Timing is Everything

Let's just say, comedic timing is not Max's forte. Cute kid, pretty good at sports, very good at math, loves to create things.. But he will never, ever be a stand up comedian.  And that's ok..

However, every dog has his day..

We ended up having a bonus Hanukkah night as my parents were away over the holiday. So on Christmas Eve my family, my parents and my sister's family all got together for dinner and to celebrate.

During dinner, Mitchell leans over and says "Dada, are we getting presents tonight?"  So naturally I said "Mitchell, is getting presents the only reason for Hanukkah?"  He answers with "No?" Of course I should have responded with if he was asking me or telling me, but I'll let that go.  I did respond with "Good answer."

After a few seconds go by,  Mitchell leans in again and says "so, are we getting presents"? And as we're all laughing Max chimes in perfectly and says "Well played Mitch. Well played".

The room was in hysterics not only because of the initial laughter of the question and not only from what Max had said but the fact that his timing was impeccable and it was the first time ever he had nailed it.. We were all so proud of him!

It may not seem like much, but to see the interaction of the boys with adults and starting to use more adult phrases that we use is amazing to watch. They are only 7 and I have to keep that in mind, but the difference just between 6 and 7 has been astronomical. They are like real little people now. #ImARealLittleBoy

Spontaneity

The real triumph of this blog post is that I actually spelled the word spontaneity without looking it up first.. I am more than mildly impressed with myself..  And yes, that is about what my life has come to right now and yes, it is sad.. But I digress.. 

This past July 4th (well July 3rd if you want to get technical) we packed up the bag and took the boys to the nearby lake for the fireworks. Right at the beach area they had a band playing, carnival games, food trucks, etc.. A very festive atmosphere. However we learned the hard way last year that being that close to the water meant the louder the fireworks. So we decided to stake out a piece of grass on fields across the street near the high school. This area was much less crowded, the boys could run around and get out all of their energy and it was far enough away from the fire works where it shouldn't be a problem. I remembered the chairs and the blanket and the food/drinks, but forgot the football. And the cards. And the stomp rockets. All the planning I had done thinking it was going to be a few hours that we were there until the fireworks started was all for naught. Crap, now what?

Spontaneity, that's what. Instead of playing cards or throwing around the football, we had the boys do wind sprints and burpees. Then, they went over to the blocking sled used by the town football team (I think) and tried to move it. That was classic. Clearly these two activities did not take up too much time so we went over to the beach area for some games and fun. But there was a lot of time left to kill.

Soon enough, more families started settling in. And before I knew it, the boys were off playing with kids they didn't know on a dirty, dusty baseball diamond. Within 5 minutes they had made up their own game and played it non stop for about an hour and a half. Not only did this entertain the boys for the majority of the time we had before the fireworks, but they had fun, got a lot of energy out as 6 year old boys often have and they met some new friends.

So, what I learned is that all the planning in the world sometimes can't make up for spontaneity. Sometimes you need to just let them explore, meet new kids and make friends, create their own games and have fun. It worked out better than I could have imagined.

Oh, and in case you were wondering the fireworks hadn't been going for more than 3 minutes before they were crying they were too loud so we left.  Hey, at least we beat the traffic home.

Running with Scissors

I have to admit, we're pretty lucky. Having twins enables us to sleep because they always have someone to play with. I also will not complain because if there is one thing we were blessed with it is good sleeping kids. On any given night they'll sleep 10 hours, straight through. And based on everything we've been through, we deserve at least that.

So we've conditioned them from a very young age that Saturdays and Sundays are for sleeping. So when they wake up, they usually either go downstairs to the playroom, go to the kitchen table and play with whatever game is available, or stay in their rooms and play with cars, build forts, etc.. But they know that Saturday and Sunday is for sleeping. Unless there's something going on, we can usually get to 8am, which is usually unheard of when you have kids.

So for Hanukkah the boys got Trouble and Sorry as gifts. How apropos, right?  Anyway, Trouble was already opened and played ad nauseum, although it is a fun game. Sorry was still in the cellophane wrapping. They came into our bedroom Saturday morning and asked if we could come downstairs, open it and play. It was too early so we said play Trouble for a bit and well come down soon, open Sorry and we'll play. I came downstairs shortly thereafter to walk the dog only to find the Sorry board game open, set up on the living room floor with the two of them quietly playing. Reluctantly, I asked how they got the game open. And of course, the answer was "with scissors".

After feeling my heart in my throat, I took a deep breath knowing that they were fine so clearly nothing bad had happened. I asked them to show me what they did. They walked me into the kitchen, opened the kitchen drawer and pulled out the pair of scissors they used. They even said, "and we carried it like you showed us", which is with your hand over the closed blades. Hey, I gotta give them points for at least listening. Since their hands are not strong enough to open the scissors, it looks like it was a team effort. They got the cellophane open, put the scissors back, shut the drawer and played the game.

Now, there is no way I can be mad really. I WANT them to be more self-sufficient. I WANT them to be independent and take care of things I know they can. I WANT them to work together to come up with solutions to problems. I just didn't think it would happen so quickly!

So I explained to them that while I was very impressed at what they did, that they always needed to be careful when utilizing scissors or any sharp object and never to run with them. They understood.

Now, if I could only get them to pour their milk for their cereal...

Turkey for you..

So, Thanksgiving is over.  I can honestly say I did not over eat.  I guess I did something wrong then. But I did eat. I've been eating differently since my last kidney stone episode, but Thanksgiving is different. It's ok to let yourself go every once in a while.

Something I have always wanted to do as well, I did. I played football outside on Thanksgiving with my son. Daniel and I played for about half an hour and it was so much fun. My brother in law and his two kids were there too and everyone had a great time. Not to mention, the kid has quite an arm! And accurate too, somewhat..  While he did catch a few, we have to work on that.  Maybe he'll just be a quarterback.

But what was missing was my wife and my other son. After the surgery, he needs to recuperate and can't do too much. Being with his brother and his cousins would have been too much stimulation for him. There is no way we would have been able to keep him grounded, literally. He would have been running and jumping and that would have been extremely detrimental to his recovery. So he had to stay home.

It was no fun celebrating Thanksgiving without my entire family. while I don't wish to do that again, I know that they were only 1 hour away. They were not half a world away. Please, everyone let's put our differences aside for just a minute to realize what we have.

Whenever we go to Children's Hospital, it is always the most humbling experience.  Not only is it the best hospital in the world, but it always manages to put things in perspective. You literally are there in the lobby and you look to the left of you and see a child who is worse off than yours. Then you look to the right and you see another child worse off than the other one. Then you look at yours and you don't feel happy, you don't feel sad.  You just feel thankful.

Let's all take a moment and be thankful for whatever it is you wish to be thankful for. But let's remember that for all our differences and for all its faults, we live in the greatest country that has ever existed. Let's be thankful for that.

Halloween

It is that time of the year again..  Halloween..  I'm not as a big a fan as I used to be.. What has happened exactly I'm not sure..  When I was little obviously I would dress up, but I can't even really remember what costumes I had..  I think one year I was Casper..  I'm sure at some point I was some super hero, maybe Superman, but honestly I have no idea..  As I got older, it became less about the costumes and the candy and more about the egging and shaving creaming.  Stink bombs in the mailbox, egging kids on the street and getting into huge shaving cream fights..   THAT was Halloween..

But then the crackdown came..  Police cars patrolling neighborhoods on Halloween to make sure no ruffians were about (Thank you O'Banion)..  And then I guess if I couldn't go egging or shaving creaming, then there was no point and Halloween became just another day on the calendar.

Fast forward a few years and I am out taking the Twinado trick or treating by myself.  To be honest, they were pretty good..  They said trick or treat and thank you to almost every house.. I was pretty proud of them..  I was also pretty cold..  Wearing gloves and earmuffs?  I mean, it is the first week of November right?  But I see that the boys were all into people's costumes, calling out who kids were and what they were wearing.  When we got home Max decided he was going to hand out all the candy to the kids who came to the door.  I really didn't have to do anything. It was kinda nice.

Maybe I should get more into it next year.  They'll be 5 and we can get really creative with their costumes..  Maybe I'll even break out the white sheet and bust out the old Casper costume for old times sake.