Differing Personalities

Oh, these boys are so very different, and I worry about both of them.

We went to the library the other night to meet with some people about the Tooele Arts Festival. We hung out in the play area since one brought her little girl. There were some kids there when we arrived, and the boys got busy playing with the puppets and toys.

Peanut immediately presented his three trains to one of the kids, a girl of six years. He had her playing with him within ten minutes. Meatball, on the other hand, played by himself for a few minutes. I encouraged him to play with the other kids. He doesn’t really like trains, but he tolerates them for Peanut. At the library, he had a lot of puppets to play with and didn’t have to play trains. He eventually ended up playing with one of the other girls who was about two and a half. He even struggled a bit with that.

They are just so different. Peanut could make friends with a chair if he needed to. Meatball keeps more to himself and hesitates to approach others. They are a lot like Bub and I. She can talk to anyone at any time. I do not approach strangers; I do not strike up conversations just to be nice. She has a jillion friends (or can make them at the drop of a hat). I have a few close friends, and that’s it. I think that the boys are going to be somewhat like us.

I’m not sure if I should be afraid for either of them or not. As a small child in today’s world, it’s definitely NOT good to be too friendly, especially with adults or strangers. We talk to Peanut frequently about the dangers (in an age appropriate way, of course), but it’s just how he is. And, I THINK I can see a wistful look on Meatball’s face when his brother makes friends so quickly, and I know how that feels. It’s hard to be introverted, but I can’t make him be something that is his not.

[Sigh…]

How to talk

While we were making our ultra-cool snowman, we decided that we would need a hat for him.
Peanut: We need a magic hat.
Meatball: We can use my hat. It's magic.
Me: You have a magic hat?
Meatball: Yes. It will make the snowman talk like Frosty's hat does.
Me: Yeah, well, it makes YOU talk plenty!
Meatball [exasperated and with a "duh" tone of voice]: Mom.... My hat doesn't make me talk, my brain does!

Isn't this an awesome snowman?

Yes, of course, it is.
What's more awesome, though, is how much fun we had making it. These kids are the best, and I love it when they work together. It was so much fun being out in the snow after an entire weekend of tummy aches and all of last week feeling crummy. We all have colds right now, but at least they're just in our heads.

We placed the snowman next to the garden because he is serving double duty: scarecrow and snowman. It's a preemtive scarecrow strike. If the deer and birds see the scarecrow NOW when we don't have any seedlings, they won't bother to come back in the spring and summer. We're all about preparedness around our house.

The little things: imaginations

After the Runnin' Utes lost a really good game, we used our imaginations on the way back to the car. We ran across the Olympic Legacy bridge a few times and pretended that we were being chased by a naughty diesel train or watched the real commuter train and cars pass underneath us. We even had a race across the bridge.

Then, we found the magic circle that would deliver us to the Island of Sodor if we ran around and around and around it enough times.

Then, when we were almost to the car, we found a tightrope from the circus and practiced our skills.

All too soon, these cutie pies will be too busy playing video games and being mad about doing homework to use their imaginations. I love watching them while they still WANT to think about magical lands and pretend that they are performers in the big top.

I can't hear anything

Peanut still has an accident at night now and then - like the other night. So, half way through the night, I heard the drawers of the boys' dresser opening and some quiet crying. So I got up and went in to help.

Peanut [looking up at me with a sad look]: Mommy, I had an accident.
Me: I know buddy. Just go in the bathroom, and I'll get some dry jammies.
Peanut: OK

So, I go into the bathroom where he has just taken off everything wet and was sitting on the potty.

Peanut: I'm sorry, mommy.
Me: I know. It's OK.

I helped him put new jammies on.

Me: You know, buddy, when your pen!s is full of pee-pee and needs to get the pee-pee out, you have to listen to it and wake up and run to the potty.
Peanut: But, mom! I can't get my ears ANY closer!

Oh! I just gave him a huge hug and tried not to laugh out loud!

the perfect toy

But, mom - I had to find THIS itty-bitty piece.
And, yes - the toy box is huge. My dad usually goes overboard when making things. It is big enough that I can easily fit in with room to spare, and it is typically full of toys. You can imagine what the floor looked like after everything was taken out just so that we could get this one piece to the Candyl*nd game.....

What a strange weekend...

So, I got the stomach flu. Me. ME!
WHAT?!?!? I got sick before Bubba or the boys? This has never, ever, EVER happened. Ever. Like, ya' know, EVER! FYI - it sucked.
One minute I'm watching a movie, the next I'm laying on the floor with a Looney Tunes baby blanket over me because my body ached so badly. It was literally from healthy to barf in 45 minutes. So, I went to bed. After naptime, Peanut joined me.
It was the same for him. Play, play, play, run, scream, jump, play, nap, barf.
This is us enjoying (?) a movie together in bed. We weren't having fun.

On the other hand, Meatball and Bub were livin' it up. Making messes, enjoying real food, doing laundry, watching the Grammys (which, by the way, why isn't it spelled "Grammies"? It IS plural. There is a singular Grammy and then multiple Grammys/Grammies. Huh...) Wait - My point here is that Bub wasn't the first one sick, and Meatball wasn't the second. What in the world?
Meatball was, however, protecting the house from dragons or hunting dragons or something like that.
Notice how even when he is in the heat of battle or a particularly arduous dragon-ing expedition, he is always fashion forward. The only effect you're not seeing here is the socks which were supplied by Granny (not to be confused with Grammy) which means that they were orange. Whatevs. I didn't really care what his socks were like at this point. He was keeping the dragons away so that we could puke. Good kid.