Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Lulu's Spelling List, Grade 2

1. ants
2.plurals
3. babies
4.dogs
5. flies
6. children
7. cards
8. glasses
9. parties
10 monkeys
11. buzzes
12. days
13. trays
14. vacation

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Wet Mittens

There's two feet of snow outside and it takes about two hours to get the kids bundled up to go out in it.
Lulu's snow boots had dog poo on them from two months ago that never got scraped off. Zeb refused to wear his snow pants or snow boots, but, after smacking me and getting a time-out, finally relented on the boots because he wanted to use the the little red snow shovel Regis bought him.
After Lulu was finally dressed, she ran around happily in the snow for awhile, then got snow down her back and came in. She took everything off and complained of snow being in her socks.
The stiff gloves that were supposed to keep her fingers warm were damp and impossible to put back on. I had to forage for a matching pair of mittens, which she put on before her boots or coat, so I had to fasten the boots and zip the coat in the midst of getting Zeb ready.
Five minutes later, Lulu came back for new mittens because her second pair were wet already.
Zeb couldn't get his feet in his boots, but he was surprisingly placid about the scarf--normally a bone of contention for both kids.
By the time I got ready, they were both outside and Regis had frost on his eyebrows and sideburns from shovelling snow but didn't seem to mind.
Zeb was sticking his tongue out to catch snowflakes and Lulu was falling in the snow for laughs.
We dragged the snow tube and flat foam sled up the hill near our house. Zeb, who was scared to sled last year, went down all by himself (despite earlier threats that if he didn't wear his snow pants, he couldn't sled ). Lulu made a couple trips downhill and then ran home, her cheeks red and stinging.
Zeb toughed it out for another ten minutes with Regis on the sled.
The whole thing took about twenty minutes.
And for the next few hours Zeb and Lulu sat on the couch in front of the TV, wrapped in blankets while the snow fell outside and their hot choclate grew cold.
They love the ritual of hot chocolate, but don't like to actually drink it. They eat the marshmellows and leave the cups on the kitchen counter to cool for the rest of the day.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Those Little Moments That Make It All Worthwhile

Lulu had a tantrum that was so bad she had to be shut in her room, where she screamed for five minutes (yes, she finally got around to calling me a "nigger'' while she was in there).
** SEE "HOW NOT TO TEACH YOUR CHILD ABOUT THE N WORD" IN MY PREVIOUS POSTS SO YOU DON'T THINK WE'RE RACISTS).**
The tantrum started because she wasn't allowed to watch a rerun of the Disney Channel movie "High School Musical,'' which the network had been promoting since, oh, September (no TV because she wasn't done her homework).
When she was finally let out of her room, she wrote me little notes in green magic marker.
One was illustrated with a fat stick figure with the face scribbled out. It said, "Bo Hoo (sic), You are stickey'' (instead of "stinky").
Another one said, "Dear Mom. You made my life relly bad.''
But she was polite enough to close with the words, "Love, Lulu'' and, on each, she drew a small heart.