10 Commandments for Young Boys

Mothers of young boys often find themselves correcting gross, rude, or unusual behaviors that they never faced with their daughters. While I am not necessarily suggesting that my boy has performed any such behaviors (but I just couldn't make this stuff up either...ahem), I do think mothers should be given a list of rules, specific to boys, to teach their son(s) at a very early age to help prevent any such embarrassing behaviors.  This unofficial list of commandments for boys might include the following:

1. While it may be appropriate for thy mother to greet thy father at the door with a kiss when he returns home from work each day, thou must not greet any strange girl who knockest at thy door with a kiss.  
2. In the same manner, thou shalt not pat thy mother's derrière.  Touching any woman's fundament is strictly forbidden except that which belongeth to thy wife when thou art of age to marry, hast exchanged marital vows, and hast received consent from thy wife.
3.  While thou mayest possess commendable powers of observation, thou must not use them to memorize thy father's computer password, nor shall thou log in to thy father's computer without express permission.
4. If thou art compelled to hocketh up a louie, thou shalt not spit said phlegm inside a car, onto furniture, or onto the floor of any building.  Spittle must be neatly discarded into a tissue or toilet in private out of respect for others who may take offense to the witness thereof.
5. Thou shalt not place one's finger inside a nasal cavity in front of others.  Shouldst thou find thyself unable to resist the urge, remove thyself from public display and flee, young man, to the nearest restroom. Please use a tissue to remove thy boogers.
6. Eating one's boogers is strictly forbidden.  
7. While noble acts of chivalry and masculinity are encouraged, thou must not aim at thy mother.
8. Thou must not touch they mother's belly and then proclaim, "Your belly is squishy, Mom."  Such slander is an abomination, especially when repeated seventy times seven times. 
9. Boys have been cursed with the tendency to manifest deplorable odors.  Thus, thou must cleanse thyself often, keep thy bedchambers neat, and avoid removing thy sock cloths in the presence of visitors.
10. Thou must show honor to thy mother and father by not allowing Legos to fall along the path they regularly trod while barefoot.

5 More Reasons

I could easily list 100+ reasons why I appreciate my husband so much.  I could list many of his endearing qualities such as his devotion to God and to our marriage and our family.  I could talk about how smart he is and how much I enjoy talking with him for hours about any subject.  When I have a question, I could go look up the answer in the encyclopedia or I could simply ask him because he always has an accurate answer for my questions. For this blog post, however, I will simply list a few recent examples as reminders of how blessed I am to have him.

1. Today I asked him what he thought I should use to get the stain out of the carpet on the stairs. (I had totally forgotten that I had recently purchased a steam cleaner.)   He responded, "Would you like for me to steam clean the stairs for you?" 
2. He does not let his introverted nature keep him from being the best daddy possible to our kids.  He is extremely committed to them and supports their activities.  He obliged when our daughter volunteered him to serve as their Y princesses tribe chief.  He recently offered to coach our son's basketball team.  He is especially supportive of our daughter's musical theater interests and makes time to take her to choir and to give her voice lessons.  He takes time every day to play with the kids and takes the lead in all their bedtime routines.  He does so much for them even while working a full time job, commuting 10-15 hours a week, and serving on the praise team and in the deacon ministry at church.  He always puts others before himself.
3. He is happy to provide for the family so that I can stay home full time. It is more important to him that I be available for our kids than work a paid job outside of the home.  Even when we eventually send both kids to school, he has offered his full support should I decide to volunteer my time with a non profit ministry.  I'm thankful for a man who is willing to live on less so that I can pursue more meaningful interests.
4. He likes to cook fun food for the family but leaves all the healthy cooking to me. Every Saturday he makes a scrumptious breakfast consisting of pancakes, waffles, muffins, biscuits, french toast, cinnamon toast, and/or bacon/sausage.   When we have family potluck dinners, he usually offers to make dessert.
5. The glass is ALWAYS half full with them.  He has a gift for turning negative circumstances into something positive. For example, when the icing came out too thin for a layer cake he was making for my family's Thanksgiving gathering, I went into a panic trying to find a grocer that was open on Thanksgiving with a fine selection of desserts.  Meanwhile, he quickly and calmly came up with a unique way to turn the delicious cake into a festive turkey centerpiece.  His creativity conjured up many giggles among my family members and provided the kids with an entertaining craft activity for Thanksgiving.

While we all had so many things to thank God for this Thanksgiving, my husband was high on my list.

Talking with Walking Pneumonia

Thankfully, illness rarely visits our household.  However, with our daughter starting school this past fall, these crazy weather patterns, a long exhausting trip to Disney World where germs from every nation like to congregate in all the many the tight spaces, I guess illness was bound to pay us a visit eventually.

During our son's 5-year wellness visit today, I discovered that he has walking pneumonia. True to it's name, he doesn't act sick or seem tired or achy, but he does have plenty of annoying congestion.  Sickness certainly hasn't hampered that boy's verbosity, however, and I am still enjoying all his quips and quotes.

Here are a few from the past few weeks:

(At Cocoa Beach, Florida)

Joey:  Look! That store sells DVDs and toys. Can you we go get some?

We looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the bright neon letters which read, "Beach Adult DVDs and Toys".  I'm so glad he's still naive and could not or did not read the first two words.
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(At the Bippity Boppity Boutique at Magic Kingdom, Disney World)

When the fairy godmother asked our birthday boy which Disney character he liked best, he replied, "Prince Charming."

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Joey:  Mom, I want to buy Lego Star Wars Episode IV-VI Darth Vader's TIE Fighter with my birthday money.  Since they don't sell it anymore, please get one for me from eBay with my money.

Me:  Darth Vader is a bad guy. Why would you want his ship?

Joey: Because the bad guys always have the coolest spaceships!

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(In the car on the way to his sister's school)

Joey: Mom, why don't you want to drive a convertible?

I gave him 5 reasons with safety being #1.

Joey: Well, would you at least like to drive a car with wings on the back?

He was happy to learn that I actually paid extra to have a spoiler (aka "wings") added when I bought my first brand new car.

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(Today at the pediatrician's office)

If you try to teach your kids about modesty issues, don't be surprised when your 5-year old makes you stand outside while he changes from his street clothes to just underwear and a paper robe. The pediatrician got a good chuckle when he saw me knocking on the door asking, "Can I come back in now?"

 

Fall Piano Recital

The kids' piano recital was held last night.  Their teacher is the only Suzuki piano teacher residing in our city. Unfortunately, she is still 25-30 minutes from our house.  Some of her other students travel even further for piano lessons.  She's only been living in the area for two years, yet she already was far more students than she ever intended and will not accept any new students. Even with some students out of town, there were at least 63 songs on the program.  I am so amazed that all those young children managed to sit still and remain quiet throughout the long recital. 

I was nervous for our daughter.  Now that she's in school with the same number of extracurricular activities she had while homeschooling, she has not had as much time to practice. Then, two days before we left for our extended road trip, she selected an ambitious music piece (for her level) to play at the recital.   I did not think she would have time to learn the piece during the two weeks remaining after we returned from our trip and encouraged her to prepare an easier piece as her backup.  However, our strong willed child had made up her mind. Her teacher also suggested that she choose another piece.  At her lesson this past Wednesday, the more difficult piece still wasn't ready, but our daughter would not change her mind.  Her teacher seemed so impressed by her stubborn ambition that she agreed to let her play it anyway come what may.

Finding time to learn this piece became even more challenging when the teacher suggested less than one week before the recital that my daughter and I play a duet as a third recital piece (usually, students play two songs each).  She seems to enjoy playing duets with me (finally), so she practiced the duet more often than the piece that needed more practice. 

The more challenging song included a lot of contrasting dynamics with the more difficult chords and fingerings played very loudly.  So, if she made a mistake, it would be quite noticeable.  I prayed for her throughout her songs, and she did remarkably well (better than I played my part of the duet).

Scrapbook page for our daughter

Suzuki recommends that children begin piano lessons as early as age 3.   I had always been told to begin lessons around age 7.  Our son just turned five and has been asking for lessons for over a year.  We finally agreed, so he recently began taking one 15 minute lesson each week.  His eagerness to practice has inspired his sister to practice more often, so that alone justifies the expense.  His hand position is nearly perfect and he enjoys learning simple songs.  He still has the attention span of a 5-year old, but at least he is well-behaved during his lessons.  Congratulations, "Joey", on playing with confidence at your first piano recital.

Scrapbook page for our son

The cute little girl in the black and pink dress has been playing piano since age 3 and is a remarkable pianist.  She is our son's friend from our homeschool co-op.  She has been my Foundations student in the past and is enrolled in one of my PE classes this year. Her talented and creative mother teaches our son during Book Time this year and introduced us to this piano teacher. They are an awesome family, and their three talented girls played a trio as the finale at the recital.

The 8th wonder of the world

When I watch my husband spending time with our daughter, I am convinced that the love shared between a daddy and his daughter is one of the most beautiful wonders on earth.

We returned home from our road trip late on a  Saturday night.  The next morning, we all got up early for church, and then my husband took our daughter to the Y Princesses' Fall Outing.  It seems as though he is never too weary to give his family the gift of quality time.  Thank you, Father, for giving our kids such an amazing earthly father who helps them grow in their relationship with You, their heavenly Father.  Thank you, also, for the fabulous friends (some are pictured below) who regularly inspire us.

Road Trip (Part 9): Nostalgia

Long car rides are brutal on my crooked spine and injured knees.  Deciding to drive six hours out of our way on the way home to visit friends briefly seemed a high price to pay (in physical pain currency, not just gas $), but seeing friends from earlier seasons of our lives was a huge highlight of the trip and well worth any inconvenience.

We drove to the Atlanta area the first day to visit my husband's roommate during his college years at the U.S. Naval Academy.  This visit was the first real opportunity they have had to catch up with one another over the past 16 years.  I was amused by how alike those two USNA grads are.  Our children and his children became fast friends and the kids especially enjoyed their backyard zip line.  My only regret was not getting to spend time with his wife who was out of town.  She is a courageous, vibrant woman who just completed a year of battling and defeating cancer and was off running a 1/2 marathon to raise money for cancer research.   I also regret that his adorable daughter was sleeping when we took photos, so she is not pictured below.

The next day we drove through Greenville, SC where I had spent much of my engineering career as a single woman. I emailed only a few friends to tell them we would be driving through town, so I was very surprised to see so many teammates from my former running team waiting for me at the restaurant we chose for lunch.  Greenville has an amazing running program, Corporate Shields, in which teams from major corporations in the area compete against each other throughout the year with points accumulated at each race.  Michelin's team often took first place, and our masters' (over 40) team could not be beat.  I left Greenville over 11 years ago, yet this program is still going strong.  I miss running with these awesome people every Saturday and Wednesday.  I miss their great humor, steadfast encouragement, and all those races both locally and at Kiawah Island.  I only ran with them for about four years, yet they still remembered me and took the time to come out and join us for lunch.  I was deeply touched.  Other co-workers and friends joined us as well.  Unfortunately, I did not think to take a photo until most of the crowd had already left.



We also stopped by to visit one of my closest gal friends from the area who had served as a bridesmaid in our wedding.  Precious memories flooded by soul as I remembered so many wonderful "God moments" this awesome woman and I shared together.  Her girls are really close in age to our kids, and played beautifully together.  I miss you so much, dear friend.

While driving home that day, I thought a lot about the various people whom God has placed in my path of life.  Some people came into my life like a lightning bolt.  We spent countless hours together as very close friends for a short season and then our paths parted.  Now my memories of times spent with those people have faded.  I don't remember much at all about our time together, but I am surely changed because I knew them.

Then there are others with whom I have only had a few moments of face-to-face communication, yet, they have held a very special place in my heart ever since. 

Then there are my closest family members and special friends who have been a integral part of my life since I can remember.

Each relationship is a beautiful gift from God to be cherished and appreciated.  Seeing these friends after so many years apart was pure joy.

Road Trip (Part 8): Epcot

EPCOT contains some of the best and worst of Disney World.  The kids absolutely loved Test Track.   Soaring was a big hit as well. My astronaut wannabe husband got his fill of his favorite ride, Mission Space, the one in which barf bags are placed at every seat for a very good reason.  While he enjoyed spinning in that MRI style tight space, I made the worst mistake of the trip.  I took the kids to the Energy exhibit.  The narrator for this exhibit annoys me like no other TV personality.  Being forced to sit still for 30 minutes while patrons stare at dumb looking dinosaurs (so unlike Disney where most everything else is characterized by quick motions and high stimulation), and the attempt to indoctrinate patrons with ridiculous notions of the origins of the earth had me kicking myself for subjecting the kids and I to such a waste of time.  It did provide a good opportunity to discuss with the kids the various theories presented as fact in our postmodern world and to then compare the evidence for those theories (or lack thereof) with the evidence for a loving, omniscient Creator/Designer.

We love the aquariums!

Touring the various countries was much different this year because the kids participated in Disney's detective game which sends them looking for clues in each country to solve the mystery.  The game is a great way to keep the kids entertained while walking through the various countries while promoting higher revenues for Disney since finding the clues requires walking to the back of every souvenir shop in each country. The exorbitant price gouging never ends at Disney World because "magical dreams" and creativity just aren't cheap, folks.

Our family tradition has been to visit the Imagination exhibit while waiting on our dinner reservations at the Coral Reef Restaurant.  The kids especially enjoyed the simulation that taught them what to do in case of a house fire, but having their images placed inside of a computer game they played was their favorite part of all.

Eating dinner at the Coral Reef Restaurant where we can gaze at the 3500 specimens in the 203 feet, 5.7 million gallon fish tank is a family tradition at Disney World.

Last Day at Disney World, whew!

Road Trip (Part 7): Magic Kingdom

The day began at the Bippity Boppity Boutique where the girls got princess makeovers.  We found it amusing that the twins were taken into separate rooms for their makeovers, yet each twin selected the exact same dress, shoes, hairstyle, hair color, and even the same glitter sticker for their cheeks.  Our right brained child went against the grain of her ultra conservative parents by choosing the "diva" hairstyle with PINK extensions.  Oh my!

So that the princesses' brothers will not feel left out, the boutique also offers a boys' knight package.  While I think our son would look cute with the spiked hair that came with his package, he declined.  He did agree to having blue Mickey ears painted onto the back of his head with a few specs of glitter.  The boys were not all that happy about the boutique experience until they each received a sword and shield to complete the ensemble.  Sword fights ensued immediately and continued throughout the day.  The following conversation that took place many times throughout the trip is one that I never expected to have with my son:

Joey:   Mom, can I fight with Luke again?
Me:     Sure, honey, but please only fight him outside, and make sure no one else is
            around who might get accidentally stabbed.

Eating lunch at Cinderella's Castle has become a family tradition.  Our daughter outgrew the princess phase many years ago, yet at Magic Kingdom, her fascination with princesses reappeared for just that one day.  The princesses were all simply lovely and were so patient with our son who became surprisingly shy.

While I was talking to my father-in-law about how tired the princesses' faces must be after all that smiling, my husband snapped a photo of Ariel as she was changing expressions.  We thought the timing of this unfortunate photo was amusing considering our conversation at the time.

Glimpses of Magic Kingdom

Our daughter thought it was hilarious when Cinderella's wicked stepsisters came up to her during the parade to touch her pink hair and ask if it was cotton candy.

Road Trip (Part 6): Birthday Boy

Our son celebrated his 5th birthday on 11/1/11 while we were at Disney World.

We had a very small surprise party after dinner one night for just our nuclear family before we left.

I had been told to stop by the service desk upon entry into the Disney parks for a birthday button for the birthday boy, and then the Disney cast would make a big deal out of his birthday all day.  He liked his button, and the rest of our family got "We're celebrating" buttons as well.  He received a few extra "Happy Birthday" greetings that day and a nice cupcake and ice cream sundae at Cinderella's castle following our birthday lunch for the twins with all their new princess friends.

That evening we had a little cupcake themed birthday party for him at the condo.  He chose pizza and vegetable tray for his birthday dinner.  We tried to decorate the pizzas to look like Mickey Mouse ears.  His cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla with cream in the middle.  He was so excited over all the nice gifts, especially the Nintendo DS and Star Wars game.

Road Trip (Part 5): Hollywood Jedi

The kids' favorite ride at Hollywood Studios was Star Tours.  The new 3D enhancements are awesome with random scenes thrown into each ride sequence so that every ride is different from the last.  At the beginning of our first tour, Princess Leah announced that an evil villain had stowed away on the spaceship.  Then a "wanted" type ad appeared on the screen so that we could recognize the villain.  Much to our surprise, the ad featured a photo of our birthday boy which gave us all a great chuckle.

Taking a photo of the boys  in front of Star Tours has been a tradition in my husband's family for decades.

While I was taking our son on Star Tours for the third time, the older girls got their faces painted.  A camera crew saw them in their makeup and asked them to film a promo piece for American Idol auditions taking place at Disney next season.  I assumed this promo piece was for the American Idol exhibit at Disney World and not the real AI, but my husband was told that this promo was for the real AI. We shall see.