Seth's Weblog

We didn't bake them, but it was one of a few lessons Seth got today at lunch. I said if y'all want ice cream, you'll either have an egg or nuts first. (They already ate a day's worth of fruit.)

On his own initiative he put the kiddie chef coat on, and cracked his first egg into a little pan of butter. He read, yes he's reading a LOT now, the egg carton said "organic free range". He learned what a range is, where animals can run and play. He learned the song "Home on the Range" which I got stuck in my head while we were cooking. He learned that even though the butter is salted, I like to add a bit more to our eggs.

He ate it and returned to the kitchen to fry Savannah's egg also. Funny that he cracked her egg yolk but not his own. He was not intimidated by the heat, which means I had to add a little fear to the recipe.

The memory of it cancels out their squabbling in the backyard later.

Posted by Georgia at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was kickin' back, digesting after supper tonight when Seth said to me, "I know what my Power is."

This sounded like superhero mythology to me, so I perked up. I could hear the capital "P" in what he said and asked him to explain.

"My Power is Strength." He loves making muscles with both arms. He's very lean. Even his tushy has about the smallest amount of fat on it that a six year old boy's tushy can have and still be a tushy. So he's all muscle, but there's no bulk in his biceps. Very cute.

He continued, "I've been getting a lot of boo boos." He showed me his latest boo boo, a scratch created by sliding on the tanbark at recess today. He reminded me that I'd once said the more boo boos he gets the stronger he'll be.

I remembered then the conversation we'd had a few weeks ago. With so much repetition, trying to get through their selective hearing, (almost always with orders) I never know how much children actually hear, my guess is, more than most parents realize. I believe they especially hear concepts, the little sponges. They can make the same request 3 and 4 times in the hope that I'll finally give them the answer they want. Then when I explain an abstract, albeit unsolicited, thought, they can grab on with their minds in the right phase of development to completely understand, and even make the practical application to themselves.

But tonight I had to correct him about our old conversation. The boo boos will make you tougher. He made his muscles. He told me that I could be tough too. I said, "Oh, no. I don't wanna be too tough. I'm a mama." He walked out of the room with arms flexed saying, "I wanna be TOUGH."

Posted by Georgia at 7:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Conversation 1

Seth, sitting with me in the van outside a Starbucks, upon seeing Army personnel in their camouflage: "Look! It's the Army!"

Then trying to call out to them through the closed window: "Did you fight for Lincoln?"

~~~~~

Conversation 2

Seth: "I know why you make cookies for Daddy to take to work.
Me: "Why?"
Seth: "So he can share them with his classmates."

Posted by Georgia at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth said this morning, "Did you know that nothing kills rock?"

I started thinking about how rock could be blown up, mining for coal or changing the landscape for roadways. And what words can quickly describe this while I'm trying to get them all to school on time?

But then he says paper can't kill rock. Aaahhh. Paper can't kill rock. "But dynamite blows up rock, Seth." I showed him a thumbs up and demonstrated. "Scissors cut dynamite. Dynamite blows up rock."

He said again, "Paper doesn't kill rock. Nothing kills rock." Then I realized he'd thought he'd found the surest way to beat all of his friends in a game of chance. I had to tell him, "Son, if nothing kills rock then everyone would use it all the time."

My sphere of influence seems small, but I like to think Seth's got something new and cool to introduce on the playground. By this time next year, children as far as Detroit will be using dynamite to blow up rock.

Posted by Georgia at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Gimme a rest!" comes from Give it a rest and Gimme a break.

And for some reason he says, "Kill me I must be dreaming!" instead of "pinch me."

Posted by Georgia at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just like his Daddy has done for a long time, Seth just started using his vocal chords to yawn. Kids have all kinds of quirks that come out in different phases, talking loudly while breathing in; that's a lovely one, especially right in your ear. Yawning with a voiceover isn't so bad. Even when he (1) does it in public. There are far more disruptive things a five year old boy could do.

I don't imagine Seth ever had a moment where he thought, "Hey, I like the noise Daddy makes when he yawns. I'll start that." But it's at this age that boys have really begun to identify with their fathers. (The process of pulling away from the mother can start at about 18 months.) I think even this goofy, subconscious adopting of a trait seals the deal. We are destined to become our same sex parent, no?

Naturally, there are little troubles and stress (2) that you learn to let go of with each child. It may be the best reason to have three children. As Daddy has yawned loudly through our years together, I've learned to transpose annoyances into amusements. And there is the secret to a happy marriage!

~
1) Seth, not Daddy
2) As little as they are, they step on my feet and I still holler "Feeet."

Posted by Georgia at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth and Arwen have been wearing their new bike helmets, the trendy round kind. Seth organizes astronaut games, usually involving the helmets, our good climbing tree, and dismantling the wagon. They're playing astronaut this morning.

Arwen is our slow child. It's a good, dreamy kind of slow. She's as sharp as the other two, but there's little to hurry her when she's not compliant.

When Seth and Arwen came in for "space gear" which involved Arwen's getting into her bathing suit, Seth got tired of waiting on her dilly dallying and shouted, "I'm blasting off without you!"

Posted by Georgia at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth teased me by pretending to eat a big slice of apple, as opposed to the small bite that he knows I prefer. I ignored it.

"Seth, they say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. What do you think that means?"

My interesting tone took his attention away from The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and he said, "Doctors don't like apples?"

Posted by Georgia at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth's big field trip was a bus ride to the museum. An odd choice I think for rowdy 5 year old children, mostly boys. Running my errands, I drove past his class all crowded around the bus stop. I'd assumed they'd rent a yellow bus, and sure enough, when Seth got home, the only thing he had to say about it was his disappointment in not getting to ride a yellow school bus. He'd ridden the public transit bus, The Number 10.

So now we see The Number 10 bus all over town, and Seth yells from the back seat, his little barbaric challenges, like, "I hate you, Number 10!" or "Oh, no! Not again!" or "I'll get you for this Number 10!"

Posted by Georgia at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Seth likes puzzles and digging in the dirt and making noise. He is not as crafty as his sisters, unless you show him how the craft will make a noise.

He is in love with me and sometimes wants to marry me, although he usually says he'll marry his little sister. Savannah would tell him he might go to jail for that though.

I shudder to think how crazy and rough he'd be if Savannah and Arwen were boys. They keep him grounded, but he's due for a play date with his buddy Jack down the street. Jack is also the little brother of an 8 year old girl, so they hit it off well, jumping up and down and laughing at nothing obvious.

Anymore, he takes a lot of delight in doing the opposite of what I say, and he does this with a smile, but his elder sister did the same at this age. In fact, she's 8 and just did this, running into the bathroom when she knows I want 2 minutes of privacy please! So the orneriness is not gender specific. But when I tell the children to slow down with supper, enjoy your food, I say, the girls "get me." Seth stuffs his cheeks full of green grapes, (it only takes 3) grunting, pointing at his mouth, and, I'm pretty sure, smiling.

He is closer to Daddy than he used to be, as usually happens and should happen... bike rides and video games and a whole lot more rough housing than Mama can tolerate. Daddy is in Japan right now. Yesterday when I closed the garage door after the garage had cooled off. Seth jumped up and ran to the door saying, "Daddy's home!" No, not yet, in a few days :)

Posted by Georgia at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)