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?"
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!"
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 :)
One food mistake that I made with my children is that I ever let them have sugary yogurt. It's nothing of what yogurt was meant to be. It's dessert, and in the world of desserts, not a very good dessert.
I like plain yogurt for myself, almost always with fruit, bluberries and bananas being my favorite, banana on the bottom, blueberries dropped on top.
Today we brought home raw honey from the grocery store. After their eggs at lunch, I put their little plates of yogurt in front of them with a spoon of honey drizzled on and around, their banana on the side. (Arwen got blueberries 'cause I know she'll eat them.)
After lunch Savannah got to call her girlfriend. She left a clean plate and bounced off to her room asking her friend, "Have you ever had white (plain) yogurt with honey?"
While the girls enjoyed it, I had a drama with Seth. I've also made the mistake of occasionally giving them their food during their tv time. But the pause button will help me fix that. The girls came to the table without a problem. Seth wanted his food in front of Chicken Run, and he whined until he was sent to his room. No whining while we're trying to enjoy our food. I've gobbled down two many bowls of cereal hearing crying babies waiting to be picked up. If I'm going to eat, I'm going to enjoy it. Then Seth trashed his room. He's just giving me ammunition. He can't go back to the movie until he eats, and he can't eat until he picks up the toys he threw.
He finally picked up and asked if he could eat at the kitchen table instead of the dining table. I gave in because I know he needs to feel as if he's won something. I sat with him and watched him enjoy everything. Plain yogurt is weird to people who've never had it. I had my first bite when I was 21 and thought it tasted like sour cream, only because I thought it would be like frozen sweet yogurt. Honey makes it slip right down. He even insisted on scooping up the yogurt with the banana slices. Do you know the milestone this is to a 4 year old boy? A boy who won't let his peas touch his pasta? At the end I showed him how to use the length of his finger to run around the edge of the plate to get the excess that the spoon misses :)'
Savannah was curious as to why I wanted so much to watch him eat it all? I said that when you're a mother, and your children aren't eating well, it makes you very unhappy. I can't describe it. I know the world won't end, but habits get formed so quickly, and often never broken. But when they're eating healthy, it will make you so happy.
We buy naan from Trader Joe's. Savannah is a big fan of both chicken curry and the garlic naan. Seth likes naan too, but he's been asking to have it with a schmear of cream cheese. I had told him that you don't put cream cheese on naan.
Today he asked again. Savannah told him, "Indians don't have cream cheese."
Me - "Oh, they probably have something like it."
Savannah - "I wish I was Indian."
Me - "Oh yeah? How come? 'Cause they have all the good food?"
Seth, pouting - "I don't wish I was Indian."
Me - "How come?"
Seth - " 'Cause I want cream cheese on my naan."
I gave in. It was odd, the cream cheese wanted to slide around on the naan, but he enjoyed it and asked for more.
The last time we got a watermelon, it rolled around the garage until it rotted. We forgot about it. That four dollars would've been better spent if I'd cut it into paper dolls.
So they talked me into it again. I think my children like the idea of getting a watermelon. We only get about one watermelon each summer. We cut one a couple of summers ago but didn't finish it.
So to make sure it gets eaten, or at least cut into, I brought it into the kitchen and said, "You know how bananas and apples get boo boos? Well, we're not going to play with the watermelon. We're going to put him in his watermelon corner. You can talk to the watermelon."
Seth thought this was a great idea. "I love you watermelon. You're the best buddy in the world." Of course, it's just food, that's how a minute later he could get away with (playfully) saying, "You're stupid. I hate you watermelon."
"Ring around the rosey, a hoppa fulla tosey"
Seth to Arwen, "When I'm taller, I'm gonna do man work."
Arwen, "No, when you a Daddy."
Seth, after thinking and quietly mumbling, "No, I'm gonna do man work."
To clarify, he's been walking around the house for a couple of weeks carrying his backpack so stuffed it ripped a hole down the side and his "briefcase" of plastic tools, saying he's on his way to do man work. (I think this is extra cute because Brad carries a backpack to work with his laptop in it.) Seth will make stops in different rooms, usually to "fix" a closet door.
About two months ago, I banned all toys and books from the van because they would fight, squabble, and scream over their plastic *#@!% (insert Yosemite Sam cuss words here). Drives the driver mad. We've made attempts to ease back into the toy sharing in the van, but it never works. I let them have a Costco receipt one day and they even fought over a piece of paper.
Now, Seth and Arwen look out their respective windows, comparing what they see moving past them, "Yay, I have a playground out my window!" or "Arwen, you got a puppy out your window. Hey, so do I!" They actually root for each other and give hoorahs for each other's view.
This is a rare post. I typically post their milestones, accomplishments, and signs of individuality because those are the things I want to remember. But if I hadn't taken away the toys, would they be so creative and kind about what they see out their windows?
From the back of the basket at Trader Joe's, Seth begged again for something, I've forgotten what, certainly something sweet. Arwen ganged up with him too.
I said, "Perhaps, when we get home."
Seth asked what did "perhaps" mean.
I explained that it was just part of a yes, not a whole yes.
Seth said, "You mean like yeah."
Seth from his car seat, "When you want to blow yourself a kiss, you look up..." I look back at Seth and he's rolling his eyes back into his head, "And you go..." He makes a kissing sound.
Later that night in bed, after a full day of preschool valentines and partying , "When you're in love, you have hearts all around you."
