Conversations with my son

My son, who is 3 1/2 years old, wants to be an astronaut ("spacer" in his vocabulary). This is a driving theme in his life.

My son is fairly careless, one would say reckless, little guy. His personal health and safety isn't a high priority for him.

I've been trying for years to get him to be more careful (no running in the house, jumping off things, careening about the house, etc.) to no avail. He's just not interested in safety.

Lately I've been appealing to his long-term interests. The other day he was playing with a toothpick, carrying it around in his hand (and these are strong, pointy bamboo toothpicks). I stopped him and we had the following conversation:

Me: Buddy, please don't play with the toothpick.
Him: But my need it for my robot!
Me: Buddy, the toothpick has a sharp point. (At this point I poked him in the hand with it). How does that feel? What would happen if you fell and poked yourself with that?
Him: My would have an owie.
Me: What do you think would happen if you fell and poked yourself in the eye with the toothpick?
Him: My would have a big owie.
Me: You'd have an owie, and you probably wouldn't be able to see out of that eye, you'd go blind.
Him: Oh.
Me: And you know, if you are blind in one eye, you can't be a spacer.

At this point he paused and thought for a moment, looked up at me, and said brightly:

Him: My would be a pirate!

How's that for a complex bit of problem solving? I had to keep myself from bursting out laughing while I carefully explained that being a pirate isn't necessarily the best career goal. It's nice to know he has options, though!

Better late than never

I am a relatively organized person in some regards, but there are plenty of things that go undone, unfiled, etc.

Apparently I have passed this trait on to my daughter.


This is my daughter, fastidiously writing thank you notes for the presents she received at her birthday party.

Which was eight months ago.

Better late than never. The kicked is that the reason she was finally motivated to write the notes was because she laid her hands on the gold paint pen which I had told her was reserved for special writing. This, apparently, was the only thing that really got her fired up (not thanking people for the gifts!)

I am amused and embarrassed all at the same time.

And while I'm being amused here was the scene I found on the kitchen floor one recent evening:


That's Punkin explaining the comics to Buddy. What a pair, I do love them.

Halloween update

Just in time for Thanksgiving I've got a Halloween photo for you:



Punkin decided to be Pippi Longstocking this year for Halloween. The idea was hers and most of the costume was put together out of things we already had.

The hair was the biggest challenge, but the Italian bought some armature wire and Nathania suggested where to look for spray-on hair color and I did the braids, so it was a group effort.

The braids were a challenge but once I mastered braiding around the wire it came together.

Punkin was very happy with the total effect, and the costume held up from 8:30 am school parade through 8:30 pm trick or treating.

Buddy was a mouse again this year - the costume still just barely fit him. The photos of him are on the Italian's camera, and I'm not qualified to sort that out, so no pics of him right now!

Still spinning

My head, that is. I haven't done any spinning on the wheel in months.

The past few weeks have been such a busy time and my head is still spinning from it all.

My mother in law was here for an 8 day visit and I really enjoyed having her here. She is a lovely houseguest and great company and can sometimes provide some perspective on my husband that is much appreciated.

Halloween came and went with much hoopla. Punkin was Pippi and Buddy was a mouse. It was an easy Halloween - the boy's costume was made years ago (between two children it was worn for four different Halloweens - not bad!) and Punkin just needed help with the hair and the striped stockings. We took them trick or treating and had a lot of fun.

But mostly I'm still feeling the after effects of the election. It's strange to have been thinking about all this for so long and to have it mostly work out the way I hoped. I'm a little unnerved by how excited I am about the presidential election. I'm really looking forward to having someone as president that I respect and admire.

But I'm deeply saddened that Proposition 8 passed (that's the ban on gay marriage here in California, in case you're wondering). I am so disappointed that so many people voted based on fear and bigotry, and angered that so many religious groups helped incite that fear and anger. I'm also ashamed of myself - I felt strongly about this issue and did nothing to help defeat this proposition. I should have gotten off my behind and done something instead of just talking about it. It's too late for this election, but I will do things differently next time.

So now it's back to the regular grind - watching the economy fumble around and worry about what that means to us, watch my parents get old and worry about what comes next for them, watching my children age and worry that I'm not being the parent I want to be, etc.

I started a new knitting project - the German Stocking sock pattern by Cookie A. It's been a rough start but I think it's going smoothly now. I need to start a mindless sock pattern, but haven't had enough wits together at one time in one place to manage it!