The Katie Chronicles: Girls’ Nights and Hip Hop Hats Edition

Jerome has been a Cub Scout leader for four years now and every time he has a den or a pack meeting, Katie and I have a Mom and Katie Night.  Tonight is Jerome’s last den meeting as a Cub Scout leader. I will enjoy having him home more but I’ll also miss my special nights with Katie.  Tonight’s activities featured Girl Scout cookie delivery to our local Johnnie’s New York Pizza and staying for dinner, of course.  Then there was ice cream and there might have even been some Taylor Swift singing -- “We are never, ever, ever….”   -- in the car on the way home.  During dinner, I discovered that Katie’s green stocking cap is her “hip hop hat.”  When I asked her what hip hop was, she gave me a pretty good answer, along with an example song.  She also told me that it’s called “hip hop” because it makes you shake your hips and hop around.  How can I give this up?  We’ll definitely have to schedule some more Katie and Mom Nights even after the boys are back. Taylor Swift is optional.

The Ethan Update: Boy Tribe Anthropology Edition

Ethan recently turned 11 and he had his birthday party at Sky Zone, which is a place that has every surface covered by trampolines. It's lots of bouncy fun and a trip to the orthopedist waiting to happen for the over-40 crowd. So we arrive and one of the party-goers is already there. He runs up to Ethan and yells, "Hey Ethan, I'm gonna rip your balls off!" No hello, no how ya doing....just an immediate threat to the private parts. Ethan didn't seem alarmed. He just laughed and they ran off together to play. I turned to my husband with furrowed brow and said, "Translation, please. I clearly don't understand the rituals of your people." He just gave me a sly smile and said, "What? Women don't greet each other by threatening to damage each other's ovaries?" No, Jerome. No, we do not. My field research with the boy tribe continues. More reports to follow.

The Katie Chronicles: Serious Issues Edition

One of the things that I really enjoy as a parent is the number of highly serious conversations I have with the kids. It's fun to see how their little minds and hearts work and to help them learn to navigate the world while their problems are still mostly solvable. Katie recently heard a song called Loco Legs about uncontrollable dancing legs (Fresh Beat Band, for you parents of young ones). Katie sat down by me with a slightly furrowed brow and very seriously warned me that it was important not to sit next to someone with trouble controlling their limbs because the flailing might hurt me. With equal gravity, I agreed that was a good idea. She then said she'd put something on her legs to keep them from acting crazy if she got Loco Legs. I said, "Like braces?" She said, "No, not teeth, Mommy. Legs." I showed her a picture of leg braces on my phone and she agreed that would be a good treatment for Loco Legs. Please make a note for the future should you be afflicted.

The Ethan Update: The Boys' Club Edition

Ethan was recently telling me he needed some of my family ancestry information because he has an assignment to come to school dressed as an immigrant ancestor. I reminded him his mom is from Australia, making her an immigrant, but he wanted a male ancestor because he's a boy and he wants an ancestor like him. I jokingly asked him how he knew he was a boy and he said: "Well...I like explosions...and farts...and burping." Hopefully we can raise that bar for male status a tad higher in the coming years.