I was on the porch sorting and organizing the goods for our rummage sale and Lexi was helping. She kept asking to keep things and I told her that we needed all this stuff to stay on the porch, it was going to help us bring our baby from Ethiopia home. Here’s how the rest of the conversation went:

Lexi: We bring the adopted baby home?

Me: Yep. We are going to bring the baby home. Do you want a new brother or sister to come to our house?

Lexi: Yeah.

Me: Do you want them to come to our house and stay forever?

Lexi: Yeah. The baby from Ethiopia come to our house.

Me: Okay. (at this point I was done and getting ready to go in the house. Lexi was staring intently at the front door). Are you coming with me?

Lexi: (still staring at the door) No. I waiting for the baby from Ethiopia.

(hmmm….how do explain a several month wait to a 2 year old?)

For those of us who don’t want to read the entire Dr. Sear’s Library.

Simple and straight to the point.

When I started student teaching the first place I worked had a policy of not making the kids apologize to each other. I remember being at work and after stopping some type of argument I said you need to tell so-and-so you are sorry. The classroom teacher came flying around the corner and told me they don’t make the kids say sorry but failed to tell what to do instead. About a month or so later, I found out. The kids had to say “I was wrong for (fill in the blank with hitting you, taking your stuff, calling you a name, etc).” And I got on board with this instantly. And it’s carried over into my parenting and my teaching.

I never make anyone apologize. An apology has to come from the heart and so when a teacher or parent says “Say you are sorry.” the kid will say it but not mean it. Plus, they may not be sorry. But they were wrong. A 3 year old may not be the least bit sorry for taking a friend’s toy. But they were wrong for taking it without asking. If a child wants to say sorry after they have said they were wrong, go right ahead because I’m not forcing the apology.

I also like making them say they were wrong because as kids get a little older I also make them correct the problem in a way appropriate to their age. In my class it goes something like this:

Kid A: I was wrong for dumping over your puzzle.
Kid B: Please don’t do it again.
Kid A: Instead of dumping your puzzle I should have asked you to move it or found a different place to play.
Kid B: Can you help me fix the puzzle?
Kid A: Okay.

It does take a lot of coaching to get a dialogue like that but it’s completely possible and my kids do it on a regular basis (at our school we call it Walking the Peace Path).

In a culture where the word sorry carries very little weight anymore, I think saying you were wrong is a more meaningful alternative.

We’ve been saving the yogurt containers for, well, forever. We have quite a collection in our tupperware drawer. It pretty much fills the drawer. The containers are the kind that come with a lid. Tonight Lexi entertained herself for over an hour by pulling out a larger plastic storage bowl and stuffing the lids inside. She would put them in and then pull them all out, rearrange them, and put them back. And repeat the process over and over again.

Help me out people. I know nothing about stereo equipment or speakers but I want to be able to play my iPod without using the headphones. Here’s the what I am looking for in a speaker system;

Good quality - I want to be able to play my music loud and not have it get all garbly & crackly. (Music I tend to play loud is stuff like Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, FIF, anything that you can jump around to). The only time it should sound crackly is if I am listening to Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers.

A radio. It needs to play my iPod, but I want it to have a radio as well.

A remote would be nice, but not necessary. Same for a CD player - to play Lexi’s cd’s.

It needs to be able to play a 1st generation Nano & 3rd generation iPod.

It needs to be affordable. I don’t want to pay more than I paid for my iPod.

Okay, anybody have any suggestions for me…Josh?…Tim?…Steph?…Nicole?…Jaime?…Dave?
Help me out here people.

Lexi had her 2-year check-up today. She’s 29 lbs & 2′9″ tall. She loved sitting up on the table and have the doctor poke and prod at her. I think her favorite part was that light they shine in your eyes/nose/ears/mouth. She even convinced the doctor to do it again. She also had to get her toe pricked for two blood tests. One was a hemogloben check and the other was to get a baseline on the lead count (or something like that). Basically, a precaution for all the recalls on toys with lead paint, etc. She only had to get her toe pricked once but the nurse has to fill up two vials of blood by catching each little drip. The whole process took about 5 minutes. Lexi just sat in my lap, sucked her thumb and occasionally commented that it tickled. The nurse actually commented that it takes less time if they are screaming because the blood is flowing faster. Then she had to get a shot. She almost had a melt down but quickly recovered quickly at the promise of a sticker.

Has anyone ever used these diapers? I am torn right now about what to do about baby #2. I was raised on cloth diapers, I have lots of friends who use cloth diapers, and before Lexi was born I really wanted to do cloth diapers. But the washing machine in our old house was horrible. I’m pretty sure our clothes were never clean - just sort of swished around in water. And the dryer was even worse. Plus, the cost of buying all those diapers at once was a little overwhelming. But, now that we have a very nice new washer and dryer and we could possibly have 2 kids in diapers I’m beginning to see the cost effectiveness of going cloth. Not to mention I really don’t want the Hendricks’ Memorial Landfill that is made up entirely of diapers.

Back to my original question - has anyone used the gDiapers? How do they compare to cloth or disposable?

Tonight at dinner Lexi was about 3 bites in and stopped, crossed her arms, and said “I wanna pway.” I told her she needed to eat before she could play. She said, “no, no, no, pa-way.” I asked if she wanted to pray. “Yes, I want daddy to pway.” So we prayed for dinner.

See? Cuter than cute.

Right now, Lexi is standing on a stool at the kitchen sink. The sink is about half full of clean water and bubbles (from dish soap). Before dinner I filled up the sink and she stood there filling up cups, stirring the water, and generally making a soapy mess. Now, I’m on the couch and she’s back at the sink. She’s as happy as can be, probably making some gigantic mess on the counter and floor. I don’t really want to go in there and see what the kitchen looks like. I hear a lot of pouring and splashing and I also keep hearing comments like “mmmm…drinka da bubbas!” and “ooh bubbas on da stole (stool)” and “I want mo cups.” (which are empty yogurt containers she keeps fishing out of the tupperware drawer). I’m guessing that there is water everywhere and the sink is probably almost empty. But, she’s been happily entertaining herself for over a half hour so I really don’t care how wet the floor is.

She just walked into the living room. Her shirt, pants and socks are complete soaked. I’m guessing it’s a reflection of the rest of the kitchen.

For some reason, when Lexi needs help, she calls me Abby. Except it sounds like A-b. She doesn’t ever call me Abby any other time, the rest of the time I am “momma”- but when she needs help then I’m A-b.

Strange kid.