Majority Rules

I am still learning how to be a parent to a set of wild boys. Afterall, I grew up in a house where boys were the MAJOR minority since my dad was the lone male among 4 women. I am living in my father's dream world - a place where the kids like to be rough and tough. They think everything was created to jump from and they are sure that most anything can withstand a good karate kick. They live for the moments to get their hands in the dirt (honestly, I think their fingernails have dirt in them more often than not). With each passing month Harper and Collier are solidifying their roles as partners in crime but most of all they are teaching me that boys ARE truly different than girls in almost every aspect.

This weekend, after what seemed like hours of running around the house evoking havoc on anything and anyone in their site, Collier decided he wanted to cash in and head upstairs. Harper was not about to allow the fun to end and took matters into his own hands. While Collier was climbing the stairs, Harper grabbed one of his legs and started dragging him back downstairs. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of this criminal act and quickly put an end to it. I explained to Harper that he cannot do this to his little brother because it could hurt him and Collier was not yet as durable as him. I ended the lecture with "How would you like someone to pull you down the stairs by one leg?"

Obviously this was a stupid question for a mother to ask a three year old boy who thrives on his father taking his legs out with a pillow when he is jumping on the bed. As soon as I finished my really dumb question, his eyes got as big as quarters and he said "Really... that sounds fun. Will you pull me down the stairs with one leg?"

I resisted my initial thought of trying to teach a lesson of empathy and decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". I grabbed Harper's leg and pulled him down the stairs as laughter exploded between both of them. I realized that being a prude is not going to go over well with these two little guys. Something tells me that I will probably learn more lessons in the years ahead than the boys. After all, I am the MAJOR minority in this situation.

Living in a Bubble

There are alot of great things about living in Utah but election day may be the exception. In case you haven't heard, Utah is the REDDEST state in the nation! So red, that neither of the candidates put much energy into campaigning here. The democrats feel like there is no chance in hell and the republicans know they have it in the bag so the presidential candidates figure they can just expend their energy somewhere else in this great nation.

I have been watching the national news over the last couple of weeks and anticipated standing in a very long line today to cast my ballot. But, as you can see in the photo below, I arrived at my voting location (a local LDS church) and wondered if I had missed election day. No lines and no clamor of last minute people convincing you to vote for a particular candidate. Had it not been for the "Vote Here" sign and the American flags, I might have turned around and headed home to double check my calendar. Either way I cast my vote and am crossing my fingers - although I realize that my vote is not going to impact Utah's final outcome.

Cujo - Part II

Well, I guess we are not going to get off easy with the second one. October has been a month of signing multiple "incident reports" at daycare with Collier. He has decided to follow in his brother's footsteps and handle misunderstandings orally. Matt and I experienced de ja vu this week when we had to sign 2 reports on the same day because Collier had decided to take his frustrations out on two different kids by injecting his fangs into their flesh - I must say the timing was impeccable for the holiday. Hind sight being 20/20, we should have dressed him up as a vampire rather than a dragon.

This time, Matt and I are much more relaxed than the first time around. We realize it is just a phase and "this too shall pass". I remember with Harper, we spent many long nights discussing whose genes he had inherited because he was taking his frustrations out on his friends in an aggressive manner. Now, we will hold our heads high even if parents refuse to give us eye contact because we are confident that it will work its self out in due time. We have dusted off our old trusty copy of the book "Teeth are Not for Biting" that we bought a couple of years ago and we have committed to donate it to the daycare after Collier begins the next phase of toddlerhood. We feel it is the least we can do in light of the two rabid children we have sent through the Intermountain Healthcare Development Center.