Naked or Nekkid?

A wise and funny man named Lewis Grizzard once said that there's a difference between being naked and being nekkid. Imagine a thick Southern drawl saying, "when you're naked, you ain't got no clothes on. If you're nekkid, you ain't got no clothes on ... and you're up to something!"

Thing 2 hasn't quite gotten to the "up to something" part of being nekkid, but he doesn't let that stop him.

As I was changing into comfortable after work clothes, he comes up to me stripping off articles of clothing the whole way. He proudly states, "I'm gonna be nekkid!" Then he looks at me with a concerned expression. He then tells me that he plans to be nekkid, but that he also thinks he'll leave his underwear on. Because "I don't want anybody to see THAT!"

So, for now, I'm thankful that he's never even heard of the Southern humorist Lewis Grizzard. And that he has no knowledge of what being "up to something" could possibly mean. And that wants his (ahem) parts, to remain ... private.

Thank Goodness for the Good Guys!

Thing 2 has always loved his Superheroes. From the time he could talk, he was always inclined to all things "super". We encourage him, sure. But most times the Superhero du jour is all his idea.

So I'm finding myself thankful for the good guys out there. Whether they be flying Superheroes with capes, or the new sheriff in town, I'm sure glad those guys are around for my son to emulate.

For a long time, Spiderman was the one. We have Spiderman shirts, PJs, coloring books, you name it. If it's got Spidey on it, we probably have it. And he's got "the guys". That's what he calls his burgeoning collection of action figures. He never goes anywhere without at least one stashed in his pocket or backpack. And you can't have a good guy without having a bad guy for him to fight, so we have Venom and Sandman too.

Then he was on to Iron Man. I must admit, Iron Man is pretty cool. He even had a brief stint where he was all about Captain Jack Sparrow. He's even got pirate hair that he wears when he's pretending to be that great man of the sea. While Sparrow's good guy image may be a little tarnished in places, he's still good at heart. Of course, Batman and Superman have had minor roles in our lives, as well as Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.

But now we have a new one. Really, though, it's an old one. My husband thought it would be a kick to introduce the kids to the Indiana Jones movies. We'd enjoy seeing them again, and we both agreed the kids would love them. Love them they did! Especially Thing 2.

He pretends to be Indiana Jones on a daily basis. All. The. Time. He teaches the other kids at daycare how to make Indy shadows on the wall. They find themselves in awful predicaments, and then Thing 2 (as Indiana Jones) swoops in to save the day. He's even made himself a whip to wear on his pants.

But the best part has got to be the song. We can't go an hour during his waking hours without hearing that song! He hums it while he eats breakfast, while he's getting dressed, and of course, while he's playing with his Indiana Jones Legos.

Heck, he may even do it in his sleep! If I hear it in the middle of the night, I'll let you know.

Dut ta da daaaa, dut ta DA. Dut ta da DAAAAA, dut ta da da da ....

Soccer Season: It's a Love/Hate Thing

Last night marked the beginning of another soccer season. Thing 1 is beginning her 4th season as our own little Mia Hamm. And I can't decide if I'm happy or sad.

For a team sport, soccer isn't a bad way to go. Even though her team - the Cheetahs - practices two times a week, we only have one weekly Saturday game. As I understand it, that's not too bad. Thing 1 has friends who are in baseball, and that's a wee bit excessive for us. They have multiple practices, night games during the week, double headers on the weekend. Where's the family time, I ask you?!

Don't get me wrong. I love watching Thing 1 play! Even though she's not the best player on the team, that kid has one heck of a leg. She can shoot from mid-field and make goals! I'm eager to see if she "gets it" a bit more this season too. What's important is that she's having fun. And she is.

The downside to soccer is the frantic evenings we have on practice nights. I work about 40 minutes away from home. Before the 5:45pm practice, I have drive the 40 minutes, pick up Thing 2 from daycare (across town), get Thing 1 from the Y Afterschool program, get her changed, and try to make it to practice without being too unfashionably late.

Not a problem, you say? Ha! is my response. On "normal" days, it's easily 6pm before we even pull into the driveway.

So after the hour-long practice, we still have to get home, pick up/make dinner, eat, do homework, take baths, and get to bed. This is a difficult feat to accomplish, thus our Mondays and Wednesdays tend to last until at least 9:30pm ... if we're lucky.

What I don't understand is how other Mom's do it. How do you feed your family something healthy when there's no time to cook anything?!

The worst part is that there's no hope for this situation improving any time soon. Thing 1 is only 7 and Thing 2 is nearly 5. I don't think for a minute that their schedules will be slowing down as they get older.

So we're back to where we started. Soccer: It's a Love/Hate Thing.

Little Boys and Buzz Cuts

Thing 2, my almost-five-year-old son, has had a buzz cut for going on 2 years. I was dragged into it kicking and screaming, but I have to admit now, that I actually like it a lot.

It was all his idea too. We had just gotten his hair cut not two weeks prior - a cute little boy haircut. Thing 2 decided it was too long, so we went to the "haircut store" for a trim. After one pass with the clippers set on 4, he rubbed it with his hand and immediately said, "shorter!". So shorter we went.

Now, he gets a 2 on top and a 1 on the sides and back. It's short!

Two weeks ago, he surprised us by saying that he wanted to grow it out. Even if it meant combing it every morning (something we haven't had to do in 2 years!). I was even more surprised by how sad that made me. I've grown accustomed to rubbing his cute little prickly head, and I knew I would miss it. It's the little things, you know.

Today he changed his mind. His hair was long enough. So, before he could change his mind, I whisked Thing 2 and his sister, Thing 1, to the haircut store for haircuts all around. He was pleased with his new "do" and so am I. Thing 2 even agreed to whack off an inch from her beautiful long hair! We have soccer starting back up tomorrow, and I could just imagine the nest of tangles her hair would become if we didn't.

After the haircuts, we went to the local outlet mall to buy some new pants ... for both of them. Why do they have to grow so fast? Anyway, as we walked into the OshKosh Outlet store, we were approached by a sales woman.

She did the usual bit ... did we need help? ... did we know this was on sale today? ... etc. As soon as Thing 2 saw her, he walked right up to her and announced, "I got my haircut today!".

Then, he turned his back to her and stuck up his fuzzy little head as high as he could and closed his eyes. He wanted her to rub his head! I gave her the "he wants you to rub his head" hand motion, and she obliged, all the while fighting back laughter. Then he told her to rub the back "'cause that's the best part". Which she again did.

His older cousins would be so proud. Those girls do love to rub the back of his head.

So, life is back to normal around here again. New pants are okay, but a new buzz cut? Ahhh, now that's the ticket!

Loose Teeth = Trauma

I've been blogging a lot about Thing 1 lately, but she seems to be giving me the most fodder. So I'll stick with it for now.

Thing 1 has now lost 3 teeth. Two out of three have been traumatic events, so her batting average isn't too good right about now.

The first tooth wasn't quite ready to come out. But it did anyway. We were at soccer practice last Spring, and she got thirsty and grabbed her water bottle. Thinking it was the kind that had a pop-up top, she bit the cap with her teeth to pull it open. Needless to say, it was the twist off kind. She twisted her tooth right off with the bottle cap. There was blood everywhere, and she didn't stop crying for 2 1/2 hours. Seriously. The tooth fairy felt sorry for her and left her $2 - a Susan B. Anthony dollar coin and a Sacajawea dollar coin to make up for the trauma.

Her next tooth wasn't too bad. After much ado (and at least 45 minutes) , she let me pull it. Minimal blood. Minimal tears.

So now this brings us up to tonight's episode. Thing 1 has had a very loose front top tooth for about two weeks. She would not, under any condition, let us pull it. Her counselors at the YMCA after-school program tried yesterday to bribe her with money, extra snacks, and shoulder rides, but to no avail.

Today when I picked her up, it was literally hanging by a thread. Once home, I asked her if she had seen how awful it looked. When she said no, I suggested she go look at it in the mirror. As I'm getting dinner ready, I hear screams and tears from the hall bathroom. Thing 1 then comes running into the kitchen, in a full-on crying fit.

She's swallowed her tooth!

It took a while to get her calmed down to the point where she would actually listen to me. But when she did, I explained that the tooth fairy would still come and leave her money - even without a tooth in exchange.

That seemed to help, but she was still pretty bummed about not getting to put her tooth under her pillow. We plan to leave the tooth fairy a note instead.

Good thing the tooth next to this one is getting ready to come out too. I think we're due for a non-traumatic tooth pulling next time.

Phone Call From School

So, today I'm at the office plugging away when the phone rings. On the caller ID, I see the name of the school district that Thing 1 attends. My first thought was, "Oh no! It's the school nurse, and she's got that nasty bug that's been going around."

But then Thing 1's teacher ... began ... speaking. My next thought was, "Oh no! What did she do that warrants a call from the teacher?!"

She calmly explained that during a study time, Thing 1 and the three girls at her table did not do the activity they were instructed to work on. I'm thinking that while this clearly isn't good behavior, it doesn't require a phone call at work from the teacher. Something else must be up.

Then she says that instead of working on the assigned activity, each of the girls thought it better to cut their clothing. CUT THEIR CLOTHING?! What on earth would possess them to do something like that? Who's bright idea was that anyway?

So the teacher says they had discussed taking personal responsibility for their actions, and that the girls needed to tell their parents themselves. Right then. So the teacher puts Thing 1 on the phone.

After quizzing and lecturing her for a few minutes with some muted "yes ma'ms" and "I don't knows" for answers, I tell her that we'll discuss it again later at home ... with her daddy.

She thought it was no big deal that she'd cut her (brand new!) shirt in two places. After all, we know someone who can fix it. Ha!

She sort of got out of it tonight since she fell asleep on the couch shortly after dinner. So while she's dreaming, we're trying to think of a way to teach her a lesson about taking care of her things and that her things have value (a.k.a. they cost money! MY money!). I'll let you know what we come up with.

Great summer day camp

Last summer, Thing 1 was finally old enough to go to a day camp I'd been wanting her to attend since she was born. I knew she'd have a blast, and she did.

I've already signed her up to attend a 1-week session for this summer. We're both so excited, we can hardly wait! The camp is offered by McKinney Roughs Nature Park, which is near Bastrop. Full disclosure - I work for the company that owns and operates this park. But it's so cool, I'd recommend it anyway.

If your children love the outdoors like mine do, then McKinney Roughs Summer Camp is the place for them. There are 8 sessions from June 15th through August 14th (no camp the week of July 4th). It's only $170 for a 1-week session, and there's a shuttle service from 2 Austin locations so you don't have to drive to Bastrop. Campers are divided into 3 age groups where kids can do a wide variety of age-appropriate and hands-on outdoor activities:

• Camp Tonkawa (ages 6-7) - Campers experience hands-on learning with live animal presentations, nature hikes, camp crafts, games, nature studies and more.


• Camp Comanche (ages 8-9) - Campers learn wilderness skills, raft the Colorado River, climb a 45-foot-high rock wall and swim at nearby Bastrop State Park.


• Camp Caddo (ages 10-12) - Campers connect with the natural world through adventurous studies of geology, hydrology, botany and more. Activities include rafting, swimming and team-building challenges on a low- and high-ropes challenge course led by ropes-certified staff.

Thing 1 came home every day filthy and exhausted, but I've never seen her more happy. I can hardly wait until next summer when Thing 2 will finally be old enough to go too!

Dreams Do Come True

It finally happened. The day that all parents dream about and think will never come. It happened to us. Today.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 woke up way too early for a weekend, as is their normal routine. But instead of coming into our room and waking us up to ask us to turn on cartoons, Thing 1 ... did it ... HERSELF!

I've wondered for some time now why we can't pry them from their beds with a crowbar on school days at 7am, but on weekends, they're up - on their own - at the crack of dawn. It simply defies reason. A perfectly good day to sleep in is wasted on their need for Scooby Doo or SpongeBob. It's senseless really.

But our day of blissful weekend sleep, the day we previously only dreamed about, finally came true. Ahhh!