Jack loves America

in a retro, abstract kind of way.

The Many Benefits of Having your Child Watch TV

Sam fell down the stairs yesterday. All of the ones at my parents house, which is about 17 stairs. He climbed all the way up to get a toothbrush, then fell all the way down. It was quite a bit stressful. Jack saw him do it, I was in the kitchen making Jack a sandwich. Jack definitely cried more than Sam did. Sam was fine in about one minute (we even got a very expensive CAT scan of his head to prove it). Jack cried a lot more than Sam did.

So, last night, after we had returned from the ER and life had settled down, I was putting Jack to bed. We read a book called "How are you Peeling?" that talks all about feelings. Afterward, I said to Jack, "Jack, how did it make you feel today when Sam fell down the stairs?"

He sat there very quietly thinking, and then he said "Apprehensive."

He's four.

I said "Jack, how do you even know that word?"


He said "Pinky Dinky Doo says it, mommy."

So there you go. TV CAN teach your child something too!

The many benefits of reading to your child

"But Mom, I can't help it, I'm Mr. Messy! Everywhere I go is just messy!"*

*For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jack's latest obsession in the Mr. Men and Little Miss books. Mr. Messy is one of his favorites, due largely in part to the fact that everywhere he goes, he leaves a mess. Now please just let's not have his new favorite be Mr. Bump, who walks around getting hurt 24/7.

Cowboy Day

Jack had "cowboy day" at First Methodist last week.

Here is how the morning dressing went:

"But MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY I don't want to wear a bandanna, it is for girls!"

"But I don't like JEANS they have BUTTONS!"

"I don't LIKE Cowboys!"

Here is how the pre-bath routine went -

*Tears*

"But MOMMY if you take off my BANDANNA, I won't be a cowboy ever again!"

The Pink and White House

Keith says that I never have any pictures of Jack on this blog.

Is it Jack's fault that he is four and thus doesn't mess up everything and wreak havoc on all areas of our lives 24 hours a day? Well, I guess not :-)

I will definitely have to take some good ones of him, too.

And, that kid does make a lot of messes.

Lately, Jack is into this other "family" that he has at what he calls "the pink and white house." We are really not really sure how this came about. But now, it is a very popular topic for him to want to talk about. He frequently tells strangers about his "other mom and dad." We like to let them let their imaginations run wild with the possibilities.

This mother, named Annie, and the father, named Ethan, really seem to have a lot of kids. The number fluctuates, but there are two brothers named Jack also, one older, one younger. There is at least one sister, named Claire, that he talks about fairly often.

He will see things and say "Oh we have one of these at my pink and white house!" or "I went to see this movie with Annie and Ethan!". It is really quite strange.

Recently I told him that we were talking about Annie and Ethan and his other family quite a lot, and it was beginning to hurt my feelings, so I didn't want to talk about them anymore. He said, very pragmatically, "Well, okay mommy, I will put my other mommy and daddy in jail for you!"

He has also come up with another solution that is quite clever, he doesn't' have PARENTS over at the pink and white house anymore, he only has a babysitter. Now, that CAN'T possibly, hurt my feelings, right?

Well, whatever. Like Keith and I have said all along, wherever Annie and Ethan reside, they certainly aren't pulling their parenting weight. We certainly seem to have this child with us a LOT more frequently than they do.

So you left the pack n play a little too close to the drawers with the makeup...

Well, that was my bad.