Secrets

Carson and I had a funny conversation last night, that had me giggling for several hours:

Me: Carson, we really need to think of a good present to give Grandma for her birthday.
Carson: Ok. Nana already got her something.
Me: Really? Well, what did she get her?
Carson: Some things.
Me: What kind of things?
Carson: I don't really know. I'm not a good secret keeper, so nobody will tell me.

Subconcious Favortism?

This last Saturday Ben and I took the kids to Toys-R-Us to let them pick out a toy and spend their "toy money" Christmas gift certificates. Carson was very methodical in his search criteria, ensuring we went up and down every single isle in a very direct pattern so he would be able to look at all his options and choose correctly. McKinley was just pleased as punch to be out of the house, and didn't seem too eager for anything but the dress-up clothes. By the time our tour of the toy store was complete, Carson had picked out a "loopy-loop" Geo Trax airplane set and McKinley decided on a purse and accessories set. I was pleased that McKinley had picked out something so inexpensive - but Ben insisted on making it "fair" and also encouraged her to get a Little People house.

When we got home, we immediately put together Carson's track, but didn't really think about McKinley's toys at the time. We finally got around to opening up her toys and setting up the house on Sunday. She played with her toys every waking moment on Sunday, and has continued playing with them since. Ben and I were both pleased at how much McKinley was enjoying her toys, when we both suddenly realized that McKinley doesn't really get that many new toys to play with. What kind of parent am I to only get one child a toy, and when I do get them both one, only set one of them up? Grrr...and here I thought I was treating each kid as fairly as possible. Luckily, I have come to this realization early enough to change my ways, but I'm sure she will be quick to remind me of any unfair treatment she notes when she's older, further pouring salt into my wounds. Oh well, I guess I deserve it.

Brainwashed

Ok, so I apparently need to apologize to the blogging world out there for not posting anything for the past few weeks. I've been a little crazy at work, and truthfully, I did just start reading a series of books for the fifth time this week- and despite my over-familiarity with them, I can't seem to put them down.  Despite my lame excuses, I did have a funny event happen today that I knew I had to share:

As many of you may know, Carson has been a little slow to develop his speech, much to the dismay of his so-called "speech-language pathologist" mother.  I started getting a little concerned that McKinley was going to follow suit, when at her 18 month check-up, I could barely count on 2 hands how many words she had.  My pediatrician was overly encouraging, but the pessimist that I must be, was sure she would end up being a mute, or be completely unintelligible to everyone but her mom.  Over the past month, however, McKinley must have sensed my angst and began saying so many words that I started losing track.  It was fabulous.  Every day there seemed to be a new word that she would know and say, and seemed even more responsive with a round of applause from her parents and brother.  Tonight, she totally caught me off guard when she picked up a football that had the University of Utah emblem printed on it, and proudly exclaimed, "Go Utah!" while raising her fist in the air.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am totally thrilled that she is using so many words, but a part of me is now thoroughly convinced that my husband is incorporating some highly-skilled brainwashing techniques on our children.  Is it really possible for my kids to be any more aware or supportive of the Utes than they already are?  I guess I shouldn't voice my concern out loud - because I'm sure Ben already has a series of new strategies in place to turn our kids into bigger Utah fans than he is.

"I'm So Glad When Daddy/Mommy Comes Home"

There is nothing more rewarding or calming than coming home from an exhausting hard day at work and have your kids be nothing but ecstatic to see you. Every night when Ben or I walk into the house, both Carson and McKinley will drop whatever they are doing (including playing with the latest "most exciting" toy they currently have), and run at full speed yelling "Mama, Mama" and wrap their tiny little arms around us. Last night I was practically tackled because of their over-exuberance. Carson made the moment even sweeter when he lovingly exclaimed, "Oh mommy, I missed you so much today." I know I will often be heard complaining about how hard it is to have 2 little kids, or what a tough job it is to not scream at them constantly, but my kids really are sweethearts, with very tender hearts. They both seem to know just what I need when I get home from work - my children, in my arms.

I Think You Might Be Right

I have a patient right now that has been in the hospital for about 3 weeks with a myriad of complications. The biggest thing I have been working on lately is trying to get him to just know where he is and why he's here - and remember that for longer than 30 minutes. Here was a conversation I had with him today - it made me laugh:

Me: So what is today's date?
Patient: Let's see...it's Friday, I think, June 30th, 1997.
Me: Not quite. It's actually Wednesday, January 28th, 2009.
Patient: Oh, wow. Do you realize that I have been here for almost 3 days - and I have no idea why?
Me: Well, you've actually been here for a few weeks because you had surgery and we are trying to get you healthy again.
Patient: Interesting. Did you know that this whole place (meaning the hospital) used to be a part of my house?
Me: Hmmm...are you sure?
Patient: Well, I think so. But that brings me to another point - do you know that everyone around this place thinks that I'm nuts?

For the Love of the Housewives

Carson is starting to develop his own taste and appreciation of television shows and movies.  He has the standard favorites of Mickey Mouse, Jimmy Neutron, and Sesame Street, but then will surprise me every once in a while by enjoying shows like Enchanted or Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends.  But, the biggest surprise of all came 2 weeks ago while Ben and I were trying to catch up on our TiVo shows.  

Just after we moved in, we didn't have our TiVo set up fast enough and we missed 1 episode of Desperate Housewives.  We didn't want to watch any of the succeeding episodes until we were able to view the one we missed (yes, probably sounds ridiculous to most - but it's Housewives, man).  Because of our difficulty finding the missed program, and our busy lives (yes, our lives really are busy - despite what I am leading to believe based on this post), we ended up with 5 recorded Housewives shows on our TiVo, plus the one we were still missing.  After much searching, Ben was able to locate the lost episode and we finally watched it.  After that, we watched a different Desperate Housewives show every night last week - just trying to get caught up.  By the time we were on our last 2 episodes, Carson started really paying attention to what we were watching, to the point that he was on my lap, laughing with the rest of us.  He watched the next day's episode completely - and profoundly exclaimed at the end,  "Mama, I love this show."  This past Sunday was the newest release (although it's past his bedtime), so he had a whole plan laid out that we would watch it together after his Monday nap.  When we sat down to watch the show, he was again very eager and interested in all going-ons of Wisteria Lane.  At the conclusion of the episode (when they normally show previews of the next show), the announcer said that Carson's beloved Housewives would not air again for another 3 weeks.  When the realization of this sunk into Carson, he could hardly contain himself.  He cried for almost 30 minutes, trying desperately to negotiate any way of watching it sooner - to no avail.

After realizing the effect that one show can have on a tiny little mind, Ben and I started getting a little more careful in our screening process of which shows we would watch when the kids were awake - unfortunately, we were too late with Desperate Housewives.  But, if anyone ever misses an episode of the Housewives, I'm sure that my 4-year-old son can catch you up (sigh).

Truths vs. Lies

Ben and I have been struggling lately with trying to teach Carson the difference (and importance) of telling the truth and telling lies. Carson has been caught in several different situations telling lies - mostly blaming his poor, unable to defend herself - sister. The concept of telling the truth (as I have come to learn) is a very abstract and complex idea. We have tried a variety of different methods, with the most recent one seeming to be the most effective:

Two nights ago, we found McKinley screaming in her bedroom, in her crib, with the lights off, and door shut. Carson adamently denied putting McKinley in that position, whole-heartedly trying to convince us that she had somehow mangaged to close the door, reach high enough to turn off her light, stumble over to her crib in the dark, jump to a height three times her size, and then land safely inside her crib. Hmmm...do we look that naive? Despite all our attempts at getting Carson to admit to his actions, he refused. Finally, Ben pulled a "Meet the Parents" scenario. He grabbed onto Carson's wrists and told him that he could tell whether or not he was telling the truth (acting as a "human lie detector"). When Ben re-asked Carson the same questions, and Carson started to deny it, Ben squoze his wrists tighter and Carson immediately changed his tune and started telling the truth.

Bravo to my creative husband for coming up with something that worked. Hopefully the additonal reprecutions we instituted for lieing will further deter my son from telling anything other than the truth. The thing that frightens me the most is that Carson is only four and is already telling lies. What in the world is going to happen when he is 16?