Being Careful

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Tristan broke his arm (elbow in two places, plus wrist) at football practice a few days before Halloween. 
Here he is a few days after getting his cast on (this also happened to be Crazy Hair Day at school):

When he got the cast on, the doctor gave us strict instructions to have him be really careful - he did not want him doing any further damage to the bones, or falling and hurting his other arm. 
He told us no running, no climbing, no playing around, no recess, no P.E., etc.  I could tell as soon as he said it that this was going to be the hardest part of having a cast on for my active 7-year old boy.
After Tristan's first day back at school with the cast, I talked to him about how the "careful" plan was going:
Me:  Tristan, have you been being careful?                                                                        
Tristan: Yes.                                                                                                                       
Me:  What did you do at recess? Did you just read a book inside?                                
Tristan:  No.  I played outside but I was really careful and just dribbled a ball with my right hand.                                                                                                                            
Me:  Oh. I think it might be better if you just stayed inside.                                           
Tristan:  Oh, man! Please?                                                                                               
Me:  Well, okay - I'll let you be the judge of what you think is a good idea and what isn't. Just be careful.                                                                                                                
Tristan:  Oh, for sure.

A few days later. . ..

Me:  So, what did you do at recess today?
Tristan:  Played soccer.
Me:  Tristan!
Tristan:  Mom, I was totally careful. I didn't even run. I just did this. .. (demonstration of really fast walking). Oliver: what even is soccer?
Me: it's a game where you try to kick the ball into the goal but you can't use your hands.
Tristan: Except the goalie can use their hands.
Me: How did you know that? (his soccer experience is limited) Tristan: Well, I played goalie today.
Me: Tristan!

A few days later...

Me (suspiciously): How did you get this hole in your pants and big huge sore on your knee?
Tristan (guiltily): I fell.
Me: Tristan! What were you doing?
Tristan: Playing tag.
Me: Tristan!! What were you thinking?
Tristan: Mom, I promise I wasn't even running - I was just "juking"!
Me: Sigh.

Now he has the cast off, and is supposed to wear a sling for 3-4 more weeks.  That lasted about one day.

I don't even bother asking anymore - I figure I'm better off not knowing. 

 

Rachel the Fighter Girl/Let Us All Speak Kind Words. . .

Rachel's been in kind of a funny mood lately. The other day she was feeling particularly dramatic in a violent sort of way, and it led to some interesting conversations.

First thing in the morning, I came upon her standing by herself in the living room, holding her princess wand and closing her eyes, muttering quietly to herself: "I don't want to die. I'm not going to die. This is a magic wand, okay? I'm not going to die. Do you hear me? This is a magic wand." She seemed to be taking herself very seriously, and was acting like maybe she was a very brave beautiful lady in a movie or something.

Then she opened her eyes and saw me watching her and she had to pretend none of that had just happened.

Later on in the morning, she had me tie a belt on her to keep weapons in, because she wanted to be a "fighter girl". She was a very intense fighter girl - she kept coming up to me and then she'd stare me in the eyes and point her sword at me and then say in a really dramatic voice, "I know who you really are!" She kept doing this to me, and it was making me kind of nervous. She never did tell me who she thought I really was - I guess it was kind of a secret.

After that she went back over to the kitchen table to do some artwork (all the art stuff pretty much stays out on the table all day, and the kids draw constantly, just taking small breaks to play. . .or to accuse their mother of being someone else.) Anyway, Rachel can draw all sorts of nice pretty castles and horses, but this particular day she was still in her violent mood, and was drawing a picture of Darth Vader and some storm troopers.

Elizabeth was watching her draw, and Rachel kept giving little commentaries to Lizza about what was going on in her picture. It sounded pretty bad:

Rachel (while coloring): See this? This is a nuclear bomb. . . . You don't want to mess with these dudes. . . . And here's a bomb that can come out of his head and destroy the whole world.

Elizabeth (trying to be helpful): Draw some lava now, Rach!

Rachel (drawing an additional bomb near Darth Vader): You will not believe what this one can do. This one can destroy 100 houses in one shot!

I was making lunch during this time, and was enjoying their conversation, but then they started arguing about something and yelling at each other, and I decided there was a little too much violence going on.

I sang the first line to a song that my mom used to sing to me and my siblings whenever we argued: "Let us all speak kind words to each other. ." I've been trying that one on my kids lately. The only problem is I can't remember the rest of the song, so I am stuck after the first line. So then I reminded Rachel of the song she and the boys have been learning in Primary, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", and I told her and Lizza that maybe they should pretend Jesus was right by them and that would help them speak kindly to each other. They both thought that was a pretty wild idea, and it started a whole bunch of fun conversations, one of which was about getting resurrected. I had recently reviewed this idea with Rachel, so she took it upon herself to teach the concept to Elizabeth, only she embellished her lesson with lots of extra details that I'm quite sure I never mentioned. Poor Elizabeth is probably so confused.

All of this spiritual talk got Rachel in the mood to compose one of her special songs, which is always a treat. I could tell it was going to be a good one right from the start, so I grabbed a pen and starting writing as she started singing.

Here is just a portion of her song. Picture it being sung very fervently/dramatically by a four-year old, in a tune that is completely made up and doesn't sound like any song you've heard before:

"Speak kind words to each other! And don't fight! Because what does Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to do-oo? Be kind, don't fight, be modest! Because in the end, Jesus will get you a new body! And then if somebody pushes you, you don't have to tell anybody or cry because it won't hurt! Even if you slip on the tile in some water!

I know it will be hard to choose the right. It will be really, really, really haaaaard! So just remember what Jesus asks! And speeee-eeeak kind words! And have good manners!!!!"

It was a very lovely song, and I couldn't believe it was coming from the mouth of the same girl who had been plotting the destruction of the whole world with her nuclear bomb drawings.

And for what it's worth, the girls did get along better after that. Lizza kept coming up to me the rest of the day and saying, "Mom, can we play that one game where we pretend Jesus is here? That's so fun!"

Rachel's first attempt at drawing Darth Vader and Storm Troopers. The guy in the middle looks pretty upset about having a bomb sticking out of his head. And I'm not sure what the deal is with Vader's pink underwear:

Tagged

Okay, Marian. Here you go:

I am: a mom of five

I know: not enough

I want: a piano, a Bosch, a bike, and a sewing machine. And one of those things that goes on the back of the bike to pull my kids in.

I have: a wonderful life

I dislike: when my kids argue. And pickles and mustard and olives. And cheetohs. And a messy house. Is that too many things?

I miss: my family and the mountains

I feel: tired

I hear: Henry crying on the monitor. Should I go get him or finish this blog post?

I smell: sweet baby smell because I went and got him and now he's sitting on my lap

I crave: something sweet almost always. And cherries - like a Taco Time cherry empanada, for example

I cry: almost whenever I argue - I hate when people are mad at me.

I search: for ways to manage my time better. So this probably isn't helping.

I wonder: how long we'll live in Texas

I regret: being impatient with my kids.

I love: Daniel, Tristan, Oliver, Rachel, Elizabeth, Henry

I care: about being a good wife and mom

I worry: that I'm not teaching my kids all they need to know

I remember: riding my bike to Storehouse with my sisters when I was a little kid and buying big cream pies for 99 cents and then riding home and eating them sneakily out in the orchard. Sorry for being so sneaky, Mom! Did you know?

I believe: the Church is true

I dance: self-consciously. Unless I'm with my sisters. Or dancing crazy with the kids.

I argue: when I feel like I'm not being understood

I write: about my kids. and to-do lists.

I win: the memory game

I lose: thumb war with Daniel every time

I wish: I had more time to get stuff done. And that all my cupboards/closets/drawers were all organized.

I listen: to my noisy kids

I can usually be found: at home

I am scared: of scary movies. and spiders

I need: to start doing Yoga again

I forget: to start the dishwasher at night and then I'm sad when I realize it the next morning

I am happy: being a mom

I tag: anyone who wants to do it

More Halloween Stuff

Pumkin-head Elizabeth. This is not her Halloween costume. I just thought it was cute.


Tristan as a football player. He broke his arm (elbow in 2 spots, plus wrist) at football practice last week, hence the lovely green cast.


Oliver as Ironman. He constructed this suit all by himself out of miscellaneous scraps of black paper and posterboard. He said it's the first suit that Ironman built in the cave. I was proud of him for coming up with the idea, and even prouder when we were out trick-or-treating and he was such a good sport after seeing other kids dressed up in "real" Ironman suits that cost more money than I was willing to spend on a Halloween costume.


Rachel as a princess. She had such a great time this Halloween. She was trick-or-treating like a pro, and had lots of fun showing Lizza the ropes.


Elizabeth as a princess. She absolutely loved Halloween until we were out trick-or-treating and we ran into some other kids dressed up in scary costumes. She wasn't prepared for that, and continued to freak out any time we saw anyone with a mask.


Henry as a pumpkin. I just held him while we walked around the neighborhood. He stayed awake for the first few houses, and then realized nobody was giving him any treats, so he fell asleep in my arms and didn't wake up till we got home.


All the trick-or-treaters ready to go. The princesses are doing their best "beautiful lady" poses, Ironman is ready for some action, and the football player might be about to drop the pumpkin.


Our nice neighbor saw me trying to gather the kids together outside, and offered to take a picture of our whole family. We've never had a picture of us all together on Halloween. I guess it would be better if Daniel and I had dressed up. Maybe next year. If you zoom in you can see that I'm wearing black and white shoes. Does that count for anything?

THE NEXT MORNING:

Every year after Halloween we dump all the kids' buckets out in a big pile, sort them into different kinds, and hold a "candy draft". They each get to choose a certain amount of treats (this year it was 15) and they get to keep those ones in their buckets and eat them whenever they want. The rest we hide away until whenever.

It kills me every year, because there is always a huge pile of candy bars and other good stuff, and the kids spend most of their choices on little weird things. This year after the draft when there was still a ton of candy bars left, I realized that maybe they don't choose those things because I never buy them and they don't really know what they're missing. So Daniel and I showed them which ones were our favorites and gave them little samples, and then let them choose a bonus 16th candy from the good pile. (Because if our kids are going to be unhealthy, it is important to teach them to be unhealthy in a tasty way, right?)



Oliver had the first pick of the draft this year. Hmm, what's that he chose?


Ta da! A weird slimy Frankenstein head! Hooray for Halloween!

I guess I'll be eating all the leftover chocolate again this year.


RANDOM HALLOWEEN DECORATION:

This is the sign that has been on our front door for the past 3 weeks, courtesy of either Tristan or Oliver, I'm not sure. Preeety spooky!