When my son turned 8 this summer, he was told that he would start having chores. You see, my boyfriend and I convinced him that WE were both 8 when we started carrying more responsibilities around the house. My son, being quite quick-witted says "How much allowance will I get?" Ok, so I can't fault him for being an entrepeneur. This is the kid who writes his own comic book on lined paper and wants to sell copies for $2 a piece on the playground, so I should have seen the negotiations coming. Nevertheless, we all agreed on $5 a week if he completed everything.
We made a nice, colorful chart on the computer for each day of the week and even bought the shiny stars that teachers use to say "Good job!" on a piece of homework. The chores started out small with things like Brush Teeth and Shower. Little by little though, we added more items to the list such as Clean Room, Feed Rabbit and Take Out Garbage.
We are now on our 2nd month of chores and have finally added Dust and Vacuum Living Room to the list (only once a week). He actually seems to enjoy being challenged and feeling like he is "grown up." However, there is a part of me that wonders whether having all these chores is a way to help teach him to contribute to a household or a way to take a few things off my plate. But then I realize, does it matter?! Someday he will meet a nice girl who will be quite impressed with his abilitiy to pick up a vacuum and a dust cloth without being nagged.
But since that day is far away, I can sit back and revel in the fact that there are FINALLY a few things I can take off my to-do list! And all that for only $5 a week.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
To Infinity and Beyond!
I love Saturdays that are filled with fun (as opposed to those Saturdays filled with cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping), and yesterday was definitley one of those fun ones!
My son has always been a huge fan of Toy Story, to the point that we have a whole shelf filled with action figures of all the characters we can find. His favorite, however, is Buzz Lightyear. We have Buzz toys, pillows, towels, and even a Buzz costume. Yes, this costume has seen us through many dress-up adventures, despite that fact that it is about 3 sizes too small and gives him the best wedgie I've ever seen.
So of course, when a television commercial announced that there would be a Toy Story Double Feature in 3D, we knew we'd be there.
So here we are at the theater, waiting in the longest line I've ever seen for a movie (ok, well maybe Twilight had a lot more teeny-boppers, but I wasn't there.). We have our 3D glasses and our snacks from "outside" that we're ready to sneak in (don't tell me you've never done this!) and we're set for 4 hours of Pixar bliss. You see, we had to make a stop at Costco before the movie and in case you've never tried it, Costco has these delicious chicken bakes. The issue, is that they're about 12 inches long and don't easily fit into a purse...especially 3 of them. Luckily, a soccer mom is always prepared. I have a nice, big canvas bag in the trunk that holds some blankets for soccer games and practices. Who will notice a small woman carrying a duffle bag into a theater? And as for the sodas that were still mostly full? My boyfriend's windbreaker pockets did the trick!
Now, you'd think that most parents would know the limits of their children and would not take them to a double feature film unless they're confident their attention span can last that long....well, we must have been in a movie theater full of parents who have never tested their childrens' movie watching capabilities.
We have a little blonde haired boy to the right of us who is crying "You hurt my ear mom.Wahhhhh! Now you hurt my arm. Waahhhhhh! Now you pulled my hair!" I'm pretty sure the mother was doing none of these things.
Then the child to the left of us starts crying when he has to put his 3D glasses on and the logo jumps out at him. Wow, this is going to be a long movie.
And then we have the cute little girl in front of us who is loudly quoting the memorable lines in the movie. I'm pretty sure that's only endearing the first time around.
So all I can do is remind myself that my son will have a blast regardless of the crying, screaming and quoting kids and this will make for an interesting story to tell later.
So...to infinity and beyond!
My son has always been a huge fan of Toy Story, to the point that we have a whole shelf filled with action figures of all the characters we can find. His favorite, however, is Buzz Lightyear. We have Buzz toys, pillows, towels, and even a Buzz costume. Yes, this costume has seen us through many dress-up adventures, despite that fact that it is about 3 sizes too small and gives him the best wedgie I've ever seen.
So of course, when a television commercial announced that there would be a Toy Story Double Feature in 3D, we knew we'd be there.
So here we are at the theater, waiting in the longest line I've ever seen for a movie (ok, well maybe Twilight had a lot more teeny-boppers, but I wasn't there.). We have our 3D glasses and our snacks from "outside" that we're ready to sneak in (don't tell me you've never done this!) and we're set for 4 hours of Pixar bliss. You see, we had to make a stop at Costco before the movie and in case you've never tried it, Costco has these delicious chicken bakes. The issue, is that they're about 12 inches long and don't easily fit into a purse...especially 3 of them. Luckily, a soccer mom is always prepared. I have a nice, big canvas bag in the trunk that holds some blankets for soccer games and practices. Who will notice a small woman carrying a duffle bag into a theater? And as for the sodas that were still mostly full? My boyfriend's windbreaker pockets did the trick!
Now, you'd think that most parents would know the limits of their children and would not take them to a double feature film unless they're confident their attention span can last that long....well, we must have been in a movie theater full of parents who have never tested their childrens' movie watching capabilities.
We have a little blonde haired boy to the right of us who is crying "You hurt my ear mom.Wahhhhh! Now you hurt my arm. Waahhhhhh! Now you pulled my hair!" I'm pretty sure the mother was doing none of these things.
Then the child to the left of us starts crying when he has to put his 3D glasses on and the logo jumps out at him. Wow, this is going to be a long movie.
And then we have the cute little girl in front of us who is loudly quoting the memorable lines in the movie. I'm pretty sure that's only endearing the first time around.
So all I can do is remind myself that my son will have a blast regardless of the crying, screaming and quoting kids and this will make for an interesting story to tell later.
So...to infinity and beyond!
Friday, October 2, 2009
What's on the menu?
My son started making his own lunches when he was still in kindergarten, so he learned the food pyramid pretty early. At first he would just pick out which fruit he wanted and slowly progressed from there. Within a year he had the routine down- sandwich, fruit, dairy, drink, snack. He's allowed to buy school lunch once a week. So every morning is pretty much the same after the Superman alarm goes off. He gets dressed, makes his lunch and snack, gets himself breakfast and is ready to go....except for this morning.
My alarm goes off at its usual 7:00 and I lay there for a little while waiting to hear the pitter-patter of his feet. I hear his dresser drawers open and wonder what interesting outfit he is going to pick for that particular day. Then I hear the refrigerator door open...and close again? Uh-oh. Pretty soon he's standing in my doorway.
Him: Um, Mom? I'm out of yogurts for lunch.
Me: Ok, just bring a string cheese.
A moment passes and he's back.
Him: Mom? I'm out of juice boxes for lunch.
Me:
Another moment passes and he's back AGAIN. This can't be good.
Him: Don't get mad, but I'm out of Uncrustables, too.
(For those of you who don't know, Uncrustables are little PB&J sandwiches without the crust that are kept in the freezer until needed. A wonderful invention.)
Me: Seriously? You didn't notice yesterday that you took the last one?!
Him: I should just buy lunch again. It's cheese pizza and it's really good. I mean, we don't really have any other options, right?
Suddenly the little red flag went up in my brain. You see, he had already bought lunch that week and he had a hard time deciding which day to buy- the chicken fingers or the pizza. So he had chosen the chicken fingers, yet here we were on pizza day!
Oh, he's good. What ammo did I have? It was 7 in the morning, I had no coffee in my system yet and he's staring at me with big brown eyes and a pouty bottom lip. He had hit me when my defenses were low and he knew it.
So off he went to school today with $2.25 in his pocket and a big smile on his face...and off I went to Costco so he can't pull that trick again for a long time. And next time, I'll be prepared!
My alarm goes off at its usual 7:00 and I lay there for a little while waiting to hear the pitter-patter of his feet. I hear his dresser drawers open and wonder what interesting outfit he is going to pick for that particular day. Then I hear the refrigerator door open...and close again? Uh-oh. Pretty soon he's standing in my doorway.
Him: Um, Mom? I'm out of yogurts for lunch.
Me: Ok, just bring a string cheese.
A moment passes and he's back.
Him: Mom? I'm out of juice boxes for lunch.
Me:
Another moment passes and he's back AGAIN. This can't be good.
Him: Don't get mad, but I'm out of Uncrustables, too.
(For those of you who don't know, Uncrustables are little PB&J sandwiches without the crust that are kept in the freezer until needed. A wonderful invention.)
Me: Seriously? You didn't notice yesterday that you took the last one?!
Him: I should just buy lunch again. It's cheese pizza and it's really good. I mean, we don't really have any other options, right?
Suddenly the little red flag went up in my brain. You see, he had already bought lunch that week and he had a hard time deciding which day to buy- the chicken fingers or the pizza. So he had chosen the chicken fingers, yet here we were on pizza day!
Oh, he's good. What ammo did I have? It was 7 in the morning, I had no coffee in my system yet and he's staring at me with big brown eyes and a pouty bottom lip. He had hit me when my defenses were low and he knew it.
So off he went to school today with $2.25 in his pocket and a big smile on his face...and off I went to Costco so he can't pull that trick again for a long time. And next time, I'll be prepared!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Dinner and a show-off
We had a friend over for dinner last night, which is not very common in our home. It's not that I don't enjoy having friends over, I would love to do it more often, but we have a pretty small place that we all have to eat chinese-style at the coffee table! Luckily, our friend was fine with that so my boyfriend, my son and I all came home early to cook and clean.
Now mind you, my son is only 8 so I wasn't expecting much assistance from him when he had much more important things to do- like ride his scooter or make a mess in his room. Well, much to my surprise, I turn around when I hear the vacuum go on! And after that, he comes into the kitchen asking for the duster so he can dust the living room. Ok, so this kid wants bragging rights...that's fine by me!
So we're sitting at dinner and talking about many random things when my son starts interjecting with "I'm a really fast runner" and "I'm such a good goalie at soccer- I didn't let any balls in last game." When that doesn't get the reaction he's looking for, he decides to bring out the big guns. Suddenly my coffee table is overrun with robots. We have blinking eyes, remote control arms, laser sounds, robotic voices- I'm talking a full-blown duel. All this just to show-off for a new friend. Classic 8 year old material.
But then I started thinking, that with all of the job hunting I have been doing, I could probably learn a valuable lesson from him. When, in the course of traveling from child to adult do we lose that unbending sense of self-confidence? Now of course we all need to teach our children to be humble, and there is a fine line between teaching humility and hurting their self-esteem, but where along the way to we start knocking OURSELVES down a few pegs? So here I've been, searching through all of these job ads and taking myself out of the game (for various reasons) without even giving it a shot!
So I have decided that before I go to bed tonight, I am going to stand in front of the mirror and say "I'm a really fast runner!"
Now mind you, my son is only 8 so I wasn't expecting much assistance from him when he had much more important things to do- like ride his scooter or make a mess in his room. Well, much to my surprise, I turn around when I hear the vacuum go on! And after that, he comes into the kitchen asking for the duster so he can dust the living room. Ok, so this kid wants bragging rights...that's fine by me!
So we're sitting at dinner and talking about many random things when my son starts interjecting with "I'm a really fast runner" and "I'm such a good goalie at soccer- I didn't let any balls in last game." When that doesn't get the reaction he's looking for, he decides to bring out the big guns. Suddenly my coffee table is overrun with robots. We have blinking eyes, remote control arms, laser sounds, robotic voices- I'm talking a full-blown duel. All this just to show-off for a new friend. Classic 8 year old material.
But then I started thinking, that with all of the job hunting I have been doing, I could probably learn a valuable lesson from him. When, in the course of traveling from child to adult do we lose that unbending sense of self-confidence? Now of course we all need to teach our children to be humble, and there is a fine line between teaching humility and hurting their self-esteem, but where along the way to we start knocking OURSELVES down a few pegs? So here I've been, searching through all of these job ads and taking myself out of the game (for various reasons) without even giving it a shot!
So I have decided that before I go to bed tonight, I am going to stand in front of the mirror and say "I'm a really fast runner!"
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