I Want...

During a moment of upset and tantrum, Whittaker was whining excessively and screaming about the injustices heaped upon him.... something like,

"I don't want to be in the corner, I don't want to eat that food, I want what I like, I want my way...."

Without skipping a beat, I began,

"I want peace and quiet, I want the house to tidy itself, I want my talk already prepared for my meeting, I want a good night's sleep, I want a cook and a maid and personal shopper, and I want more money than I ever have to worry about, I want more time in the day than anyone else..."

Sarah caught on,

"I want my math classes to be over and passed, I want the vacuum I have to carry at work not to be so heavy, I want all the dishes to be self cleaning, I want a new skirt and pants and a cute bolero jacket, I want new highlights in my hair, I want a bigger faster computer to do school on, I want seminary to not be soo early in the morning...."

Cooper also chimed in,

"I want world peace, I want to end childhood hunger, I want children not to whine and complain when I am near by, I want them to stay off my bed and out of my special things box, I want to read my books all day, I want the garbages to empty themselves, I want winter to really come and give us ten feet of snow, I want to know the mysteries of the universe, I want to discover an incredible archaeological wonder, I want to have dessert tonight..."

Since we were all talking at the same time and having a difficult time not laughing at each others' list of 'Wants'... we were startled when Whittaker began screaming a different complaint.


"Stop acting like me!"

At least he's aware?!?? 

A Real Man

I'm sure these are logical at some level... to someone... maybe.

~I can't wear this bandage on my ear... I can't feel like a real man... It makes me feel nervous.

~My tummy isn't tired it is hungry and it's keeping my whole body awake until it gets a sandwich.

~After discovering that Emerson had dumped the contents of baby powder out all over the bathroom, everyone came for a look... Needing to clean it up without so many extra hands and feet in the way I in frustration yelled, "Everyone out!"... Whittaker burst into tears... "You don't want me in the family, in your home.... out of your life!!!"  Who says girl's are the dramatic ones!?

Money Making 101

Whittaker is learning the value of a dollar.

... or so I thought.

He saw an ad for a Lego set that he really, really wants.  Once he showed it to me he assumed it was a done deal.  After a few days he questioned why his new Lego set hadn't arrived yet.

me - I'm not buying it.  It's too much money.

W - But I told you that was the one I really, really want!

me - It's still a lot of money.  Do you have enough money?

At this he became very excited.

W - YES.  I have LOTS of moneys.

He retrieved his money jar.... full of pennies.

I took a deep breath.  I grabbed a piece of paper and drew 45 squares.

me - Okay.  The Lego set is $45.00.  Let's count your money.  Every time we count a dollar you can colour in one square on this chart.

He was willing to play along until we finished counting his jar of money and he had only coloured in 4 squares.

me - not quite enough money.

He retrieved my purse.  He shook it.

W - You have money.  I can hear it.

me - That's not Lego money though.

Duncan suggested he do jobs for money.

He began to offer himself to everyone to do jobs for money.  Problem is.... the boy lacks in the skills department to be valuable.

He went on an errand with Daddy and found some coins on the ground in a parking lot.  For the next week he begged Daddy and Mummy to take him on errands so he could get more money.


The payoff on money hunting while running errands isn't very high.

One afternoon he asked me if I had a hat.

me - Yes.

W -  Good.  Now I can make some money.

I didn't clue in instantly on how having a hat makes money.  He went out on the porch and sat next to the hat turned upside down beside him.  I clued in quickly.  We had been downtown recently and he must have seen street performers with their upturned hats collecting money.

It took him almost two months of doing odd jobs and emptying daddy's pockets before he put them in the laundry to earn his money.  (I think Daddy had a lot more change in his pockets over those two months than I ever see when I'm doing the laundry checking.)

Garbbled Goop

The newest obsession.  Whittaker insists that he needs to check his emails.  He then proceeds to send NUMEROUS messages to us throughout our day.   The following is a typical memo from the young businessman.  

Whittaker is in complete earnest when he is typing.. His face is serious and he is desperate for a response and insists that we read his messages.  Unfortunately we never seem to translate them correctly.  We are all within 10 feet of each other.  It would be simpler to just talk, but not nearly as delightful.  The joys of the digital age.

Toppings

Sarah got a new pair of pants/leggings and was excited about them.  She came up one morning with them on and Whittaker gave her the most unusual look.  When she questioned him, he replied,

"You need toppings Sarah.  You are just legs walking around."
 

According to him her pants look like skeleton costume pants and she is missing the top of the skeleton.

So now we often comment on Sarah's 'toppings'... like.. 'hey nice toppings there Sarah', or 'It's too cold out for those toppings.'.

Sorry we're closed

I had returned from a morning run to the grocery store after carpool.  As I came in with the bags of groceries I noticed that I had still not put up a note on the door to announce that our doorbell is still not functioning. I've had a few people ring and ring and then leave assuming no one was home.  oops...

Determined not to let another moment go by without posting the note, I put down the groceries and scribbled a quick sign and went back to the window to hang it.  I have finally learned that if I don't act on it when I think of it, I likely will forget when I take a step away, or a few seconds have passed.

Whittaker finally hearing commotion that signaled that I was home, came to the mudroom to see what I was up to.  He quizzically looked at me hanging the note in the window of the door and asked,

"Are we closed today?"

As tempting as a 'sorry, we're closed' sign sounds, I don't think it would make any difference.  The chaos is within.