This one's for Alison

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Country Families : One Thread

Alison, I just had to tell you this story, because your boys sound a lot like my Ben. (And you sound a lot like me.)

One day last spring, Ben and Abby were upstairs quietly playing while the rest of us did school. Tom was in his study. Abby came down the stairs; I forget now what she had wanted to tell me. Certainly nothing to do with what I saw. Half the hair on one side of her head was GONE!!! On close inspection, I found that on one side her hair was cut above the ear (it had just started to curl around her shoulders) all the way to the back. On her crown, there were tufts about a half inch long!

"BENJAMIN!!" I yelled. "GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" He came clomping down. I pointed to the cut place. "Did you do this?" A big grin appeared. "Yeth, I wanted to give Abby a beard." I wasn't ready to laugh yet. I marched Abby and Ben into Tom's study. (The other children were turned around, shaking, trying not to laugh out loud, because my face didn't look nice.) I pointed to Abby's hair. "See this?" I demanded. Tom stared. "BEN did that!" Then Tom made the fatal mistake: he looked at me. Suddenly we both burst out laughing.

Ben was made to understand NEVER to use scissors on anything but PAPER, and I was left trying to fix Abby's hair. It grew fast, though, and now looks very nice, but for a while there, it was a mess.

I know exactly what you mean when you keep saying that your boys are not hyper, just active. That's my Ben exactly. You and I are blessed with boys whose minds are constantly working. We have to stay one step ahead to keep them busy constructively. It's not an easy job, but if we can see the humour, it'll give us more joy than frustration.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), October 17, 2001

Answers

Cathy you are so right!! Ben cut his bangs off when he was 2. If it wasn't for the squabbling I would probably not lose my temper with them so often. The scrapes and hijinks make for good stories for the grandkids someday!!LOL One night during his bath Cameron grabbed our kitten, Flash, and pulled her into the tub. I heard meowing that sounded rather desperate and followed it to the kitten hanging on to the shower curtain. At least she got clean! :o) Both kids are becoming very independent and Ben especially wants to do everything himself (unless I want him to and then he says he can't). As much as they test my powers of self control, I wouldn't trade my guys for all the Prozac in the Pharmacy!!

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), October 18, 2001.

OK girls, don't hate me! But I have a son who is so completley the opposite, but often just as maddening. He likes his room to be perfect. He makes sure his bed is made just so every day. His clothes are all organized nicely. He actually uses his OWN money to buy containers and tubs to organize his toys.

His food cannot touch on his plate and no person can touch or breathe on his food, or he will not eat it. He has actually cried because someone touches his plate. The first time he did dishes, he was completely HORRIFIED at the thought of touching people's dirty plates, because of the germs!! I had to convince him that once they were under the hot, soapy water the germs were killed. He wouldn't touch them before they were in the water, so he wrapped towels around both hands to pick them up with.

When he goes to bed at night, he wants a glass of ice water with a precise number of ice cubes, some nights 2, some 3, and some 4. When he startd to tell me 14 I told him to get his own ice-water! He sleeps perfectly flat with the blankets in a certain way, folded down just exactly right.

But he also plays with the animals, climbs trees, races his bike down the road like crazy, rides horses, plays in the mud and dirt, cleans barns, and stalls with no problem etc...

When he does his school work , every letter is perfect. His 1st grade teacher said he wrote better than she did, and he certainly writes better than me!! He is very mathematical. He could do complex math problems before he went to Kindergarten, and sometimes when I am explaining complex Algebra principles to my 14 year old daughter, he answers questions before she does!

I don't know how he got this way. But he gives me a lot of laughs, and I love him dearly!!!!

-- Melissa (me@home.net), October 18, 2001.


You all (I said I'm from KY., we say ya'all here!) save these wonderful memories in that computer sitting on your shoulders. They will be priceless to you later! One of our favorite and often repeated memories was when my son told my daughter that "mom told me to cut your hair" and he did and she let him. She had beautiful long curly hair and he cut it very short! She thought the sun set and rose in him so anything he said was ok!

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ