Little man has his future plans all laid in already, it seems.
It began when we were snuggling in bed last night, and he decided he wanted the stuffed stingray I had bought for myself long before I even met Daddy. When I tried to point out that it was originally my stingray, he corrected me:
"You played with it when you were little, now it's my stingray."
Okay, I decided to follow up on that reasoning: "So that means when you grow up and have your own Pao-pao, you're going to give it to him to play with?"
"No! I'm not getting married!" he declared.
"So you're staying here with Mommy and Daddy?" I asked. Yup, he confirmed. I pressed further: "Are you going to take care of Mommy and Daddy?" (hey, not a bad deal. Built in nursing home care!)
His answer? "No. You're not going to be OLD when I'm grown up!" I laughed inwardly. If only he knew!
So then I decided to see how helpful he would be, staying under our roof all his life. "Are you going to help out with chores?" Yup, he again confirmed. Which ones? I pressed.
"I can... do the dishes without help. I can fold clothes. And I can wash the bathroom". (Hmmm... still sounded like an inequitable deal, shouldn't he be pitching in more, after all?)
So I gave some more suggestions: how about WASHING the laundry (not just folding it)? No. Vacuuming? No. Oh, but sweeping is okay, he pointed out. He'll sweep the bathroom floor. LOL
We'll have to wait a few more years and see how this all turns out! I'm keeping this blog post as a reminder of what he promised ;-) Don't think I'm not gonna use this against him! :-D
Lunchtime timesavers
On Monday, Daddy taught the lower and middle schoolers at Todd's school, giving them a basic introduction to computers, even bringing computer parts for them to look at. Since his stay encompassed the lunch period, he brought his lunch and ate with Todd. This enabled me to prepare a nice hot lunch of rice, meat and veggies for Todd instead of his usual sandwich, since Daddy would be there to eat with him and feed him, or at least supervise him to make sure he ate everything. Then Daddy took him home and Mommy took over, cleaning up, changing him out of his uniform, and taking him to after-school care.
This worked so well for a number of reasons:
1. Todd gets a nutritious lunch from the get-go, rather than having to eat a sandwich at school and follow it with regular food at home.
2. It saves time, as he's more likely to eat the regular food quickly when he's hungry at lunch, rather than being full after a sandwich.
3. Again, it saves time at home because all he has to do is eat his fruit and clean up, no time spent on eating his actual lunch. As a result, nobody feels rushed any longer. Mommy's not harried and Todd's not pushed around. In fact, one day last week we were able to go out onto the balcony and blow bubbles while Todd ate his apple, because we actually had time to!
So we decided to continue doing this, having one of accompany Todd with hot food during lunch, while the other goes home later and takes over the cleaning up and driving him to after-school care.
That's when we discovered yet another benefit:
4. Reduced lunch hours for both of us! Instead of both parents having to take 1.5 hours (the shortest we've been able to cut it to is 1 hr and 20 min, and then only if Todd's cooperative all around), each parent only has to take 1 hour, albeit not simultaneously. For example: Daddy leaves before noon to have lunch with little man, while Mommy goes home at 12:30 to prepare fruit and lay out clothes. Then, Daddy's home by 12:45 (immediately leaving and getting back to work by 1pm), giving Mommy time to leisurely dress the boy, take him to after-school care, and be back at work by 1:30pm. In other words, only 1 hour for lunch for each of us.
Not bad, eh! The nice thing about this is that we can continue doing this even when Todd is in the later grades, and not dismissed till 2-3pm. Great peace of mind in knowing our son is well-fed during the day :-) One less thing to worry about!
This worked so well for a number of reasons:
1. Todd gets a nutritious lunch from the get-go, rather than having to eat a sandwich at school and follow it with regular food at home.
2. It saves time, as he's more likely to eat the regular food quickly when he's hungry at lunch, rather than being full after a sandwich.
3. Again, it saves time at home because all he has to do is eat his fruit and clean up, no time spent on eating his actual lunch. As a result, nobody feels rushed any longer. Mommy's not harried and Todd's not pushed around. In fact, one day last week we were able to go out onto the balcony and blow bubbles while Todd ate his apple, because we actually had time to!
So we decided to continue doing this, having one of accompany Todd with hot food during lunch, while the other goes home later and takes over the cleaning up and driving him to after-school care.
That's when we discovered yet another benefit:
4. Reduced lunch hours for both of us! Instead of both parents having to take 1.5 hours (the shortest we've been able to cut it to is 1 hr and 20 min, and then only if Todd's cooperative all around), each parent only has to take 1 hour, albeit not simultaneously. For example: Daddy leaves before noon to have lunch with little man, while Mommy goes home at 12:30 to prepare fruit and lay out clothes. Then, Daddy's home by 12:45 (immediately leaving and getting back to work by 1pm), giving Mommy time to leisurely dress the boy, take him to after-school care, and be back at work by 1:30pm. In other words, only 1 hour for lunch for each of us.
Not bad, eh! The nice thing about this is that we can continue doing this even when Todd is in the later grades, and not dismissed till 2-3pm. Great peace of mind in knowing our son is well-fed during the day :-) One less thing to worry about!
The Adventures of Soapy Wee-wee Boy
Several weeks ago, while I was showering Todd and he observed himself covered in soapy suds, he declared: "I'm Soapy Wee-wee Boy!!"
Which I found amusing, but not significant enough to blog. Well, that changed last night. I was again showering him when he decided:
"I'm going to squeeze my wee-wee."
I had barely opened my mouth to explain why this wasn't a good idea, and that it might hurt, when he grabbed his wee-wee, squeezed it hard, and then exclaimed: "OWWWWWWW!!!!"
You would think it would stop there, but no. Remember, this is the same kid who likes bashing his head into things like stuffed animals and people's hands.
So what do you suppose he did? That's right... he grabbed it and squeezed it AGAIN. And again he cried out "OWWWWWW!!!!"
Sigh... this is why my Facebook status currently reads "Helly's little boy is speshul"!
Which I found amusing, but not significant enough to blog. Well, that changed last night. I was again showering him when he decided:
"I'm going to squeeze my wee-wee."
I had barely opened my mouth to explain why this wasn't a good idea, and that it might hurt, when he grabbed his wee-wee, squeezed it hard, and then exclaimed: "OWWWWWWW!!!!"
You would think it would stop there, but no. Remember, this is the same kid who likes bashing his head into things like stuffed animals and people's hands.
So what do you suppose he did? That's right... he grabbed it and squeezed it AGAIN. And again he cried out "OWWWWWW!!!!"
Sigh... this is why my Facebook status currently reads "Helly's little boy is speshul"!
Logical deduction
Tonight while I was snuggling with Todd in bed, Daddy came in the door to get to the bathroom. As he slowly opened it, I looked at Todd and asked: "Who's that coming in?"
Todd, however, had no patience for such baby-like questions, and in his most grownup way, explained a simple principle of logical deduction:
"It's Daddy. You should know that. You and me are in here, and Daddy's the only one outside!"
Todd, however, had no patience for such baby-like questions, and in his most grownup way, explained a simple principle of logical deduction:
"It's Daddy. You should know that. You and me are in here, and Daddy's the only one outside!"
Turtles don't wear clothes, after all
Apparently I've been proven wrong. You see, during our 2-week winter "vacation", I dressed Pistachio in one of Todd's school polo shirts, to help keep him clean. But when Todd arrived back in SB tonight, I had to take it off so Todd could actually use it during the week.
When I finally undressed the turtle in front of Todd, I made him protest "Awww, now I'm naked!"
To which Todd pointed out: "Now you are like Geronimo!" (who has long since gone au naturel)
When Pistachio persisted in expressing his dislike for being naked, Todd, exasperated, said: "But you're supposed to be! Turtles aren't supposed to be not-naked!"
:-D
(and anyway, I personally maintain that turtles by their very nature aren't naked-- they have shells, right?)
When I finally undressed the turtle in front of Todd, I made him protest "Awww, now I'm naked!"
To which Todd pointed out: "Now you are like Geronimo!" (who has long since gone au naturel)
When Pistachio persisted in expressing his dislike for being naked, Todd, exasperated, said: "But you're supposed to be! Turtles aren't supposed to be not-naked!"
:-D
(and anyway, I personally maintain that turtles by their very nature aren't naked-- they have shells, right?)
