It could at least have the courtesy to be four leafed or is that leaved...whatever...
© 2012 All Rights Reserved by MOTPG
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Story of My Life
It could at least have the courtesy to be four leafed or is that leaved...whatever...
© 2012 All Rights Reserved by MOTPG
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Transaction
It was a long frigid winter two years ago.
I never saw it coming. We had standards and beliefs. Hadn’t we given her enough?
Outside it was a dreary damp afternoon. Ice cold rain had been drizzling for hours. Safe in our warm cozy home I heard a firm knock on the front door. I watched, curious, as my husband opened up for the unexpected visitor. Who would be out in this weather?
He looms tall and sinister in the doorway, rain dripping from his long black trench coat. The collar turned up to meet a wild halo of frizzy black hair and his face, thin and somber partially hidden behind dripping fogged glasses making his dark eyes impossible to read . A deep voice echoes in the hall. “Is Littlest here?” Hesitant, my husband draws back a few steps.
“Littlest”, he calls out uncertainly, “there’s….. someone… here.”
His voice trails off into silence that spills into the entryway and expands until broken by the rapid beat of our fourteen year old daughters’ footsteps above.
“Oh” I hear her say as she peers over the banister, “just a minute.”
I’m puzzled now. She didn’t mention anyone coming over. What is he doing here? What does he want? She deftly descends the stairs holding something in her hand and approaches the dark figure. Saying nothing he opens his trench coat and slowly reaches inside. I see my husband tense slightly as the stranger pulls something from deep within an inner pocket. His hand emerges holding a square black box. There are wires springing from one end and wrapped around the outside. Our youngest child stops abruptly, holding out a small paper bag at arms length. They cautiously and swiftly make the exchange without physical contact. He opens the bag and peers inside, nodding as though to confirm that it's all there and carefully tucks it into the recesses of the trench coat. “Thanks”, Littlest says quietly. The stranger dips his head in acknowledgement and turns away, disappearing into the mist.
My husband stands at the door confused.
“What was all that”, he asks?
Littlest answered brightly. "That was H. He rides my bus. He doesn’t use his Game Cube anymore and said I could have it because he has an Xbox now, so I made him some cookies.
Oh yes. I did recognize the perfectly average boy I've seen get off the bus in the afternoon.
We are 'mean' parents. My daughters do not own a lot of fancy gadgets. They don't have an iPhone or Androids. Just plain cheap cell phones. The fact that they break or lose at least one a year confirms this decision. Lit has an older model iPod that DecentGuy gave her but we will not purchase one. A perfectly reasonable MP3 player can be had for twenty five bucks. They each have a PC but they don't have laptops. Littlest did get a Nintendo ds as a birthday gift a couple years ago but the last full system we purchased was a PlayStation 2 and that will be it. If they want something fancier they can save and buy it themselves someday. They had asked for a Game Cube for the sole purpose of playing ONE game on it. Even though they were already down in value we vetoed, saying it wasn't worth spending the money for one game and they had enough stuff anyway.
So yes it’s true.
Our poor deprived children resorted to Bartering With Baked Goods.
© 2012 All Rights Reserved by MOTPG
I never saw it coming. We had standards and beliefs. Hadn’t we given her enough?
Outside it was a dreary damp afternoon. Ice cold rain had been drizzling for hours. Safe in our warm cozy home I heard a firm knock on the front door. I watched, curious, as my husband opened up for the unexpected visitor. Who would be out in this weather?
He looms tall and sinister in the doorway, rain dripping from his long black trench coat. The collar turned up to meet a wild halo of frizzy black hair and his face, thin and somber partially hidden behind dripping fogged glasses making his dark eyes impossible to read . A deep voice echoes in the hall. “Is Littlest here?” Hesitant, my husband draws back a few steps.
“Littlest”, he calls out uncertainly, “there’s….. someone… here.”
His voice trails off into silence that spills into the entryway and expands until broken by the rapid beat of our fourteen year old daughters’ footsteps above.
“Oh” I hear her say as she peers over the banister, “just a minute.”
I’m puzzled now. She didn’t mention anyone coming over. What is he doing here? What does he want? She deftly descends the stairs holding something in her hand and approaches the dark figure. Saying nothing he opens his trench coat and slowly reaches inside. I see my husband tense slightly as the stranger pulls something from deep within an inner pocket. His hand emerges holding a square black box. There are wires springing from one end and wrapped around the outside. Our youngest child stops abruptly, holding out a small paper bag at arms length. They cautiously and swiftly make the exchange without physical contact. He opens the bag and peers inside, nodding as though to confirm that it's all there and carefully tucks it into the recesses of the trench coat. “Thanks”, Littlest says quietly. The stranger dips his head in acknowledgement and turns away, disappearing into the mist.
My husband stands at the door confused.
“What was all that”, he asks?
Littlest answered brightly. "That was H. He rides my bus. He doesn’t use his Game Cube anymore and said I could have it because he has an Xbox now, so I made him some cookies.
Oh yes. I did recognize the perfectly average boy I've seen get off the bus in the afternoon.
We are 'mean' parents. My daughters do not own a lot of fancy gadgets. They don't have an iPhone or Androids. Just plain cheap cell phones. The fact that they break or lose at least one a year confirms this decision. Lit has an older model iPod that DecentGuy gave her but we will not purchase one. A perfectly reasonable MP3 player can be had for twenty five bucks. They each have a PC but they don't have laptops. Littlest did get a Nintendo ds as a birthday gift a couple years ago but the last full system we purchased was a PlayStation 2 and that will be it. If they want something fancier they can save and buy it themselves someday. They had asked for a Game Cube for the sole purpose of playing ONE game on it. Even though they were already down in value we vetoed, saying it wasn't worth spending the money for one game and they had enough stuff anyway.
So yes it’s true.
Our poor deprived children resorted to Bartering With Baked Goods.
© 2012 All Rights Reserved by MOTPG
Monday, January 9, 2012
That Littlest Girl
I thought I would continue the theme of picking on Littlest. Something very strange has been happening to her recently and has come to a head this week..
Littlest is what you might call a slightly late bloomer. At least by today's standards. She has never been the flirty type and held herself in reserve when it came to boys. She turned her nose up at the constant boyfriend switching her friends participated in during middle school. She rolled her eyes at Middlest whenever she proclaimed herself 'In love '-Again. In her early teens she focused her affection on a boy who barely knew she was alive for a long time and was satisfied with adoring him from afar. Until she got close enough to really know him and that was the end of that. She has always been the exact opposite of boy crazy and because of her aloof manner unfortunately attracted boys who were inappropriately to old for her for some time. She would deftly avoid the situation until they went away.
She hasn't necessarily been happy being boyfriend-less though. For a long time she lacked confidence, feeling Middlest was prettier than her and got more attention from boys. Starting about the middle of ninth grade and continuing on through her sophomore year she created her mantra:
"I'm Going To Die ALONE"
She even carved it in our picnic table.
Finally, last September when she became a Junior, a boy whom she has actually known some time got the nerve up to ask her out. I have mentioned this briefly before and they are still an item.
But. As soon as she became happily ensconced in having someone to sit with at lunch and hold hands with in the hall something started to happen.
It started with a boy she liked briefly last year who chose a slightly more.... 'wild' girl instead. After realizing and discarding his mistake he found Littlest otherwise occupied and um..cried.
There was the one who also was interested in Jiu Jitsu and was harboring some hope during the 'Homecoming Incident.' but had to back away. He is suffering from terminal jealousy and Today he very meanly asked Lit's boyfriend if , "he was embarrassed that his girlfriend could beat him up." The boyfriend is a quiet boy. He didn't respond. The other is pretty lucky they were at school because Littlest might have beat him up instead.
Then. There is a...young man, now I guess, who has been pining for Middlest for twelve years. Starting in 1st grade. No Joke. He has been Middlests boyfriend in 5th & 8th grade and for a short time during Sophomore year. In between they were just buddies and wrestled and threw rocks at each other in the front yard or complained about the people they Were dating. This is a great kid. The kind any parent of girls would Love their daughter to date. The kind Most Girls would knock themselves out trying to catch. There is even family history. His mom dated The SeaMonkey briefly in High School.... then again, who didn't?...but anyway....He's a terrific kid but all the same Mid says,
So. Recently he found out Littlest has been working out at the same gym and suggested they start working out together because he couldn't find anyone else as dedicated as he is. So they did.
Now Littlest has been in the middle of all the wrestling and rock throwing all along but apparently his eyes just opened and it took about a week for him to fall for Littlest instead.
(Can you say, Little Women?..I knew you could.)
That would be Littlest who says... "No, I'm happy with my boyfriend...and
"I can't date him. He's like my brother."
I told The SeaMonkey we should have had more daughters to give him a few more shots at being related to us since he seems determined ; )
Littlest was relieved that he is transferring to an out of state college this week because she likes having him as a friend and felt bad. He isn't giving up easy though. he left her with a care package. A backpack full of Ramen noodles, chocolate, martial arts movies, some spare shin guards and a Hello Kitty pillow. Oh, and a three page letter explaining how Awesome she is.
Very industrious this one. But then, he knows her very well.
Still. According to Littlest, no one can beat her guitar playing, theatre performing, dorky, long haired boy who likes to sport a fedora and a vest and gave her a giant Key Blade for Christmas, (pretty much the key to her heart) even if she is stronger than him.
But as for the young lady who despaired that she wasn't attractive and was certain that she would never find love and
"Will Die Alone"
I Think Not ; )
Moon Music
© 2012 All Rights Reserved
Littlest is what you might call a slightly late bloomer. At least by today's standards. She has never been the flirty type and held herself in reserve when it came to boys. She turned her nose up at the constant boyfriend switching her friends participated in during middle school. She rolled her eyes at Middlest whenever she proclaimed herself 'In love '-Again. In her early teens she focused her affection on a boy who barely knew she was alive for a long time and was satisfied with adoring him from afar. Until she got close enough to really know him and that was the end of that. She has always been the exact opposite of boy crazy and because of her aloof manner unfortunately attracted boys who were inappropriately to old for her for some time. She would deftly avoid the situation until they went away.
She hasn't necessarily been happy being boyfriend-less though. For a long time she lacked confidence, feeling Middlest was prettier than her and got more attention from boys. Starting about the middle of ninth grade and continuing on through her sophomore year she created her mantra:
"I'm Going To Die ALONE"
She even carved it in our picnic table.
Finally, last September when she became a Junior, a boy whom she has actually known some time got the nerve up to ask her out. I have mentioned this briefly before and they are still an item.
But. As soon as she became happily ensconced in having someone to sit with at lunch and hold hands with in the hall something started to happen.
It started with a boy she liked briefly last year who chose a slightly more.... 'wild' girl instead. After realizing and discarding his mistake he found Littlest otherwise occupied and um..cried.
There was the one who also was interested in Jiu Jitsu and was harboring some hope during the 'Homecoming Incident.' but had to back away. He is suffering from terminal jealousy and Today he very meanly asked Lit's boyfriend if , "he was embarrassed that his girlfriend could beat him up." The boyfriend is a quiet boy. He didn't respond. The other is pretty lucky they were at school because Littlest might have beat him up instead.
Then. There is a...young man, now I guess, who has been pining for Middlest for twelve years. Starting in 1st grade. No Joke. He has been Middlests boyfriend in 5th & 8th grade and for a short time during Sophomore year. In between they were just buddies and wrestled and threw rocks at each other in the front yard or complained about the people they Were dating. This is a great kid. The kind any parent of girls would Love their daughter to date. The kind Most Girls would knock themselves out trying to catch. There is even family history. His mom dated The SeaMonkey briefly in High School.... then again, who didn't?...but anyway....He's a terrific kid but all the same Mid says,
"I can't date him anymore because he's like my brother."
So. Recently he found out Littlest has been working out at the same gym and suggested they start working out together because he couldn't find anyone else as dedicated as he is. So they did.
Now Littlest has been in the middle of all the wrestling and rock throwing all along but apparently his eyes just opened and it took about a week for him to fall for Littlest instead.
(Can you say, Little Women?..I knew you could.)
That would be Littlest who says... "No, I'm happy with my boyfriend...and
"I can't date him. He's like my brother."
I told The SeaMonkey we should have had more daughters to give him a few more shots at being related to us since he seems determined ; )
Littlest was relieved that he is transferring to an out of state college this week because she likes having him as a friend and felt bad. He isn't giving up easy though. he left her with a care package. A backpack full of Ramen noodles, chocolate, martial arts movies, some spare shin guards and a Hello Kitty pillow. Oh, and a three page letter explaining how Awesome she is.
Very industrious this one. But then, he knows her very well.
Still. According to Littlest, no one can beat her guitar playing, theatre performing, dorky, long haired boy who likes to sport a fedora and a vest and gave her a giant Key Blade for Christmas, (pretty much the key to her heart) even if she is stronger than him.
But as for the young lady who despaired that she wasn't attractive and was certain that she would never find love and
"Will Die Alone"
I Think Not ; )
Moon Music
© 2012 All Rights Reserved
Thursday, January 5, 2012
You Are What You...Are
Life With Littlest
She says:
"I don't want to 'be' an artist. It's Middlests' thing."
It is her sisters thing. But I tell her, "Sometimes it's not a question of trying or becoming or even loving it more than anything else." Sometimes it's a case of :
"The simple fact is, You ARE Failing Art!"
How, you may ask, do you Fail Art?!
It goes something like this:
"I can't just do something every day because I'm supposed to. I don't know how the 'elements and principles played a part in the creation of my piece'. I can't analyze the deep meaning of my work. It's a picture. I did it. That's all."
I tell her: "Everything doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Just make an effort and write what you think they want to hear about it. It doesn't have to be perfect."
"Yes it does."
MmmHmmm......
My normal response to Very Bad grades is:
Then you ARE Grounded.
What do you think, Moms and former High School students?
Should you ground or punish for failed electives? It may not be related to their goals in life but it all goes into the GPA.
If it doesn't change by report card time is she grounded?
© 2012 MOTPG All Rights Reserved
She says:
"I don't want to 'be' an artist. It's Middlests' thing."
It is her sisters thing. But I tell her, "Sometimes it's not a question of trying or becoming or even loving it more than anything else." Sometimes it's a case of :
 |
| You ARE |
 |
You can have fun with it if you want to. |
 |
| You can even combine it with what you really love.
It doesn't have to be your life's work...BUT
|
"The simple fact is, You ARE Failing Art!"
How, you may ask, do you Fail Art?!
It goes something like this:
"I can't just do something every day because I'm supposed to. I don't know how the 'elements and principles played a part in the creation of my piece'. I can't analyze the deep meaning of my work. It's a picture. I did it. That's all."
I tell her: "Everything doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Just make an effort and write what you think they want to hear about it. It doesn't have to be perfect."
"Yes it does."
MmmHmmm......
My normal response to Very Bad grades is:
Then you ARE Grounded.
What do you think, Moms and former High School students?
Should you ground or punish for failed electives? It may not be related to their goals in life but it all goes into the GPA.
If it doesn't change by report card time is she grounded?
© 2012 MOTPG All Rights Reserved
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)