These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Career Ambitions of a Jealous Toddler...

I was just sitting here smiling thinking about my son's three year check-up with the pediatrician. We had just had our son William and I think... looking back... that there may have been a couple of warning signs I missed that Caleb was having trouble adjusting.

Pediatrician: " So Caleb... what do you want to be when you grow up"?
( Pediatrician sits looking at his computer waiting for the typical developmentally appropriate answer of fire-fighter or police man).

Caleb: " A "pider" ( Spider) in the basement so I can eat the baby".

( Pediatrician now looks up from his computer ).

Right then I wished I was a "pider" so I could hide up in the corner of his office.

I am happy to report though that our four year check up will be soon coming and we have been rehearsing more appropriate answers such as police man and...well... anything that does not have to do with eating babies.

I will be right with you... in two Spongebobs.

My three and five year old currently lack the ability to tell time. They both know their numbers well but I just haven't spent the time needed to teach them how to read a clock yet. That being said, the Ewer household has developed its own way of measuring minutes and hours... in Spongebob episodes. While I am not one to let my children sit in front of the television for hours, they do enjoy some daily t.v. time. When they do watch the television, they ration their time to watching during the hours when Spongebob Squarepants is on. They LOVE that show. Why???? I don't know. It's a sponge in pants. But that is a topic for an entirely different blog. Regardless of the show quality itself, they have come to an approximate knowledge of the length of these shows. Now when they ask how long until lunch, dinner, bedtime, etc., the answer can be given in the number of Spongebob episodes. Example: Today the kids asked how long it would be until lunch. I knew it would be in one hour and so I stated, " In four Spongebobs", to which Emma replied, "That will be forever"!!!!
Devastatingly long???-Yes.
Did they understand that it would be a long time???-Yes.
Mission accomplished.
Now I would never assume that this is a new technique that is used only in the Ewer home. I am quite sure that there are many other households that tell time in annoying cartoon episodes. I am also sure that this has probably been occurring for years. I can picture the conversations that probably took place between my father and my grandmother.

My Dad: " Mom, how long until lunch"?
My Grandma: "As soon as Lassie saves Timmy from the well two times".
(Today Timmy would be under the watchful eye of Child Protective Services).

While it may not be a perfect method of time-telling, it has worked for us. So please feel free to use this method with your own children or any child who does not understand how to use a clock.

WARNING:
While this has proven to be an effective way of time telling for the generations since television's creation, I would not recommend taking it into the professional world. The other day I was tempted to tell my patient that they could have more pain medicine in three Spongebobs. Maybe it would be better if I modified it and gave the time in E.R. episodes... or maybe not.

Knock and the door will be opened to you...

Today in the car Caleb piped up with a question. "Mommy, is the sun God's door?" Now I cannot say that I have ever heard this question but I guess it seems logical. " God's door?", I asked.

Feeling like I should tell the truth while also realizing that I was talking to a three year old I simply stated " No honey, the sun is not God's door." I smiled as I watched his little mind silently try to contemplate this. I listened to him then discuss this with his sister in the back seat. "Emma ", he stated, "we should build God a door so he can get into his house." "We could use a really big truck to get up there ,( the sky), or we could stand on top of each other. We could even use the clouds!" ( My children still think that they could sit and ride on clouds if they could just get up there somehow. They once mentioned climbing a tall tree and then using a cell phone to call me when they were ready to come down). Just as they were getting into the details of how to build a door for God we arrived at our destination... all too soon. The conversation was just getting interesting. These are what I call the " payback" moments with our children. The times we enjoy that allow us to forget about the knock-down drag-out fight we just had about who gets to push the button to close the van door. I love these moments and try to soak them up when they come. Maybe tomorrow I will inquire for God about a doorbell.

I took this photo of William as he battled the stomach flu yesterday. I just thought it was a good representation of how we all feel when we are down and out. Blah.

Yeah! It has been almost a year that I have had this blog and I have posted ONE thing on it. In the true spirit of excuses however, I would like to state that I was side -tracked by the birth of our third child William. That third child REALLY threw me for a loop as far as organizing the day goes. I was also side-tracked by the fact that I have dial up internet and next to NIL memory or speed on this computer. I have since put the third child down for a nap and upgraded my computer. YEAH!

So- Let the blogging begin... I hope.

P.S.- This is a picture I took at the zoo last summer. I love the excitement on their little faces as we anticipate our "log ride" on the rolling waters through the FortWayne Zoo. I know it is a really random and out-dated picture but I had to pick a picture at random to try and download.

Catch you all soon!

Blogging??!!!! Am I nuts?!!

So... confessional time. I am starting a blog and I can't even check my e-mail on a regular basis. I think I am losing my mind. Today I opened my e-mail and had over 100 that I had not responded to dating back to a couple of weeks ago. Truthfully, I am not very gifted in that whole correspondence realm. However, I figure with two kids it could be a really great stress reliever so I thought I would give it a shot. Besides, you are not really required to respond to people... just write. I really do like blogs for this reason. They require very little commitment or time. I have several friends who have blogs and it is nice to just pop into their lives at two in the morning, check that all is well, see what is new, and then sign off. Actually, I do feel like a bit of a "blog-voyeur" in some ways. I feel like I am peeking through the windows of peoples' lives without having to wipe my shoes and come in. This in itself can be very freeing, however, I do feel it a bit impersonal... and a bit creepy. So here I am. I am opening up the curtains of our life, so to speak, for others to peek into my windows so we can all be non-committal and a bit creepy together. Sounds like a great deal to me.