SIGHT WORDS | GAGE

So…with kindergarten we have begun the process of working on sight words.  Today, among others, I was reviewing ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ with Gage.  When we came to the word girl, I attempted to give him a hint.

I said, “Campbell is a ….. ”

Gage immediately replied, “Desperate!”

I think he is missing the point of starting with the basics but it gave me the only belly laugh I have had for the day.

MUSTACHE | BRIGGS

Apparently, the notion of puberty is hot on Briggs’ mind after being in middle school for two weeks. He yelled down the hall while I was doing laundry, “Mom!  I think I am getting a mustache.”

I asked him to come into the stronger light of the laundry room to investigate his upper lip.

I sneered, “You mean the blond fuzz on top of your lip?”

Almost at the same time Briggs exclaimed, “Come to think about it…Mom…you have a mustache too!”

We have gotten away from purchasing Happy Meals. They are expensive, provide little food for the growing needs of our children, and make us only accumulate more junk I have to secretly dispose of. Somehow though I got suckered into purchasing them this week on the run inbetween school and sports practices.

I felt swindled.  I yelled to the back of the van, “In the future, we are never buying Happy Meals again!”

Gage replied, “Mom, you can’t predict the future!”

There it is…my kindergartener.

My favorite exchange between the Briggs and Gage came after the Middle School Open House. 

Briggs has had a crush on one girl, in particular, for a few years. **For the sake of anonymity, her name has been changed below.** As we passed Arielle in the hall, I gave her a happy hello.  Briggs was unable to utter a word. 

He proceeded to tell me how embarassing I was at which point I explained he likely had the coolest mom in the entire fifth grade!  That was when I tripped…not only embarassing him more but realizing I may just think I am cool.

**Skip forward several hours.**

Briggs tends to divulge a lot of his feelings, and ask important questions at bedtime.  Like a computer, he is in his ‘shutdown’ process. 

………………….
Here was the exchange.

Briggs: 
So, Mom…how do I tell Arielle I like her?

Mom: 
Well, until you learn how to say ‘Hi’ to her, I wouldn’t worry about telling her you like her.  How about just starting off with something simple, such as “How was your summer?” or “Who is your homeroom teacher?”  or “Are you playing soccer this Fall?”

Briggs: 
I am not sure what I would say.

Mom: 
You are in fifth grade.  Why not just stick to being friends?

Gage <interjects with teasing>:
Briggs can’t tell Arielle he likes her!

Briggs <in the funniest comeback tone I have witnessed>:
Seriously, Gage.  You have an imaginary girlfriend named TreeTop.  I don’t think you should be teasing me.
………………..

And so it begins.  Middle School.  Girls.  Attitude.

The kids learned what CHICKEN FIGHTS were this week. In fact, the chant for ‘CHICKEN FIGHTS, CHICKEN FIGHTS…’ is just as fun as watching them attempt to play.  When they ran out of ‘big kids’ to play with they decided to try it on their own. I think they are not only figuring out they can play together well…but they can form teams.

By the way, our bath routine for the summers has been pool time.  Chlorine is as effective as soap, right?

So Tim takes the early-bird, Campbell, to the dry cleaner this morning.

Now, if you have never heard the pure pleasure of Campbell’s volume, it is kind of like a bull horn. She has no concept of volume control. Because she is the tiniest in the family, we give her the excuse of trying to make up for her stature. Bottom line…she has been a loud ass from the moment she was born. Even the nurses couldn’t believe the set of lungs she had for being so little. Gosh, we are blessed!

Anyway, back to the story.

As Tim gets off a phone call, Campbell yells from the back, “Who was that?”

Tim replies, “My boss!”

Campbell, the-ever-so-smart, four going on fourteen girl, says, “You mean…MOMMY?”

While she may drive me nuts on a hourly, daily, weekly basis…I got to love every inch of her. She is not only super sharp, she’s got my back!

Briggs did everything I would have hoped when we dropped him off for his first week of summer camp.  Yet, I let a few tears drop as he walked away.

He was oozing with excitement and confidence upon arrival…especially as he met up with his buddy, Carson.

He didn’t ask us a single question.  He introduced himself to the counselors.  He didn’t look back.  Heck, he hardly even cared to say goodbye to any of us.

He and Carson have been waiting for this camp experience with great anticipation.

I could not be more excited for him.  Even as I sit here to write this I imagine him grinning at the stories being swapped around the campfire. I imagine him swinging like Tarzan from the rope swing.  I can visualize him stealing a few glances across the lake at a cute girl.

This camp exceeded my expectations 100 percent.  He will likely have the best week he can recall ever having in his first decade.

But I cannot believe my son is old enough to spend a week on his own in the woods.  There have been many signs of his growing age and maturity this summer, this being the pinnacle.

As a parent, I want independence and freedom for him.  And, I want him to feel confident enough to leave us without hesitation.  But as a mommy, I still want to hold him in my lap and need me.

I am perplexed.

Gage.  I love that kid.

I sometimes get sad thinking about him.

He is growing up so quickly.  His time as my baby was so short-lived with the twins arriving twenty months after he was born.

He acts like a big kid.  He hangs out with the big kids.  He connects dots far beyond his age.  He just gets things.  Yet, he just melts in my arms whenever I give them out.

He is the one we spend the most time putting to bed.  It is like Gage time.  He always gets a book.  He always gets rubbed.  And, Tim dozes into dreamland with him nearly every night.  Maybe Tim and I both have a need to make up for lost-baby-time with him.

Like a second child, he hasn’t had the major exposure to the camera like Briggs did for every sporting event.  So, I made it a point to catch a few shots of him before the T-Ball season ended.

Gage.  I love that kid.

I appreciate having a job that allows flexibility.  I like being home as Briggs walks off of the school bus.  In fact, I have heard from other mothers that it is even more important as they grow older.

So, toward the end of the school year, Briggs entered the front door looking extremely upset.  His comment, “I had the worst day EVER!” started a series of machine-gun questions from me.  Were you teased?  Did you get a bad grade?  Are you sick?

Soon I learned that a friend of Briggs had brought an ‘inappropriate magazine’ on the bus.  Our dearest bus driver, Janet, who probably has cyborg eyes quickly figured it out and delivered a swift disciplinary action.   Briggs promised he hadn’t looked at the magazine.  Yeah, right!

Well, my curiosity started to grow.  I know this young boy’s parents quite well.   I am having visions of nasty magazines with gnarly names.

My next question to Briggs was, “What was the magazine called?”

His response nearly made me swallow my tongue in laughter.  I had to stay composed after he said, “Mom, it was an inappropriate girls magazine.  It was called Victoria’s Secret.”

When Tim returned home from work that evening we repeated the happenings.

His response isn’t all that surprising.  ”Hey…those women are beautiful.  In fact, they’re hot!  And if you want to look at the magazine your mom gets it in the mail.  But you got to play by the rules of the school.  You cannot take that kind of stuff on the bus.”

I guess it is beginning.  Our oldest son is growing up.

We’d be millionaires if we could ‘bottle-up’ this sound.  It would do wonders for people that suffer from depression.  How can you not giggle along?

Memo

Spring is in the air…and summer is just around the corner.  We are all growing excited.  No more getting up early.  No more packing lunches.  Hopefully, no more early morning yelling (we’ll see about that!). 

I setup a tea party for the girls because it was perfect outdoors, and my friend wanted to get some pictures of the new Stella & Dot jewlery for girls.  My frustration grew because within minutes the sweet setting I had created was a disaster. 

What is it with my girls (and their cousin, Elin)?  How did I get destructive girls!?!  Is it just there is more than one?  Will this end?  Will I someday be thankful because they will not let anyone push them around and will speak up for their beliefs?  Calgon, take me away!

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