It's All a Matter of Perspective

I try to be careful about what my kids see and do, attempting to cling to that last bit of childhood innocence for as long as possible.  A good job is done is most areas, although it does appear that there is some room for improvement.

Driving home from school with the radio on.  Momma can only take so much Radio Disney and Laurie Berkner CDs, so we were listening to a popular local station.  It's funny how you never really notice the lyrics ... until your parents or small children are in the car.

"My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State"

As I am thinking that this isn't the most appropriate song, a little voice chimes in from the backseat:
LM: "Momma, this isn't a nice song."  *hmm, I couldn't agree more, but how do I explain this one?
LM:  "He's talking about a bathroom and we don't talk about that."

So, we both agree it isn't a good song for the four-year-old to be singing.  It's just the reasoning that differs a bit - potty talk vs drug use. 

I only hope we have a few more years where the worst thing he can think of is talking about a bathroom!

Eat More Chicken

Several years back, a friend and I temporarily lost our minds.  Together we have a total of six kids, two sets of perfect little stair steps, none of them over the age of 7.  Rewinding back a bit - there were five kids, including a newborn, and one very pregnant momma.  The timing couldn't have been worse, but we decided to make the best of it.  After all, it was Disney and we couldn't possibly miss it! 
It went surprisingly well, all things considered.  No one cried, we left with the same number of kids we started with and neither mom felt the urge to jump from the top balcony.  We were just about to proclaim it a success.  Everyone lined up and we headed up the stairs, out of the arena.  

As we exited, the conversation went something like this:
Mom #1: "What does Little Man have in his mouth?"
Mom #2: "I don't know.  I thought you gave him something."
*stopping to further investigate*
Mom #2:  "Popcorn chicken?"
Mom #1: "Um ... I didn't have any chicken.  Did you?"
Mom #2: "No"
Mom #1 "I don't remember even seeing any chicken at the concession stand ..."
Mom #2: "Yeah, I don't either."

Nachos, cokes, hot dogs, cotton candy ... but not chicken.  There was no chicken for sale that day.  And just like that - success denied.  If your kid eats food of unknown origin and unknown age at a public venue, it is an automatic fail!

A Party to Remember

We will be celebrating a very special birthday in our family this weekend.  Our Granny is turning 80.  Quite an accomplishment, especially in the eyes of a four and six-year-old.  Since we couldn't be in town for the actual birthday, Little Man and I decided to order some flowers and balloons to mark the occasion.  He was super excited about his purple flowers and even dictated exactly what the card would read ("I love you"). 

Diva wasn't able to go with us, but he couldn't wait to share the details when we picked her up from school. 
It went something like this:
LM: "We got flowers for Granny!"
Diva: "I wanted to go!"
LM: "You can't go.  You have to go to school.  We're going to have a birthday for her."
Diva:  "No we're not."
LM: "We ARE!  We are having a birthday party for Kiki's Granny that's going to heaven!"
Daddy: "She isn't planning on going there Sunday ... is she?"

While I am pleased to learn that Granny will be going to heaven, I would prefer not to be known as the one that hastened that journey. 
Well, that settles it.  We definitely won't be yelling "SURPRISE!!!" at that party!