Kiss what??

We've been watching a lot of "The Little Mermaid" recently; tonight Q was singing "Kiss the Girl", and changing the words, as he's wont to do. The boy was a bit disturbed that Q was singing "kiss the squirrel" instead of "kiss the girl," and finally said "I want to hear Dada say kiss the girl." Q asked which girl, and the boy raised up his middle finger and said "this one." Now, part of this is the finger game he plays with Q (have him explain it), and he was joking with us. However, when you have a mind that hovers a bare millimeter above the gutter, it's funny as anything. I'm quietly dying of laughter, Q is trying to maintain his dignity, and the boy is completely oblivious.

It's 10 pm - do you know where your children are?

My boy is currently pounding on the door, calling out "Mama, I'm all done going night-night! I wanna come out!" A glass of port didn't help reduce the stress, nor did watching Susan get some on Desperate Housewives. I can only hope that he will stop kicking his door (albeit gently) soon. If he wakes his sister up, I may have to remove every single toy from his room (I'm sure the tantrum will be heard down in the wilds of Portland). Until then? I think I may get ready for bed, and hope that he doesn't notice my bedside lamp so that I can read until he quiets down - do you really think I can sleep through the pounding and the kicking?? Every now and then he does this, and if Q and I go to bed and are really quiet ("Sssshhhhh... we're hunting wabbits!"), he'll actually get the message. Unfortunately, I want to watch the next disk of Desperate Housewives. I wonder if he'd notice if I used headphones.... Damn you for getting me interested in this show - you know who you are, the both of you!

The good news? Q comes back tomorrow night. The bad news? I think I may have to curtail all future naps - the boy slept for about 2 hours this afternoon. Sigh. Silly boy! Naps are for moms, not kids!

Our local wildlife

Rabbits on our front porch.
I was on the front porch when the moose was in our front door - I'm about 15 feet from it. I never did see Mama Moose, but I was watching for her!
Dinner anyone?

The goodie package arrived!!

Fortunately for me, big Q came home at lunch to pick up the car. I don't think I could have waited for him to come home to open it up. The first thing that I noticed was that the package had a dent. The second thing I noticed was the big "FRAGILE" on the side - the same side as the dent. Oops. Fortunately, nothing was broken.

Toki put a condition on the goodie package: I have to say what I did/do with the items. (I like your personal stamp on the back of the card!) Here's what was inside:
The shrimp crackers and Badtz Maru cell phone case are for big Q (according the the card I have to share *pouts*). We'll have to wait for Q to say what he did with them.

The cards and bracelet are beautiful! You are truly a talented person, Toki! I am thinking I may try to find a frame to hold my favorite cards. The rest will be used on presents. The bracelet, obviously, will be worn - after G gets a little bigger and doesn't try to eat everything.

The notebook is very cute - I may put it in my purse to write down odd thoughts that need to be written down (like "bring pediatrician's baby's present to G's 12 month appointment").

I think the mini clothes pins will be put to work at my desk - when we get around to moving downstairs, that is.

The book mark will be used to mark my place in a book.

The cookies are delicious! I have promised little Q that he can have some - if he eats his lunch. Do you really want me to say more?

And the Cadbury Creme egg? All MINE!!! I don't like sharing those, and since it's my goodie package - I'M NOT SHARING!!

THANKS TOKI!!

G's first "bonk"

Kids sitting peacefully next to each other, playing with different things. Suddenly a piercing cry is made, and when I look over: G is laying on her side, crying and screaming. I scoop her up, holding her close, and notice the blood dripping from her lip. Yup, the first bonk is always the worst! She bit her lip just hard enough to make it bleed - down her chin, dripping onto her clothes. (The part of me that isn't consumed with calming both kids down, comforting G, and getting the blood cleaned up is quite happy I put her in pink today.) [One hour after the event, Q admits to pushing G; we had a discussion about pushing and how it's not nice to do. "Yes it is!" was his response. Oh boy, it's going to be a fun day.]

Fast forward about 30 minutes, G is again happily playing with the metal bowl, and now Q is sitting on the edge of the toy box. You guessed it! The toy box tipped over, causing Q to fall on his ass. This scares him, quite a lot, and I get the distinct pleasure of listening to him scream. Then G starts to scream - in sympathy, I'm sure. After about 5 minutes, I finally get them calmed down, and now they are enjoying their lunch.

Ibuprofen, please.

[Q wanted to feed G during lunch, and somehow or another managed to fall of his chair and land, literally, on his head. How does he do these things??]

Wild Jenga nights!

I played Jenga for the first time last week. It was fun, we had a great time, and I was willing to play it again. I tried practicing this past week for last night, but trying to practice a balancing game with a 3-year old is rather difficult.

C had a great time riding Moo, the yellow horse. (Moo was named by Quin when he was about 20 months old, and had a difficult time remembering that horses go neigh and cows go moo.)

She also had fun sitting in Quin's "Thinking Chair" - watch some Blue's Clues for an explanation.














The evening's entertainment by C wasn't over yet! G managed to hit her in the nose during a very dramatic Jenga move. Then, in retaliation, she managed to kick him. This caused a glass of Merlot to fall onto our beige carpet. Who says (mostly) 30-somethings can't have fun?

Friday night philosophy

What is it about relationships that cause sane people to become stark raving mad? No, Q and I aren't fighting, but I've been thinking about it a lot recently. I have a friend who's currently having an affair, and (my take) she's feeling guilty about being so happy, and is almost hoping her husband will find out in a manner that doesn't require her to tell him.

What's the big deal? What's so wrong about people changing, but still wanting to be happy? Q and I have been together for 11 years, and married for 6 years. Not every moment has been blissful (what true relationship is 100% candy and flowers?), but I have always wanted him to be happy. I know that part of that is not being around me. Let's face it, I can be a total bitch some times. Ok, maybe most of the time. I'm overbearing, and I like people to do things my way (after all, it's usually better, right?). I do temper that, and am not always an A personality. But I do want Q to be happy.

So why the guilt in having an affair? People change through time, and their needs change as well. If a relationship is to stay together, it must change and grow as well. If you are ultimately happy and satisfied with your current relationship, but you want a little extra spice in your life, what's wrong with finding it, and (hopefully) ultimately adding it to your current relationship in order to help strengthen it? If everyone is OK with the situation, that is.

Living Simple had an article on what makes a lasting relationship (Feb 2008 issue), and the following stuck out (paraphrased due to the magazine no longer being in the house):

- Always argue naked (this has it's obvious pros and cons; fines for indecent exposure could escalate if the couple in question tend to argue in public).

- If you don't see eye to eye on sex and money, it won't last (although half of this is why I'm posting).

- Don't go into a relationship trying to change someone (if you're not happy with who they are to begin with, why will you be happy with them 5, 10, or 15+ years down the road).

So, thought #2: sex. Why is it that this society is so hung up on monogamy? Is it due to our Christian/puritan heritage? Or something else? Other cultures have "allowed" polygamy without negative consequences, so why is it such a stigma for people to be in multiple relationships? If everyone in the situation is happy, why does it bother people outside of the situation? Isn't it up to the individuals in question to decide if the situation is working? Why should it be up to the public to decide some people's happiness? Not everyone is interested in this sort of relationship, but if you know people who are happy with this arrangement, why not be happy for them? And, let's face it, break ups suck, and having a partner stand by you when the third leaves can be very beneficial to the healing process.

To simplify: I'm not very excited about the Hello Kitty toaster, but I'm happy that Toki is happy with her toaster. I wouldn't be interested in owning one, but if she wants a smiling cat on her toast every morning, more power to her. Why is it so different when people are involved, when those who are involved are happy with the situation?