Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I HAVE the POWER. I think.

I think I spent most of today in power struggles with Ben. And Aaron managed to call from work four times - always in the middle of one.

A few of the situations - bear in mind that we consider Ben to be an exceptionally well behaved 2 year old, one who has even been known to listen & obey when we say "SLOW DOWN!". This IS the definition of exceptional two-year old behavior.

1. The kids were coloring at their little table, and I heard all the crayons hit the floor, being dumped from their newly assigned container (may have to rethink that, by the way). I went into the room and commanded Ben to pick them up. He shook his head very forcefully and said "Uh-uh!" I counted. Still nothing. I took his hand, folded his fingers over some crayons, lifted it, and dropped the crayons over the bucket. Another couple of times, and he started doing it on his own. Success.

2. The kids had fishy crackers for snack in the morning, and just before lunch Ben found Leah's bowl, with crackers left in it. Of course, as soon as Leah noticed that, she claimed them as her own. I told Ben to hand them over to the rightful owner. Aaand, he dumped them on the floor, then handed her the empty bowl. Tricky, tricky!

Oh, and so many other small battles that it really makes me tired just thinking about them, much less typing it for you to read. But you can probably imagine.

I think I mostly won.

3 comments:

Noel said...

But what happens to the Power of Mom when it goes up against post-golden-age air travel?

* Was the Mom able to avoid heavy sweating at boarding time since the aircraft air conditioning is often turned off on the ground to save fuel or is broken?

* Was Mom able to avoid continual hip-checking in an aisle seat by a steward(ess) whose hips were wider than the aisle?

* Was Mom able to gain control of the armrest in a plane where seats are very narrow relative to most travelers?

* Was Mom able to physically and mentally survive the waiting on the ground as air traffic in Chicago was delayed 30-120 minutes last night due to weather?

* Was Mom able to drag her carry-on from the remote regions of Terminal 2 to ground transportation? And then what?

I eagerly await the blog from "Surviver: Air Travel" :-)

Noel said...

And some Sunday slacker observations...

* Emma Thompson of "Sense and Sensibility" fame is profiled in today's Parade magazine by James Brady. She has something new coming out (I didn't recognize the work).

* When I was in Helsinki a few weeks back, I came across a Finnish-subtitled version of "Jane Austen Bookclub" on one of the TV stations.

* Chicago has had over 1.6 inches of rain this weekend while we in Fargo had wet sidewalks Saturday morning.

* While Lyz is visiting her sister who is a twin, my wife is out of town visiting her sister who is a twin. Both Lyz and my wife leave behind a husband and two great kids in Fargo.

* I should be outside enjoying this beautiful summer day. Maybe the fact I'm indoors surfing is symptomatic of being a Sunday slacker....

Noel said...

The plot thickens....

* Lyz's brother and sister have become fashionistas at Ruth'
s blog.

* Aaron has taken in cherry-eating, poor-spelling boarders in Lyz's extended absence.

* Facebook is about to change it's user interface.