Week 3: Digging Out the Basement

Most of demolition is done, so the contractors have turned their destructive weapons to the basement, where they need to dig out and built a bigger foundation to support the second story. These photos are not very good but they give you a sense of how overarching this project is. I threw one in of the kids just for good measure.

The Uber Taunt

On the day before the Super Bowl, my 4 year old says to his father: "Who's winning the Super Bowl?"

"Nobody. The game isn't until tomorrow," says Mr. Scobie.

"So you don't even know who's winning?!" says the kid in his most sarcastic voice.

This is on top of both kids being basically nonplussed that the Pats lost 3 weeks ago, and claiming that they will be rooting for the Steelers tomorrow.

The young activist

Our seven year old is presently engrossed by sharks. Engrossed doesn't cover it actually. Obsessed really. And all he wanted was a set of shark jaws. He didn't even want them as a gift; he decided he would buy them with his own money. For three days straight, he requested paying jobs to finance this purchase. He quickly went from $17 in savings to the needed $24 by sweeping the walk, emptying the trash and the dishwasher (separately), putting away his clothes, and other things that probably weren't worth the quarters I was doling out.

When I realized that this purchase was about to become a reality, I tried another tactic. How about adopting a shark instead? He liked this idea but offered two friendly amendments: 1) let's do both and 2) let's pay to tag a shark instead. That costs about $2000. The idea fizzled because he wasn't willing to wait to collect the adoption sum before buying the jaw.

(In case you think I am a wuss who can't stand up to a 7 year old, save it. I can't. This child is relentless.)

My next approach was to inform him that the jaws are only harvested as a byproduct of awful shark finning. I got a blase look that told me he was pleased that they were using more than one part of the shark before they threw it back.

We not only bought the jaw, but he got another for his birthday from certain loving family members. And then a co-worker found one in her attic and gave it to him. Now that we own 3 shark jaws, he has suddenly decided that finning is an evil which he will personally battle. After proposing a series of gruesome actions we could take against the Chinese and Thai governments (whom he believes are responsible for failing to outlaw finning), he decided that our country needs to take action. How, then, can a seven year old seek redress of his grievances? "Barack Obama needs to stop them!"

Let me translate: "Dear President Obama: Can you help us from from people stop finning Love Liam Dooley". I sent a helpful translation on a post-it note just in case someone is motivated to read this letter. I will let you know if we get a response. Good luck getting a shark jaw of your own after this!

November 3 Blog Post

Woo hoo! I've made it three days in a row!

After you read this (likely to be underwhelming) post, I highly encourage you to read this post by my neighbor. It's really thought-provoking. How do we raise our kids not just with the right values in the moral sense, but in the civic sense? And I don't mean that like, making sure they vote and don't shirk jury duty. But how do we help them understand themselves and one another as citizens? What do we mean when we want them to be proud to be an American? And how do we fit it in with the other minute details we are trying to impart. I spend so much time trying to get my kids to put their napkin on their lap, I can barely imagine the luxury of answering these questions. But they are good ones.

I am particularly keen on parenting today. It's my older son's 7th birthday, and I can hardly believe it. Here he is when he turned 3.

And here is he is with his little brother yesterday:

Really really really hard to believe. How do I (we) turn these little Greasers into grown men? Still beyond my comprehension.

Action Packed Week

First of all, how cute are these children? I took this picture with an iPhone app that makes everything look like an old Polaroid. Or as my cousin said, an app that makes your children look exactly like you in old pictures. The sleeping bag is SOO earlier this week, when the grown-ups had to take turns camping in the kids room in order to fend off robbers.

Notwithstanding the Crime Spree we faced, the really exciting event this week has been The Loose Tooth. Or possibly The Loose Teeth, or maybe Loose Tooth I and Loose Tooth II. The whole thing has not shaken out yet, but yesterday, Li opened a tupperware container with his teeth (I know, I know, you're thinking, What, you stupid hippies! Haven't you taught your children to fear anything real?) and that resulted in major loosening of a lower front tooth. Anxiety about the loss of this tooth resulted in such award-winning performances as this one, last night:

He's biting his lower lip in order to protect his bottom teeth. He did that from 6:00 pm last night until around 1:30 this afternoon, when I convinced him to try a popsicle (up to that point, no food or water had entered his body for that entire time). TaaaDAH! Instant relief! The other tooth is pretty jaunty too, so I'm hoping the T.F. makes two visits this weekend (Tooth Fairy, not Tom Frank. Although it would be good to see him as well).

The other thing that happened was that a bird flew in the back door yesterday evening, and flew around the house and got freaked out and pooped liberally and hid under the couch. It took much coaching and furniture-moving to get the bird out. It was the most exciting thing to happen to me in a while, but then again, I haven't lost a tooth in years, so what do I know.

Musical Influences

On Saturday, Liam asked me if people ever have pet rats, which caused me to sing*, "Freddy tried to strangle me with my plastic popper beads, but I hit him back with my pet rat. Yes, I hit him back with my pet rat!" Li thought this was hilarious, so I spun Germ-Free Adolescents by X-Ray Spex for him in the car the next day. It only took one chorus for him to sing along to Plastic Bag. "My my-nd is like a plas-tic bag (do do do do do do doo)."

I was so proud. I mean, even prouder than the fact that both my kids love Ozzy (well, Crazy Train). But here's the trick. X-Ray Spex released that album in 1977. The year my sister was born. I was three, the same age as my younger son. It was old when I discovered it in 1991. So how can it be cool for me to be playing it for my kids? It just isn't, right? It's the equivalent of my mom playing Phil Ochs and The Band and Simon and Garfunkel**, which was still mildly contemporaneous with my early childhood. So in essence, I am even more of a throwback than my mom was when I was a kid. ~~~ Does not compute ~~~

This marked lack of coolness is something I've never adjusted to. Time to just own up to it and bust out the Doobie Brothers, I guess.

* I have this genetic condition that I inherited from my mother, and passed to my son, whereby I sing non-relevant song lyrics in response to friendly questions. This would drive Mr. Scobie "insane" if he weren't already in that condition due to our children's horrible table manners and their shambled, broken-toy-strewn bedroom.

** I still love The Band and Simon and Garfunkel. Here is my friend Dave's answer to the question "Beatles or Rolling Stones?": "Simon and Garfunkel", and he's right.

This Is A Test

I got a Flip for Christmas, so bear with me while I test whether I can post a video.

Let me know if you can view this. Thanks.

Rogues' Gallery

Miscellany

I don't recommend this to my mother or mother-in-law. Wire fans, have at it.



This, on the other hand, should be right up the grandmothers' alley:



This was the hairstyle he had to have.

The Birthday Boy

Liam turns 6 today. A lot of times when kids have birthdays, their parents say, "It seems like only yesterday (sigh) . . ." I don't fee like that. I feel like I've had this kid for a long time, and can't believe he's only been around for six years. I don't know why that is. It certainly isn't because he acts older than six. Maybe it's hormonal. Like at this point, having forgotten what he was like as a baby, I would be biologically conned into having another one. Well, that ain't gonna happen. Anyway, photo of the birthday boy to follow.

Mild Bitch Session

I recognize that in the scope of world events and history, etc etc, my problems are minor, but I just need to vent for a minute. For six years, I have taken for granted that having a job and kids is a "challenge" - largely logistical. Each twist adds a new layer: One kid to two kids, baby to toddler to boy, to work, to babysitter, to preschool. Teeth, sickness, transition, dinosaurs, airplanes, mushrooms, tantrums, head banging, biting - all this is standard issue. Right now, I feel like we are getting all of it at once, and while I keep telling people that everything's fine, I really think it's hard. Again, its all logistical. Like, thank God, my kindergartner just needs more food in his lunch and not that I can't send anything for lunch at all.

In fact, I won't go down that list-road. Every "logistical difficulty" is a gift. My kids have great schools and teachers and babysitters; we have jobs and all the resources we need to give them what kids deserve. But like when there are too many Christmas gifts to properly enjoy them all, I am feeling a overwhelmed and cranky and want to put some of them in the basement until we are ready to enjoy them.

I am going to take my attempts to get perspective off-line but any words of advice are welcome. I'll be over here trying to put this puzzle together.

The Big Day, Aftermath

Here's the only vaguely sincere photo I could get out of the kid yesterday, walking to school. It turns out I was more excited; he took the whole thing in stride. Tonight, however, he's flipping his lid because, "I am not ready for kindergarten, the days are too LOOOOOONNNNGGGG!" S

The Big Day

My older son starts kindergarten on Wednesday, and I am basically a ball of excited nerves about it. I can't even explain why. He's totally ready. Often when he's faced with a transition - big or small - he has a hard time with it. But he is so ready for K that he has barely registered any anxiety. The only things to stress him out so far are: (1) the fact that he still has all his baby teeth; (2) the fact that other kids from his preschool aren't going to his K and (3) the school's no nut policy. Which I should have kept my mouth shut about. He never would have noticed 9 years of ham and cheese sandwiches.

Also, it turns out I forgot to prepare an earthquake kit. Blurg. We had to do one of these for his first preschool and it was awful. Why? because we were asked to write a letter to him that would be read to him only if The Big One hit. Almost nothing is harder than writing a letter to a 3 year old that will be read only if a devastating earthquake hits. "Dear Liam, the way you chew your shirt is really gross and irritating. Cut it out now because your foster parents won't stand for it." Or how about, "You'll be moving to Boston/Virginia soon. You're in charge of your little brother. Don't fuck that up, kid." See? It doesn't get easier just because he's almost 6. Fortunately, this school calls the letter optional, so I am going to exercise my option and not tear myself apart with that one right now. I can barely stand to imagine him in kindergarten, much less hunkering down to wait for the National Guard to escort him someplace.

Tomorrow we have his orientation, when he will meet his teachers and some of his classmates. I don't know whose head will explode first - mine or his - but I will be sure to document extensively if it isn't my head that goes first.

My Guys

Here's a picture I took of my world class mushroom hunters on our hike today. You can read about the hike at Fungus Everything.

What's Up With Me

If you wander over to Fungus Everything, you can find out more about how we spent our weekend. This is the best picture I got of my homies. Our camera sucks. Add to that, every time I pull the camera out, my kids bum-rush me to look at the pictures I haven't taken yet. 

Still Got (Almost) Nothing

This weekend was a blur of parenting because Mr. Scobie has a trial coming up. These days, though, the kids are easily placated by treks through mud in search of fungus. As you may know from the Fungus Everything post yesterday, we did an organized hike with a mycologist on Saturday. Yesterday, we hiked through Redwood, and saw not only many awesome new fungi, but also literally hundreds of thousands of ladybugs that "overwinter" in the Park. Here are some photos: 

It would be creepy, except they are all ladybugs, and they don't fly very fast or care very much about the people watching them. Very cool. If you want to see them, let me know and I will hike down there with you some day this week.

(chirp, chirp)

I guess it isn't cricket season (that being the insect season, rather than the sport) but it has been quiet around here. With the kids around all day, and me at home and basically trying to vacate (staycate?), I haven't had much room to blog. In fact the only vaguely bloggable moments have been Q's awesome turns of phrase, usually shared at 5:30 am. The other day, he said, "My eyes are real but Wee-um's eyes are fake." He confirmed this repeatedly when asked but offered no explanation. In response to B shaving his beard, he said, "Daddy, your voice sound different with no beard." It's like having our own wee Yogi Berra. 

But preschool is back in session, and my unemployment begins tomorrow, so stay tuned for much more blogging unless I am quickly employed by a far less tolerant entity. Happy New Year, 

The New What

I started a blog for Liam so he'd have a website that keeps all his favorite things in one place. It's called Fungus Everything. He named it himself. Don't worry, I won't write it in his voice, unless he dictates it to me, in which case I will note that. I think its annoying when people write blogs in their children's and pets' voices. More annoying than wierd, given how common it is.

This blog is really for him, so at some point, I might make it a members' only website. But on a trial basis, feel free to check it out.

One piece of technical advice that I need: Blogger does not let you publish .pdf files. Typepad does, but I am cheap like that and don't want to pay to have an account. So how can I post Liam's drawings without converting them to a .pdf? Can I scan his drawings as .jpgs? If so, how do I do that? Thanks for any assistance you can give me on this one.

More Vay-Kay Photos

Several clay pigeons died for our recreational pleasure.


Q-ball rides.

So Much to Write About

We went to South Carolina for Thanksgiving, and the environs were not conducive to blogging, i.e. I was too busy/tired/surrounded by people to sit down and compose a thought. I have so much to blog about that I made notes for myself yesterday, and spent much of the early morning hours (2;30-4:00 a.m.) pondering what may be the most boring blog post ever to be composed. It's upcoming. But first, some vacation photos:

The plane ride there.
At the stables.L doing god-knows-what on the back of a horse.