Sick Day

Sunday morning started with Jack declaring he felt "icky." "Icky how?" I ask, rubbing sleep from my eyes and hoping Joel already had the coffee going (poor man had to work all weekend so he was already up). "Icky in my tummy." Now understand, Alex declares his tummy hurts, generally speaking, at least once a day. Basically, if Alex is bored with the current activity or doesn't want to eat what is in front of him, he tells any one who will listen that his stomach hurts. This got him sent home from school a few times, but now his teacher has caught on to the method of his madness.

Jack, on the other hand, has yet to fake a single illness (or if he did, he did it so well I still don't know). Knowing a stomach bug was making it's way around, I told him to go the bathroom and downstairs I came. Nothing came up/out, but he looked crummy and so I got him settled on the love-seat with a cozy blanket and a water bottle and our lobster pot in case he couldn't make it. . .

Our plans for the day now significantly altered, it was a day filled with random chores and amusing anecdotes. Alex, who was not sick - AT ALL - enjoyed filling his new baseball card binder and singing quietly to himself "Pedroia - Pedroyyyyyaaaa the Destroyaaaaaaaah." Jack, did not enjoy moaning quietly from the love-seat and refusing all offers of food.

"How about some toast?" I offered. "No thank you" replied Jack. "I want toast! I'll eat toast! Can I have jam on my toast? No peanut butter, just jam. I'll eat it Mama, I'll eat it." enthused Alex.

Jack felt so crummy he didn't want to play cards or any other game and so it was hard to keep him entertained as he could never decide what he wanted to watch or have read to him. Alex would chime in with his preferences, and thus the only thing Jack did know was that he did NOT want whatever Alex requested.

Things were getting a bit frustrating for the one adult in the house, so happily our friend was still willing to take Alex for a couple of hours and he got to see a basketball game at the nearby high school and thus was out of Jack's hair.

Jack decided a bath would help and so he assumed almost the identical curled up position from the love-seat, only now in the tub. The one difference, besides the obvious water and nudity, was in the bathtub he also had his sailboat. The bath did not help, but it did energize him enough that I got him to eat an egg. This made me feel better, but not Jack. As a mother, I have to say that nothing SUCKS more than watching your child feel crummy and there is NOTHING you can do to make it go away.

Alex returned home and was amazed that Jack was still curled up on the love-seat. "Wow, are you STILL sick?" he asked? "Yeah . . ." Jack whimpered. He may not get sick often, but when he does, he is extremely pitiful. "Well when will you be better? I want to play!" "I don't know Alex, someday I'll be better . . ."

We ended up all enjoying a marathon of "Ace of Cakes" shows on the Food Network. The most excited Jack got all day was when they made a cake of a Clone Trooper helmet. Mary Alice started out saying it was a "Storm Trooper" helmet, but as soon as they showed a picture of the example they were going by, Jack shouted out "that's a CLONE trooper, not a STORM trooper!" The force is strong in Jack.

This morning Jack was back to his Love-Bug self; I love the healing power within that boy! We still kept him home and I was with him until I took him to hang out with my Mom so I could go to work. Alex sweetly patted his big brother's head before leaving with Joel and called out that he loved Jack. Lovely moment - aren't they always the nicest when they are leaving each other?

Jack made up for the lost play time and had his Star Wars guys battling the Play-Mobil Napoleonic soldiers (who Jack says are Revolutionary War soldiers - specifically one of them is George Washington). He kept asking me to come in and see the carnage around my vintage Fisher-Price castle (the battle site). It was impressive how victorious the soldiers were against the multitudes of Star Wars guys. Jack said it was because George Washington shot down the jet pack.

So now we just keep our fingers crossed that the illness is out of our house - or that if any of us get it, we get the 12 hour version Jack got!

Sunday's at Church with Alex

Our Alexander Bander Bear was in rare form on Sunday when we went to church. Our Pastor, a wonderful Grandfatherly man, brought the children to the front for his "Children's Time." Now please understand, our church is tiny (not in physical size, but in membership). There are generally 30+ people in attendance and this week there were 5 children for Sunday School. In the winter we worship in our vestry to save the cost of heating our large, old New England, sanctuary.

Our Pastor was working to relate some of Paul's teachings from 1 Corinthians to the children and thus he told them about his two sons and how though very different from each other, they always were close and have remained good friends now that they are adults. As he began his story he said, "now some of you have brothers or sisters" to which Alex interrupted by declaring "I DO! He's right here (pointing enthusiastically) - JACK!" (polite chuckling from congregation)

"Yes, Jack is your brother, very good. Now my first son was very interested in bugs and fish -"

"Jack has a fish - his name is Batey (as in Beta fish)!" (more polite chuckling)

"Excellent. My son basically liked all sorts of small animals. Do any of you have pet mice?"

"We have mice in our house! Sometimes our kitties eat them." (slightly louder chuckling)

"Well yes, many older houses have mice. These were pet mice my son kept in a cage."

He was then able to get most of his story told - we learned how the animal loving son became a doctor and the other son, who liked to build things, is now a computer engineer. They still help each other out (resetting dislocated fingers/rebooting computers)- very nice story. In wrapping up he said that while they have always been close, that didn't mean they didn't fight sometimes.

Slightly in jest he asks "now, none of you fight with your brothers or sisters, right?"

"Oh No!" Alex shouts. "We fight, I punch Jack!" (laughter erupts from congregation).

Bless our Pastor - for countless reasons - but he kept a straight face and let that comment pass . . .

When the children were dismissed for Sunday School Jack came over to me and said "Mama, WHY did Alex have to say all that? I mean, I hit him too sometimes!" **sigh**

After the service numerous people came to me to say how cute Alex is, how funny he is, etc. I, of course, am thinking that from Alex's statements, one would think he goes around punching Jack all the time with no consequence - which is most certainly NOT the case! I explained that to a few folks, but one friend summed him up perfectly "Now that kid - he's a pistol."

God help us all.

Lemonade

Alex adores lemonade - I mean, he LOVES it. He would drink it morning, noon and night if we let him. It's the closest he gets to soda, which he asks for daily and we know if we relent it's just a slippery slope this 5 year old would send his parents down and watch from the top giggling as we struggled to get back to the top.

So this afternoon I had to leave work early to get the boys after school as our friend who was going to babysit had a sick child. We went to one of the boys' favorite places, the Newbury General Store to get the weekly "Friday treat." Jack quickly chose the Peppermint Patty and explained that next week he'll be getting the Reese's Peanut Butter heart. Alex took his time, looking at every candy option in the store. I mean he looked at everything - "can I have two things Mama?" "NO." "What about . . ." "NO."

We learned that new people are buying our favorite general store and Alex declared "I want to by this Great General Store. If owned this store, then all the candy would be mine and I am a sugar hound." Truer words were rarely spoken.

Upon leaving the store we went to get groceries. How lovely to go to our grocery store on a day other than Saturday or Sunday! No crowds, everything pretty freshly stocked - it was a joy (as grocery shopping goes). As we went by the frozen food aisles Alex asked if we could get lemonade. I said "sure" as I knew I hadn't bought any in awhile and we probably didn't have any at home.

When we got home and I finished bringing the groceries Alex went to the refrigerator and pulled out a can of lemonade concentrate.

"Mama, just so you know, I asked you to buy lemonade as a back-up. I knew we had this lemonade in the fridge and I thought - you know, what if we make this and then someone goes crazy and just drinks lemonade all day? We needed a back up - I needed to know we had a back-up lemonade."

What do you say to that? I said, "gotcha - let's make that lemonade."

What the Force Can Do

Star Wars has been a theme in our house for years. Back when Jack had trouble saying his "L's" and "S's" he talked all the time about "Yuke Kywalker." Since Jack was three he has loved Star Wars and Alex, who has to love all things Jack loves, followed quickly in his footsteps. We have a Storm Trooper costume, countless light sabers and a big plastic tin full of Action Figures (not to mention some Legos and spaceships!).

Recently, one night as we drove home Alex asked Jack if he wanted to play Star Wars when we got home. "Sure" Jack said. "The human kind?" Alex asked (as opposed to Action figures). "Yeah, the human kind" Jack answered. "Don't be bossy this time Jack!" demanded Alex. "I'm NOT bossy Alex!" Jack retorted. "Well, actually Jack, you are sometimes. Like when you tell me what to do and what is going to happen in the whole game." Jack had no response to that point . . .

When we got home the light sabers came out and the game began. If I understood correctly from my vantage point in the kitchen, Jack was Obi-Wan and Alex was Annakin. This is perfect for Jack as he gets to be the "Jedi Master" and thus he's not being "bossy" he's being the teacher! They were doing a whole light saber battle which started to get a bit frenzied when I could here Jack shout "Alex! You can't use the force to make me do crazy things!" "Yes I can!" Alex replied, "I'm learning how to use it!!!!!!"

Back by Popular Demand!

In the fall of 2009 I started using my Facebook status updates to share quick stories about the boys. Friends who enjoyed them encouraged me to start a blog, and so now, here we are!

So, to satisfy some of my friends who said they want to here some of the old stories again, this post will be a number of quick stories from fall 2009. If I neglected to include one of your favorites, let me know and I'll post it as a "Greatest Hit!"

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One morning's breakfast table conversation with the boys:
ME: You boys really need haircuts.
JACK: NO! I want to grow my hair so I can wear a ponytail.
ALEX: I want to grow my hair past my butt - past my butt crack - past my penis! Can it grow that long?

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Jack was looking at an old scrapbook Grandpa and Grandma made him of their visit when he was about 18 months old and "helped" Joel build the wall that created our laundry closet. His comment? "I helped build a wall? I look hideous!"

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Two Alex Tales: 1) I know you're my Mama because you are a girl, but not a little girl, a grownup because you are tall. I know you love me because you have to since you’re my Mom. Oh, and by the way, you also give me lots of kisses and hugs - those are pretty nice, most of the time.

Alex Tale #2 (from the Dunkin' Donuts bathroom): ALEX: You know Mama, I think it would be better if boys and girls both had penises. ME: Really? You may change your mind on that one someday. ALEX: No, I don't think so. It's better to be able to pee either standing or sitting, not like you who has to sit so the pee can come out your 'gyna.

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Jack called me at work after school and he was full of righteous indignation. Alex talked about his thumb surgery (2 yrs ago) to a fellow kindergartner. "He talked about my body without my permission! I feel like I just can't trust him anymore. I thought we were over this, but apparently we aren't!" When asked what it would take to... trust his little brother again, he said "He has to not talk about my body for 2 years!" YIKES!

Vocabulary

This tale was told to me by my husband Joel and we agreed it was blog worthy, though short!

On Monday we had an unexpected school closure and so Joel had the whole day with the boys and they couldn't go outside because it was pouring rain and everywhere was icy. Stuck inside, the TV is on more than usual in our house. From what I gather they had been watching a show on the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet that was child appropriate (even the best child can only take so much Noggin/Nick Jr I guess!), but as is often the case in this day and age, some commercials were not.

Joel was in the kitchen and could hear that the ad said something about "sexy" which brought gales of laughter from both boys. "Sexy?" Alex said "That's not even a real word!"

For a child so obsessed with nudity and "private parts" I'm comforted to know the concept of "sexy" still alludes him.

Baseball!

Earlier this week, the boys were clearly hit by SPRING FEVER and decided to arrange their stuffed animals and action figures into an impromptu baseball game.

As I was getting ready for work Alex came to me and explained how Obi Wan (yes, from Star Wars) had just hit the ball so far it went past the sofa and past the chair and past who knows what else he said, but it went far! It went so far that Cuddly (the multi-colored plush bear) had quit the team. I guess Obi Wan's superior hitting just made Cuddly give up on baseball? Joel and I hope that Obi Wan wasn't juicing and that it was really the force that helped him hit so far.

Anyway, the game progressed and Jack's team, according to Jack, was clearly winning. I think this might have been due to the fact that Alex's animals kept quitting. First Cuddly, then Finny (the Dolphin, not to be confused with Jack's dolphin, Dolphy) quit after Turty (yup, you guessed, Jack's turtle) hit a ball up near the stairs.

Pretty soon the game didn't resemble baseball at all, but it gave me, the mother who is counting the days until spring training, a little taste of baseball and that was a wonderful thing on a rainy and strangely warm morning.