Life Changing

We were in the car today, listening to NPR. There was some interview with someone, and they mentioned an experience that had "changed their life."

Gabe piped up from the back seat "my life changed when I turned five."

"Why?" I asked

"Because I didn't get to ride in the stroller anymore..."

Sometimes it's hard to get older, isn't it?

Girls and Guns

So I only have sisters. And so it's true that the number of gun games that boys come up with - naturally - kind of took me by surprise. Because I remember a lot more playing "orphan" and "Little House" than playing guns.

But when I say we didn't do guns at all it's kind of a lie. Because I do remember repeatedly taping together the two Big Bird puzzle pieces that, combined, looked sort of like a gun. And I loved it.

So when I say that Betsy plays guns because she has a brother? That might not be the only reason. But maybe I could make the argument that girls like to make guns, not just shoot them. Case in point:

She was really proud of her Lego gun. And blasted everything in sight. While her brother made a fire truck to put out all of her negligent fires.

All fires were put out. It must be nice to have an older brother to clean up your messes.

PS - I don't know why half of my post has to be aligned center. Blogger claims it's aligned left. It's not.

Kids' Request

They wanted this picture taken and shared. Why not?

Superiority

So I've read Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother. I've researched the superiority of Finnish schools. My son has kids from all over the world in his class (mostly Asia and Eastern Europe), and I've been intrigued by the different (and different intensity) parenting styles. So here's another food-for-thought article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204740904577196931457473816.html)

about why FRENCH parents are superior. I've obviously been leaving this extraordinary country of my [clearly extensive] parenting studies.

We already limit snacks (since our kids aren't huge snackers), so I think the trick is mostly saying non with conviction.

We're baaaaaack!

Our old blog has pretty much been on hiatus for a year...or more...so I thought it was time for a fresh start! I'm going to ignore the thousands of photos languishing on our hard drive, and just start from the beginning. So here we go again, starting with today!

Gabe has been asking Brad for surfing lessons for quite a while now. The air was warm today; the ocean not so much. But Gabe stuck with it for about a half hour - I was proud of him. He came out with teeth chattering, declaring that he was too cold to ever do that again.

After making him listen to the Beach Boys for half an hour and convincing him that summer water was warmer, he admitted that he had fun and would try it again sometime.

And what would a cold trip to the beach be without ice cream after to warm up?