In Which She Brags Shamelessly On Her Kids

One of Jericho's daily chores is to feed the dog, and to see to it that her water dish (an old camping cooler) stays clean and sterile and is refilled each afternoon with fresh, cool water.

A couple of mornings ago I went outside and found that the cooler was noticably green and disgusting around the edges.

Now I know that hot weather speeds this algae growing process up, but if our son was a little more vigilant in preventing it from getting to this point, that might help, too.

To demonstrate how repugnant and unsanitary it was for the dog to be drinking such dirty water, I picked up a sippy cup that I'd found earlier that morning beneath the sofa (which had Ovaltine brownish-pink yogurt curdled inside) and asked if he'd enjoy drinking the contents of such a cup.

He was, of course, thoroughly repulsed.

So, armed with a bottle of Dawn and a scrub brush, out he went to get the job done.

And--as he is wont to do--stayed out far longer than necessary for the task.

I had started getting dinner ready, and after several minutes found that I needed the garbage to be taken out, and so called for him to come in.

He showed up at the back door like this.



And then proceeded to do this.



And this.



And this.



This from my son who has begun making sounds about wanting to be treated like he's more mature. You know, like a teenager.

Which is kind of hard for a mom to do when he's pulling goofy stunts like this and still plays with action figures and G.I. Joes.

:: :: :: ::

They say that kids thrive on routines.

I believe this to be true in lots of ways.

For instance, if daddy doesn't scoop little Judah up at approximately the same time each night, take him around to kiss everyone goodnight, and then tuck him into his bed with his blankie and binkie, he goes hog-wild, tearing through the house like Taz, leaving a wake of destruction in his path (Judah, not daddy, lol).

Then, with his pent-up energy completely spent, he will lay down wherever he happens to end up and promptly fall asleep there.

:: :: :: ::

One of my favorite things ever is when I catch a glimpse of how important to our toddler's security and well-being that boundaries and routines are in his eyes.

It used to be that when he would see the Golden Arches, even if he'd just eaten, he would whine, "I want a hamma-grrr", and would throw a fit when we passed it, whining all the way home.

But after much work, with consistency and follow-through, he no longer whines about it all the way home.

After dropping big brother off at school one morning last week, Judah and I ran errands on the way home, and when passing by the golden arches, he 'tested' me by asking for a hamma-grrr.

To which I immediately replied, "No. We're going to go home and you can have some yogurt or cereal." I tried to sound enthusiastic about the prospects.

From him I hear that single, indignant **cough** sound that kids do when they are put out by something their parents do, immediately followed by a moderately whiney, "What?!" But that was it.

Not a huge gain I'll admit, but it sure beats the incessant whiney cries all the way home.

:: :: :: ::

Another 'tradition' that Judah likes to make sure I uphold, is how I respond to his outlandish claims.

And being the kind of kid he is, he makes several of these a day.

Earlier today, he looked at me very seriously, wearing one of the extra backpacks we have around the house and said to me, "I go to cowwedge wif my pack-ack".

"You did naaaaaat" I replied, poking him in the tummy as if to say, "Silly boy". He grins and runs off to find something else to get into do.

"Mama, the dwagon bited me" he announced later, after seeing a Komodo dragon in a picture book.

"Nuh-uh" I said, poking him in the tummy.

Normally he would grin, and run off, but this time he stayed planted where he was, shook his little head as if disagreeing with me...then his eyes light up and he tilts his head slightly and says, "It did naaaaaht!" mimicking almost exactly my usual tone and response to his claims.

With children, it would seem that predictability translates as security, and gives a child a sense of contentment.

Well, except when he sees his bag of pinata candy on top of the fridge and wants it bad, asking and whining and pleading for it.

Though your answers are predictably "no" (he only gets it when we use it to bribe him to eat his dinner offer it to him), there is simply no contentment when he knows that bag is full of "canny" and "bub-oh gom".

:: :: :: ::

Judah recently came up to me, cradled my cheeks in his hands and said all affectionately, "Mama? Ye-oh so cute."

Made my heart melt into a little puddle right there on the floor.

:: :: :: ::

While in the middle of a VBS planning meeting last Sunday evening after church, Jericho and Judah were hanging out with some of the kids just outside the door on the concrete pad.

Jericho came running in and told my friend Brenda, "Ah, Cassie fell off the skateboard out there, and we're trying to revive her..."

"Trying to revive her?!!" she exclaimed, already rushing to get outside to her daughter.

Turns out Cassie had fallen off one of the boys skateboards outside, got the wind knocked out of her, and bruised up her elbow pretty good.

Not to mention that it probably stung a bit to have fallen in front of all those boys.

We heard from Cassie later that all she saw and heard in the ensuing chaos of her fall were the boys leaning over her, their concerned voices asking, "Are you okay?" and Judah saying over and over, "She dead! Cath-y dead!"

:: :: :: ::

Now that Awana is over for the summer, Jeff has begun another study of the book of Revelation with our teens from church.

The kids in our youth group are fascinated with the study of the end times, and can't seem to get enough of it. Each summer, they literally beg for us to go through this book again.

Seeing as there is a blessing for all those who read that book, hear it and take to heart what is written in it (Rev. 1:3), we figure it can't hurt to study it again and again each and every summer.

Besides, it helps to clarify their understanding a little more each time we go through it.

Because we work with the youth group, our boys are often in our class with us and are therefore exposed to a great deal of teaching on topics one might think were far above their level of comprehension.

But at 11, Jericho already has a pretty good working knowledge of the book.

Or so we thought.

Upon starting the study last week, Jeff asked each person in attendance to draw a picture of what they think of when they study the book of Revelation, or End Times prophecies.

There were the expected themes of chaos and destruction, the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus Second coming and his reign during the Millennium. One girl drew question marks all over her paper, representing the great mystery that it all was to her.

Jericho, however, drew a picture of a demon and an angel throwing down insults at each other in a "Yo' Mama" contest.

I'm thinking we have some work ahead of us trying to straighten out his understanding of such things.