Clearing The Dishes

Me:  Owen, did you clear your breakfast dish?

Owen:  YES MOM!  Why do you always ask me that?

Me:  Oh.  I don't know.  :rolleyes:  But thanks for clearing it.

So I go into the kitchen to clean up and find the bowl that he cleared.

:-|

Technically, I guess he did clear it.  And I *am* glad that it didn't fall off of the counter.

But apparently we still have work to do.  ;)

It's the Law

A few miles after we crossed over into South Carolina from North Carolina, we saw this motorcycle zipping through traffic.

Shirt flying off his body.  Hair whipping in the wind.  Because he didn't have on a helmet.

As soon as Owen saw it, he said "MOM!  That guy is breaking the law.  He's suppose to have a helmet on."

We live in Virginia and while it *is* state law in Virginia that motorcyclists have to wear a helmet, we don't own motorcycles but I don't really ever remember having a conversation with either kids about that law.

But it is such a weird sight to see a motorcyclist riding without a helmet for them so maybe he just assumed that it was a law.

Either way, he continued on and started talking about how stupid it was to ride a motorcycle without a helmet on.

While I agreed with him totally, I explained to him that SC has different state laws than we do in Virginia and they're not required to wear a helmet.

His response?  "Well.  It's stupid to not wear one." 

Well.  Yes son.  But that is his choice.

The next day, we were in a barber shop and I hear Shane telling the barber and several other men that he saw a motorcyclist driving without a helmet and that was stupid and it was stupid that it was not a law in SC mandating that they wear the helmets.

Meanwhile, I'm sinking lower and lower into my chair because I saw the motorcycles outside that probably  belonged to the barber and I knew that the guy in the next chair rode motorcycles.

Then  he starts asking the guy whether he's a Clemson fan or not.  Because Shane likes Clemson.

The guy was a Carolina fan.  :/

At that point, I'm hoping that Shane doesn't denounce the second amendment right to bear arms. :/

So after we left the barbershop, I had to explain to him that there were four things that you absolutely do not discuss without being prepared for an argument or verbal beat down.  Those things included religion, politics, the motorcycle helmet law and the second amendment.

I guess that it was shocking to the kids to see something so different than what they are use to.  Sometimes it's interesting to see the world from their perspective.  I didn't really think twice about the motorcyclist zipping through traffic without a helmet on.

Well.  Other than, you'll be seeing my sister at some point.  :/

Picture of the Day

Such innocence.

Best Friends Forever. 

Even though they just met twenty minutes ago.

<3

Learning The Value of a Dollar

Shane and his irresponsibility drive me nuts.

He never thinks two feet in front of his face.

I can't tell you how many times the phone rang at 8:45 with him on the other end saying "u, uh, yeah, mom, I forgot my _____."  You'd think that me making him kiss and hug me in the office in front of teenage girls would have made him get his stuff together in the morning, but yeah.  No.

Apparently everything is replaceable to him.  He doesn't take care of anything.

And it drives me nuts.

So when he got his glasses less than a month ago, he promised that he would take care of them.  PROMISED I tell you.

And then he promptly lost them three weeks after he got them.

So doing what any mean mother would do, I made him go to the bank and take the money out of his account to pay for new glasses.

 
And then I embarrassed him even further by taking pictures of the whole ordeal.  :p

To say that he was unhappy with me is an understatement.  (And for those that don't know, this is the famous "Da&el@r look.") 

That look doesn't phase me at all.  Pffffsssstttt.  You are an amateur.

Onward to the eye doctor to order the new ones AND PAY FOR THEM.

I hope he really thinks about what he could have bought with that $250.

Of course, it being Shane, he caught a break.  The manufacturer has a warranty that offers a one time replacement for $15 on the frames.  So, he actually only had to pay $250 instead of the $410 for the lenses only.

Figures.

I swear to God that kid needs to go to Vegas.

Wearing his new glasses.  Ones that I HOPE he takes care of this time.

And I hope that he learns a lesson in responsibility and the value of a dollar.  Or $250 dollars in this case.

Little Tiny Hiney

I've been busy packing the boys trunks for camp.  I asked Owen to bring me 10 pairs of shorts.  I was busy stamping them with his last name so when he inevitably loses them, they can find their way back to him.

I got to his favorite pair of gray shorts (that he wears all the time) and as I went to stamp the tag, I did a double take.

Dear Lord.  That can not be what I think I see.

So I handed them to Ken and asked him to verify that they said 2T.

Yep.  They said 2T.

Where in the world did he get his tiny hiney from?  Definitely not from me!

And he wears these shorts ALL. THE.  TIME.

I guess he's gotten his moneys worth out of these shorts, eh?

I'm going to start calling him little tiny hiney.  He will LOVE that!

teehee

No Tickle Monster!

Ken knows better than that.

He knows that he absolutely should not tickle me.

He knows that it's ON if that happens.

He has warned the boys to never, ever tickle me.  Mom is not a part of any tickle monster war that he and the boys engage in.

But yet sometimes he loses his mind and forgets the rule.

And he tickles me.

Then I have to karate chop his ass down, using whatever force is necessary to take him out.

And when that happens, I don't feel one bit bad.

Even when he's curled up on the floor crying like a little girl.

Cause he knows better.

Hee-yaw boy.  You knew better.

Crazy Unique

When I was a kid, I used to love laying in the grass looking up at the sky and finding different shapes and animals in the clouds.  I would waste away the day doing that.

On man.  To have that life again.  Sigh.

Anyway, I still do that.  It's just usually as I'm driving my ungrateful children here and there or running one of my many errands.

The other day, the clouds were so unique.  Crazy unique.

I love clouds.  They are just so awesome.  And once that shape is gone, it's gone.

Only to be replaced by some other cool cloud in the shape of a dog, whale, lollipop....or whatever you want it to be.really.

Check Please

When something you love to do becomes soooo not fun, you have to ask yourself, why bother doing it?  When people become so much effort, so much work and so much DRAMA, it's time to check out of the situation.

So here we are.  And I am at that point.

Done.  I'm no longer willing to expend the energy dealing with it or even be around the situation any longer.

D-O-N-E.

I'm not about the drama.  And you are drama. 

Therefore, I'm done with you and your drama.

Don't need this.  Don't want this.  Not gonna do it anymore. This is so NOT worth my time.

Check please.

Slip Sliding Away

Yesterday morning Owen was attempting to slide on the kitchen floor in his socks.  I asked him what he was doing.

He responded that he was trying to slide on the floor because it felt slippery.

I asked him why it felt slippery and he said that he didn't know.

I told him to knock it off and get his shoes on to go to school and went about my business.

I cleaned the kitchen while they were at school and noticed that the cooking spray can was laying on the kitchen table.  And the table was covered in it.  :-|

Fast forward to the afternoon.

Owen gets home and I asked him if he sprayed the Pam on the floor.

He said yes.

I asked him why.

He responded because he wanted to slide on the kitchen floor.

:rolleyes:

What Are Big Brothers For?

What are big brothers for?

I've come to learn that it's mostly to punk their little brothers into doing stuff that the big brother knows is just wrong.

So.  Very.  Wrong.

I can only imagine what the conversation was when Shane convinced Owen to let Shane spray paint his hand gold.

Spray.  Painted.  His.  Brother's.  Hand.

Yeah.  Owen's fingernails are still gold.

Because.  It.  Was.  Spray.  Painted.

But Shane's good.  Because not only did he convince Owen to let him spray paint his hand, he also convinced a friend to allow him to spray paint his hand as well.

With.  Freaking.  Permanent.  Spray.  Paint.

And by the time I discovered it, the paint was dry (of course) and I really had to scrub his friend's hand to get the paint off of it.

Now, I should also state here that I was kinda appalled at the fact that this child's mother never called me to see if it was okay for the child to come home on the bus with Shane when Shane spoke to the child on the phone.  I suppose she just took her son's word for it that it was okay with Shane's parents...and Shane's parents weren't some kind of freaks that she was sending her son home with.

I mean we are, but still.  I would never have just sent Shane to someone's house without speaking to the parents.

So, feeling all smug about myself being such an awesome parent, I had to swallow my pride and tell the mom that Ken wasn't supervising them and my son spray painted her son's hand but I got most of it off with fingernail polish remover.  But it wasn't totally off.

And, oh, his clothes were painted on too.

So yeah.  I guess I"m not that much better than her.  That right there is called karma folks. 

And did you catch there that I blamed it all on Ken?

Teehee.

At Least It Wasn't Pinking Sheers

Kids + scissors = up to NO good.

I saw some hair up on my bathroom counter two nights ago.  I thought to myself that one of the kids must have been cutting their hair.

And then promptly forgot about it.  Because I have (self diagnosed) A.D.D.  ;)

And when I was snuggling Owen yesterday after he got home from school, I figured out which one had been cutting his hair.

He said he didn't cut his hair.  

What do you think?  

Teehee.

But at least he was 8 and not 13 and at least it wasn't pinking sheers.

Although it doesn't look much better than if he had have used pinking sheers!  :p