just got horse radish in my eye. Owie!
cc said,
April 27, 2012 @ 6:55 pm
I’m very glad I have two girls. Though sometimes I wonder if it’s really any better.
On a totally unrelated note, a few years ago you recommended The Penderwicks and Amber just didn’t want to read it. The school librarian gave it to her last week and now she can’t stop reading it. She goes between it and the Hunger Games.
bethany actually said,
April 27, 2012 @ 9:31 pm
Right now my 2.5YO niece is visiting with my mom. We are both EXHAUSTED
bethany actually said,
April 27, 2012 @ 9:37 pm
Doh! That wasn’t supposed to post yet. Anyway, we’re both exhausted from having two toddlers in the house. It’s crazy! Three kids shouldn’t be that much harder than two, but there it is. It’s totally harder.
I’m so happy about Fringe too! Thanks for getting me started on it!
Oy, I’m embarrassed to say I probably used to be more like Erik than I’d care to admit. There is a very strong streak of, hmm…shall we call it plain speaking? Sure, that sounds better than tactlessness…that runs in my dad’s family, and as a kid I had a strong tendency to speak my mind and not think about whose feelings I might be hurting. I was a homebody and I remember pestering my mom when we were visiting and I was bored, whining about wanting to go home, WAY past the age when it would be sort of excusable. :-\ And there were quite a few incidents of me hurting someone’s feelings without even realizing it, because I said what was on my mind without considering how it would sound to the other person. I think I was probably about 8 when I started being horrified at the idea of hurting someone’s feelings, and about 10 or 11 when I finally managed to consistently think before speaking. And you know, in the meantime, I got really good at apologizing profusely. Don’t worry, Erik will get there eventually, especially since you and Mike are good parents who model polite behavior and expect no less of your kids. At some point he might realize there are consequences to speaking his mind rudely, if someone doesn’t like it and won’t play with him anymore.
Hooray for renovations! I hope it all goes smoothly and QUICKLY.
Antropologa said,
April 28, 2012 @ 3:36 am
Our tub is very deep and it’s great. But I almost wish we didn’t have the jets. They keep growing gross stuff. Ew. So think of it as a good thing you won’t have them!