Well, today I took the first step toward adding a bit more structure to my boy's life...and fun :)
This little person who lives with me is a never-ending supply of amusement, entertainment, thought-provoking questions (seriously), frustration, high blood pressure, and new knowledge. He has an extremely high energy level, as well as an (apparently) furiously working brain which soaks it - whatever it may be - up like a sponge. He takes everything in. He has taken to watching TLC, yes The Learning Channel. This is without any actual prompting from the parental units (ME & Hunny). We do watch a lot of educational type programs, History, History International, TLC, National Geographic, and others in that genre get a pretty regular workout in our tvs. But Shayne has his own tv, and we don't force him to watch anything. When he watches, which really isn't very much, now that I think about it...
So, I was upstairs getting ready for work the other morning, and he was downstairs eating his morning PB&J. He has a habit of "hollering" for whoever is within earshot to ask things like "Why is today called Monday?" or similar out-of-the-blue-and-couldn't-this-wait-until-I-am-done-dressing/eating/reading this page questions. And I hear "Mommy" come wafting up the stairs. Oh crap, now what..?
"Yes dear?" I always try to acknowledge him, I think it's very important not to shut out his questions and commentaries on things. Sometimes I only pick up every 3rd or 4th word and try to respond accordingly without accidentally giving a highly inappropriate answer. Example:
Him: "Mommy?"
Me: "Yes Baby?"
Him: "Daddy drives a roll-off truck, and Uncle Mike drives a roll-off truck, and Scott drives a front-loader, and Charlie works on their trucks, and he drives a red Dodge, and Daddy drives a blue GMC and Uncle Mike drives a black Ford, and I'd like to have one of each of those so I can look at them and think how much I love the people who drive them. Next time we go to the store, can we buy one of each of them..?"
All of this is spewed forth from the back seat of my car at 65 mph during rush hour traffic. Needless to say I only get every few words, as I am trying to concentrate on the idiots, morons, inconsiderate, non-driving, in my way, stoopid people other motorists around me. This is where it gets tricky...a no at this point would be cruel, as he wants to "think about how much he loves them". It would also provoke a request for an in depth, detailed explanation as to why not. But a yes would be even worse - I'd have agreed to spend a LARGE sum of money. It's a fine line I walk...
Back to the other morning...
Him: "Could you come down here?"
My boy wants to look you in the eye when he has something to say.
Me: "Why don't you come up here..?" and one of my mother's most frequently used phrases flashes through my mind and tries to escape via my mouth "You're younger than I am" almost snuck out, but I locked the exit before it could make a clean break. I refuse to channel my mother if I can help it...
Him: "I want to show you something."
Now that particular phrase causes much speculation & remembering on my part...could be an ant (ewww, and he loves 'em) that snuck under one of the doors, could be a new kick/punch combo, could be a shaft of sunlight falling just right through the window, could be anything with this child...
So I try again: "Can't you bring it up here to show me..?"
Him: "No, it's on tv.."
Me: *thinking he's found a new toy to want, or a program to watch (and he wants to know how many days until Tuesday at 3pm...) "Alright, I'll be down in a minute."
I finished what I was doing, and went downstairs to see what was so important. Let me note here, we have a dvr - very similar to TIVO, can pause, rewind, ff, rec, etc- in our living room. He had the tv paused, and as I came downstairs, he began fast forwarding. He was watching "Urban Disasters" on (I think) TLC. It was about flooding. He wanted me to see that you need to climb out of a car if your overrun with flood waters....HE'S 5.
Hmmm. Re-reading, I guess I've kinda fallen off the path I had originally laid out for this post...sorry, my mind tends to ramble that way....
What I came here to say was that on Tuesday, at 5pm, my boy is going to be evaluated for and entered into martial arts classes. We would have done this sooner, but all of the schools (dojos?) I spoke to wanted them to be at least 5. (This new school starts at 3...) I think it will be good for him, as well as fun. He has lots of energy that needs to burned off, and, as he spends a lot of time around teen-agers, mainly teen-aged boys who think it's cute to teach the kid how to punch/kick/fight without an accompanying explanation of when it is and isn't appropriate (like they even know...), he needs to be exposed to these actions in a different atmosphere, as well as given guidelines. Every thing I've seen while researching this indicates that martial arts is as much about respect for others, and honor, as it is about the physical moves. Let us hope...
Ok, I'm done for now...See ya laterz!