Granted, you don't need to have nuts to feel the pain of getting kicked in the nethers. Which reminds me of a time in junior high gym class when a girl fell on the balance beam and landed crotch first, and, while the girl struggled to hold back tears from the pain, a boy said, "Good thing you're a girl or that would really hurt." And that is when I decided that boys were dumb.
Except I have a boy of my own now and no longer believe that. It's amazing how having a boy has changed my attitude about and my feelings toward males. It's not like I was ever a man-hating feminist. I was simply a feminist who was very cautious and more than a little afraid of boys and men. And understandably so considering that males are the biggest threat on earth to females. I am now a feminist (I've always been a feminist, damn it, and am deeply confused by women who say they are not feminists) who, though still wary when appropriate, can't help but see every male as somebody's son. Hence the warm and fuzzy feelings toward some dudes, especially dudes who spark an idea of what my son might be like some day. And dudes who are adorable.
Speaking of adorable, Gavin made something for us at school for Mothers' Day that is "a surprise and a secret." He hid it somewhere in his room. At first he put it under his pillow, but Stacy reminded him that we would likely find it there when we tuck him in at night. So he put it somewhere else, though I don't know where. I hope he remembers because I really want to know what it is.
For Stacy, Gavin and I are going to give her a [REDACTED] and a [REDACTED] for Mothers' Day. Gavin is very excited about this. He said in the car on the way to school the other day, "Don't forget about Mommy's [REDACTED] because Mothers' Day is very soon." I hope she likes it. I have a feeling that Gavin will be getting a [REDACTED], too. Gavin and Stacy have something up their sleeves for me. I don't know what it is (but I sure hope it's this).
Gavin really likes the whole concept of secrets and is really good at keeping them, which is both adorable and terrifying. He's also become quite the liar. Granted, telling tales is normal for kids, but still. A case in point: Gavin likes to play with the door stopper which is screwed into the back of the bathroom door. This causes it to frequently fall out. This is a new door stopper to replace the one he previously broke. We've asked him not to play with it, but he has not received, from me at least, a decisive "hands off" directive. Or, I suppose, "feet off" is more appropriate since he can reach it with his feet while he's on the toilet. In any case, the other day the door stopper was on the floor behind the toilet, a sure sign that it had been tampered with. So Stacy asked Gavin why the door stopper was on the floor and he claimed that "the wind" had "blowed through the window" and knocked it out. Keep in mind, Stacy and I were not angry when the question was posed, so there wasn't a compelling emotional reason to lie. Still, he did. And we told him that we didn't believe him. I explained that if the wind really did blow through the bathroom window hard enough to unscrew a door stopper then the force of the wind would have wrecked everything in the bathroom, not just that. He insisted on the wind story and I told him that I was disappointed that he wasn't telling the truth and that lying was a much bigger problem than the door stopper being on the floor in the first place and was much more likely to get him in trouble. If I remember correctly, Stacy then told him he couldn't have dessert, which was a total bummer for him. Well, yesterday the same thing happened: Gavin was in the bathroom, Stacy came in and noticed the door stopper on the floor and Gavin said, "I did that. It wasn't the wind," adding, a little cautiously, "And I'm not in trouble." And, indeed, he was not.
Another thing Gavin didn't get in trouble for was what we learned at his parent-teacher conference last night. This is because his teacher basically told us that he is amazing and wonderful and everybody loves him. Which was news to us! Seriously, he got a lot of praise from his teacher. He participates a lot, listens well, is very polite. She's especially impressed with how well he speaks and understands Spanish (he goes to a Spanish immersion Montessori preschool). His language skills really are quite remarkable. In just the last month he has started speaking to me in complete Spanish sentences. Whenever I read him a book in Spanish (which is rare since they have to be the SUPER easy books for me to even have a chance and he is getting too sophisticated for those books) and I don't know a word I ask him and even though he can't read it, he can either tell me from memory or he will explain what the page is about, using complete Spanish sentences that really does not clarify anything at all for me, but it does blow my mind. Granted, I can't take credit for any of this since it is Stacy who is the Spanish teacher and she has been speaking to him in Spanish since he was born. Most of the time I get what they're saying to each other, though not always. And they both politely tolerate my broken Spanglish.
Oh, and behold, Gavin's Official 2013 Preschool Portrait:
Granted, I did take him to JCPenney late last year to have his school photo done because I didn't know if they were doing school photos at his school and I wanted to maintain the shirt and tie motif I had going. But my motto is you can never have too many school photos. :) I should note, that I took him to JCPenney not because I thought they would take really good pictures, but precisely because I knew they would not, which would help capture the utilitarian school photo essence I love so much. This is actually his second preschool photo as his first one was terrible. I have already been berated by Lisa for not taking a photo of this photo for comparison sakes, but I did not. And I had to return the package to the photographer in order to take advantage of "retakes," which I didn't even know were a thing any more since the dawn of digital cameras. But in his previous photo he was grimacing and had 3-4 chins. I'm much happier with this photo, in which he basically looks like he's in a preschool One Direction cover band in the role of Harry Styles. Not that I can even name a single One Direction song, but I'm proud of my son for following his dream and will go to all of his shows. Especially because I will have to drive him.
Really surprised at your choice of Mother's Day gifts. I would have thought you would hate that gift, and not even have accepted it!
ReplyDelete"And I'm not in trouble."
ReplyDeleteI love it.