Play Date

I'm not sure what has gotten into my kids lately, but they awful in public. OK, mainly Moose is awful in public and Bean makes minor infractions but the two combined are just way too much.

I took them to story time at Barnes & Noble yesterday. They happily looked at books prior to story time, but as soon as the bookseller arrived to read, they were having none of it. They continued to wander around, and then we chased Moose around the adult aisles. I almost asked for an application, but decided being there with my wild children was probably going to make a bad first impression. I thought they needed to burn off some more energy, so we walked down to a furniture store for a quick look around and then to PetSmart to check out the fish and ferrets and parakeets. Ferrets are so disgusting.

Later, they had checkups. They were rambunctious, to say the least. Bean is in the 97th percentile for height and middle of the road for weight. Moose is middle of the road for height and, umm, like 97th percentile for weight. They're both healthy and the doctor suggested multivitamins, but Bean's dependence on Ensure is no longer necessary. One tall and thin, the other short and fat. They both have referrals to eye doctors and Moose has a referral to speech. Bean wasn't up to par on gross motor skills, but I said we weren't that worried about it. Neither my husband nor I are extraordinarily coordinated people and tall kids are usually have a harder time with that sort of thing. I opted not to take the physical therapy referral - he'll get the hang of his body one day. Even if he doesn't, it's not like NOT SKIPPING will affect his ability to get a job one day.

Later, I took the boys to see Babies. It was showing at the independent theater downtown. Here's the scandal: It was PG for "cultural and maternal nudity." How silly. Neither of my boys blinked at the boobies or the baby penises. Bean, however, did not care for the baby pooping on its mother's knee and her wiping it off with a corn cob or the same baby chewing on a bone, which I think was meant for the dog. We had to leave 10 to 15 minutes early, because SOMEONE was making rounds shaking people's hands and screaming bloody murder if I tried to stop him.

I didn't find the movie particularly revealing - I guess I'm a bit crunchier (to use Courtney's term) than the average American mother. I did notice the NOISE. Despite the hut-living and seemingly meager existences of the babies in Namibia and Mongolia, it was so quiet there. Also, their interactions with the Earth were so much more natural. The babies in Tokyo and San Francisco had much more noise going on around them with the streets and the grocery stores and the organized play dates. Also, their nature interactions were pretty much the zoo and the family cat. The toy factor was also huge. I'm thinking I can strip my kids of everything but two toys, and they'll be fine, and I'll have a lot less to clean up :)

We went to another family's home for a play date today. She goes to the church and has kids slightly older than mine (6 and 7.5). It went well enough, but I always find play dates so awkward - especially those first few. Her husband is a professor and she is a high school teacher - both math/science people, very smart. The kids are also very well spoken. It was sort of like being at school over there and my kids neanderthal ways annoyed the older ones from time-to-time. ("He won't listen." "He doesn't get it." "He's not following the rules." "I already explained it.") Kids are funny.

Oh, my laundry detergent DID thicken up. I think I can easily just use 1/2 cup now instead of 3/4 cup. It's amazing, but I need more essential oils. Good sites for those?