Trouble maker

Today the kids and I went to Wal-Mart after school. I really hate going with them, but I wanted to get it out of the way so we could have the weekend to do whatever. I wanted to pick up some snacks for the big game on Sunday and I asked Torii what he wanted. Of course he said ice cream. I told him that if he was good I would let him pick out whatever ice cream he wanted. He didn't make it out of the school parking lot. I told him he had one more chance, but since ice cream would be the last thing we would get he would have to behave the entire time at Wal-Mart. He was doing pretty good until he started to help me push the cart. As we were pushing the cart he would stop walking and hang from the cart. All of the sudden I would have all this extra weight on the cart. He kept doing it and I kept getting madder. Finally I said, "Torii, I'm not going to tell you again. Now stop it." Torii said, "You're not going to tell me again?" "No," I said. "Good," he replied and he continued to hang on the cart.

Never ending trips to the doctor

Sometimes I feel like I'm always at the doctor's office. If it's not a regular scheduled appointment it seems to be something else. A few days ago Rion complained about an ear ache just as he was going to bed. I gave him some ear drops and the next day he didn't mention it again so I forgot about it. Then in school yesterday he complained about his ear hurting again so the school nurse looked at his ear. She noticed a small cut in his ear canal so I brought him to the doctor after school. I was hoping to get in with his regular doctor, but he was leaving for vacation that afternoon. That always seems to happen when I need to get a kid in. So we went to the walk-in. The doctor figured the amoxicillian he got a few weeks ago didn't work so he is still suffering from the same infection. She prescribed something different and when we picked it up, the pharmacist asked me if the doctor had told us how expensive this stuff was. Our insurance paid for almost fifty dollars of it and it was still over $100! I hate going to the walk-in because this is the kind of stuff that happens. And from past experiences I don't have much confidence in most of the doctors that do the walk-in. But since I couldn't get into Rion's regular doctor we didn't have any other choice. Then today Rion got sick at school. I picked him up from school and after lunch he was his normal self again. I really hope it's not the medicine, but vomiting is a side effect. What a waste of money that will be if he gets sick again. I'll try the medicine again in the morning and see how it goes.

I know, I know!

When the boys have Church School the first thing they do is go downstairs and sing. A lot of the parents hang around until after they are done and the kids are with their class. Today after they were done singing someone from Camp of the Cross was there to talk to them. He asked the kids if they knew what they did at Camp of the Cross. Someone said pray, another kid said swim. The guy said yes they did all that and asked if anyone knew of anything else they did there. My view was blocked so I couldn't see Torii, but I heard his little voice say, "I know, I know." "Eat ice cream," was his response. The man was kind of a portly fellow so he made a joke about it and continued on. Then I heard, "I know, I know" again. "Bonk your heads?" The guy didn't understand this and I was happy about that. It's just a family inside joke that probably sounds bad to everyone else. The guy once again continued on, but Torii wasn't done quite yet. He responded at least a couple more times. Parents laughed the first time and a little the second time, but by the fourth time it wasn't funny at all. Me? I was hoping it would all be over so I get the heck out of there. This is the first time I have ever heard Torii say anything in Church School. He is usually so quiet. I guess his true nature was finally coming out today. And if that wasn't enough, Rion had to add his two cents in. After the guy told the kids there was a water slide at the camp, Rion had to tell everyone about the time he went on a water slide and his daddy caught him at the bottom. What got into my boys this morning? They are never like that.

Haircuts

Sometimes I wish Fred wouldn't listen to me. I've been going on and on lately about how we need to cut back on spending. I've really been paying attention to how we spend money and I think I've become a bit of a money Nazi. I know yesterday's date set us back, but that was an exception. So as I've been preaching the need to really watch our budget, Fred has taken it upon himself to save money on the boys' haircuts. The other day he bought a hair clipper and then went to town on Torii. I really wish he would have waited one more day because I had to go out with Torii yesterday. The poor kid looks like one of the stooges. Today Fred did Rion's hair. It's better, but still could use some work. Rion really gave him a bad time so he's not going to do his hair anymore. Thank goodness. Luckily their hair grows fast.

My expensive date

Tonight Torii and I went to Playhouse Disney Live. I've always wanted to go to one of these shows, but we have always managed to somehow miss them. I asked Rion if he wanted to go, but he said he was too old. Rion and Cordelia stayed with Grandpa and Grandma while we went to the show. Torii was a little upset he couldn't stay too, but I think he liked going alone with mommy somewhere. The show was pretty good. Really, with Disney you won't be disappointed. It reminded me a lot of a stage show you'd actually see at Disney World. There was some really cool parts that even impressed me. The kids were impressed by everything. When Mickey came on stage for the first time there was a collective "ahhhhhh" from all the kids in the audience. They did that with a lot of the characters. They were in such awe of seeing these characters in real life. We had a lot of fun, but I told Torii I can't go out with him anymore because he's an expensive date. He got a couple of souvenirs and together they nearly cost as much as our tickets. We also had some overpriced gross hot dogs before the show. I'm pretty sure these hot dogs were left over from Thursday nights BHS/CHS games. Besides cotton candy we didn't get any more food although I was hungry. Torii wanted some ice cream, but I told him we would stop at DQ instead after the show. I got a nice basket of chicken strips there and he had a blizzard. I don't know how he could stand to eat that because the sign outside said 7 degrees below zero. It seemed a lot of people stopped at DQ after the show because there was a little rush when we got there and I heard some kids talking about the show. Overall, we had a really good night. Rion and Cordelia had a good time with Grandpa and Grandma. We visited with them for a little while because Torii wanted to see them too. And even though we spent too much it was worth it. I enjoyed my date with Torii.

A second meeting

We had a second meeting at the school about Rion's fine motor skills. They all say he is very bright, it's just this one area that needs help. They also want to work with him because he is so smart and he's a fun kid. So that is good to hear. Since he is so far academically, they think he will be able to catch on quickly and make fast progress. Today we talked about a lot of the same things we did the last time so there wasn't much new information. The occupational therapist just went more in depth about the way he writes his letters and draws shapes. It got kind of technical and I was a bit overwhelmed, but I think I understood it all. She also gave me a couple of things to bring home to help him out. I also got a sheet of some fun ideas we can do together. He won't be out of the classroom very much which is good. He will also have some things in the classroom that will help him out. He may get a special scissors that will help him learn to cut better and he'll also get some visual cues during reading that will help with his speech. Everyone seemed real eager to work with him and all seemed to think he will do great.

History

Yesterday I watched, with great excitement, the inauguration of President Obama. It's one of those moments that you'll know where you were when he was sworn in. I was at work. I started listening to NPR as soon as I got in the car and continued to listen at work. When it got close to the swearing in I pulled up a live feed on the Internet and got to see it live. It was so amazing. It was so nice to see our country come together and be happy for a change. I thought Obama's speech was great. It will be so nice to listen to a good speaker for the next four years. When I picked Rion up from school they had a letter to President Obama posted by the door. The kids asked that he take care of the people that need help and to keep people safe among other things. Rion said he did get to watch the president being sworn in, but he thought it was boring. I told him some day he will be thankful he got to see such a historical event. At home, Torii wasn't so thrilled about the inauguration either. He wanted to play his video game. Even though this was a day to show how far this country has come, it was also a reminder of how much work still needs to be done. Fred reminded me that, unfortunately, there are people that are not happy about our new president. When he said this, I joked, "Just because they're Republicans. Are they sore losers?" He looked at me seriously and said, "No, that's not the reason." It took me a few seconds, but then it clicked. "Ohhh.... right, because he's black." It's so sad that he is right about that.