A Daily Dose of Mischief

For me spring means brighter days, warmer weather, and reviving life. Already we've seen crocus blooms and daffodils. The sun play longer. The grass is ready to mow. The trees' leaves are beginning to show. This past week was the much anticipated Spring Break. However, the Spring part of Spring Break seemed to elude us... ...almost. What comes to mind when you think of Spring? #1 (11): Easter #2 (10): Flowers #3 (8): Boiyiong #4 (6): Spring Suit Mario #5 (4): Spring Vacation What did you do to celebrate Spring during Spring Break? #1: I played in the snow #2: I played the Wii #3: Play on the Wii all day #4: Show people the Wii #5: I forgot

I have always been pretty much an anti video game kind of Mom. Nothing against video games, just that I knew that my boys would become obsessive over owning a game system the way they have obsessed about their computer time. The way we have it arranged is that they each have one day a week that they get computer time, and they get two hours. Two hours seems like a lot, but when its only one day a week it really isn't. Last year we had a chance to play a nintendo wii at Grandpa's house. The boys of course, loved it, and we were surprised that we enjoyed it too. The boys knew better than to ask about getting one though because I had vowed we would not ever get a game system. A lot of time and thought went into the decision to change my mind though. At Christmas the boys received Christmas money, as did D and I. We decided to save our money up to get a Wii . However, we didn't want to just go out and get one and by this time they were pretty much sold out anyhow. So we saved...

How often do we joke with our kids that its extra protein when they get grossed out by a bug in the picnic punch, yet we wouldn't dare drink it either? Nor would we eat our macaroni salad with a utensil that fell in a mud puddle. We are careful about putting contaminated things in our mouths, yet we may not be as careful about what contaminating things come out of our mouths. At least with contaminated food, we can throw it out so another person is not afflicted; however, once the words escape our mouth, there is no way to retract them and prevent them from contaminating the ears of all who directly or indirectly hear them. S (second oldest) was complaining the other day about how he said prayers everyday for help to resist the temptation to swear and to get the bad words out of his mind because at school "all the boys", including his church friend, say bad words. I'm proud of him for choosing to not swear. Then yesterday, I saw a national News clip about a 14-yr-old...

Puberty seems to be a fairly frequent topic in our family these days. This last week we were visiting family... #2: When I go through puberty, I won't be myself anymore. Me: Who will you be then? #1: He'll still be himself, just an angsty version of himself. Then last night #4 came downstairs to use the bathroom after bed time. He said he was afraid to go alone and wanted one of us to stand outside the door and wait for him. In the past it has been a fear of werewolves that kept him from going to the bathroom alone after dark. We fixed the problem by putting a new curtain on the window so he couldn't see the dark outside. I asked him what the problem was since the curtain was up and he said in a very sincere and frightened voice, "I'm scared...of PUBERTY." I couldn't help it, I busted up laughing. He didn't find it amusing and went on to ask his Dad if puberty is real or not. D replied that it was. We later found out that #2 had told #4 that puberty i...