The Katie Chronicles: Family Values Edition

 I've had a very stressful few weeks and, while I haven't really talked about it with the kids, Katie knows something's up. On Thursday night, she said, "Mommy, why don't you do some yoga? It always makes you feel better.  It makes me feel good, too." I thought about what she said and decided to replace my normal workouts on the bike this week with all yoga. On Sunday night, I told her about this and thanked her for giving me such a good idea. So this morning I got up to do yoga and I soon had three observers, a sleepy-eyed Katie and the two curious cats. I settled in and concentrated on the vigorous yoga practice I'd chosen for several minutes and then I looked up to check on Katie. She had quietly stopped watching me and started writing something on her little white board. She'd written me a note. "Mommy, you are doing a great job! Love, Katie PS, thank you for taking my advice." There may not be any crying in baseball but there was a  tear (and a big hug) in yoga today.

The Katie Chronicles, Persuasion Edition

 Katie: Mommy, I got to go to the treasure box today at school [for good behavior]. 

Me: Great! What did you get?

Katie: Gummies. I knew we were having ice cream later today so I didn't get candy.

Me: Sweetie, gummies are candy.

Katie: They are?!?

Me: Yes, unless they are your vitamin gummies, they're candy.

Katie: But Mommy, I read the label and it said they have 6% protein! So they can't be candy.

Me: Nice try. They're candy.

She totally knows how to get to me, though. Label reading. That's my girl.

The Katie Chronicles: Atlanta Girl Edition

Most kids have cars they like to play with and Katie is no different. She has a pink Barbie two-seater convertible and a Cinderella carriage that see some action around our house. Recently she was zooming them around the coffee table and through a blanket tunnel. They were having a good time until they stopped short and stayed still, sitting side by side. She told me they had to stay there for awhile because they were stuck in traffic. Yep, she's an Atlanta girl.

http://youtu.be/V020XgCqHFo

The Ethan Update: Roughing It Edition

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first sleep-away camp survivor....Ethan! It was Boy Scout camp and he earned his "Firem'n Chit" and his "Totin' Chip." (The difference between a chit and a chip gets explained later, I hope). These accomplishments mean he's demonstrated he can use both according to strict safety standards. The former means he can carry matches and build fires and the latter means he can now go beyond whittling in one place to carrying a knife or hatchet around camp if he needs it. About an hour after he returned home, you can probably guess what he asked. "Daddy, is there anything I can chop down with a hatchet?" So if any of our trees or bushes disappear in the near future, I should be able to solve the crime. Also, if you need any chopping or burning done, I have your boy.

The Katie Chronicles: Religious Education Edition

Katie is involved in an optional summer Girl Scout class series called God and Me that involves a few meetings over the summer with her group where they have Bible-related lessons and do projects. The end result will be a special patch and recognition of her studies. One of her recent homework assignments was to create a 24-card memory matching game with pictures of 12 pairs of items that God made. She asked me to check it because she came up an extra blank card, so I matched up all the pairs. There were pictures of her family, her cats, butterflies, food...all the usual suspects. And then I saw that she had created a set of cards for football. I'm keeping these because if we are ever called to present legal evidence that we are fit parents, I believe demonstrating that your children believe that God created football is admissible in a court of law in the South. 

The Ethan Update: Spirit Animal Edition

I really needed to hear some good news today. When I got home, I was talking with my hub about our respective days. He told me that he and Ethan had been talking on the long drive home and Ethan asked him what his spirit animal would be. Rome said he replied, "I don't know. Maybe a sloth?" (For the record, he's the opposite of a sloth, whatever animal that would be). Ethan then said, "What would T's spirit animal be?" They discussed options but then Ethan said, "Oh, I know! She'd be a peacock!" Rome asked him why a peacock and he said, "Because peacocks are sooo beautiful!" Then he said, "No, wait! She'd be an *albino* peacock, because they're even more beautiful!" After I suppressed the tear in my eye, I said, "Well, he got the albino part right." It's easy to see that I'm surrounded by a boy who is going to make someone an amazing husband someday...and a man who already has.

The Katie Chronicles: Tomboy Edition

It’s been fun as a parent watching all of the identity-development theories I learned about play out in the growth of my kids.  I recently picked up Katie from her day camp and, as usual, we chatted in the car on the way home.  Katie informed me that she – my Frozen-memorizing, nail polish-loving, pinktastic daughter -- and some of her camp friends have formed a tomboy club.  I asked her what a tomboy was and she said it’s a girl who likes boy things. Simple enough.  I asked her what boy things were and she said “Skylanders, Pokemon, Transformers, and stuff like that that boys like.” A few months ago, her brother defined boy stuff as burping, farting, and explosions, so I was grateful that we seem to be progressing.  (At this point I was thinking, “Wait…if girls like something that boys also like, doesn’t that make it a ‘people thing’?” but I didn’t push in that direction.  There’s plenty of time for applying logic to irrational situations later…like when we start discussing politics.)  I learned that the club is led by a team that includes a boy and when I asked her why, she said he was nice and they wanted him in the club, so I’m guessing the admission criteria and terminology are a bit fluid at this point.  But at least they’re inclusive.  She said the club has six rules.  It’s apparently important that you be nice, not use words like dumb, lame, or “the s-word” -- not THAT one, the other one…”stupid” -- and you have to like the aforementioned “boy things,” which also includes boy music like “Justin Beaver” and The Story of My Life.  (I’m sure the macho dudes down at the nearest biker bar would love to hear some the Beebs or One Direction rocking out of their jukebox).  Katie said these fall under “boy music” because…wait for it…they’re sung by boys (duh).  Later, she asked me if I was a tomboy and I said no…I’m a goddess.   And then, less tongue-in-cheek, I told her I don’t categorize things as “boy” things or “girl” things.  I like what I like and that’s it.  There was silence from the back seat, so I might have blown her mind.