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Saturday, 16 May 2009
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The things kids say
TJ had this to write about electricity for a 1st grade paper....
Wednesday, 04 March 2009
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The Rules
Last night:
Mom: I'm not repeating rules anymore. From now on, they will be posted on the back of your bedroom doors. You will be responsible to follow them.
TJ: Okay, Mom. I'll read it and do what it says.
This morning, at the bus stop:
Mom: TJ, I see you didn't fix your hair today. Why not?
TJ: It wasn't on my list on my door.
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
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Couples' Skate
Ah, Friday night at the skating rink: the disco ball, the roller skates, and few embarrassing off-balance moments that make you thankful for the dim light of the roller floor. The darkness of the rink is contrasted against the glaring fluorescents of the snack bar, with 50-cent candy bars and nacho cheese gleaming behind the finger-printed glass.
The music is cool. You skate to the ones that move you; you sit out for the ones that don't. After a blah song or two, you ask the D.J. for your favorite tune, or you ask him when the next couple's skate will be. He's visibly annoyed, but he tries to hide it. You try to hide that you've noticed his disdain, in hopes that he might actually play your request.
You've got your eye on that boy from Social Studies class. He's on the other side of the rink, but the way your heart is pitter-pattering, he might as well be right next to you. You wait patiently, half a lap back. You've got the perfect position to catch up to him, but of course you don't look like you're following him. Then the D.J. makes that announcement you've been waiting for:
Okay, skaters, it's time for our next couples' skate. Find that special someone.
Your carefully orchestrated position allows you to catch that boy with a slight increase in speed. You thought your heart was beating fast before, but now it's going to beat right out of your chest. It will probably come up through your throat, because there's no other explanation for what that lump is.
You finally reach him and choke back the lump.
"Do you wanna couples' skate with me?" You've managed your sweetest smile and it pays off. He says yes.
Your heart doesn't resume a normal beat, but the fact that he didn't shoot you down helps. You're fluttering now between euphoria and the nervousness that comes from oh-my-god-he's-skating-with-me-ness. But at least your heart hasn't come up through your throat.
You're skating carefully. Thankfully couples' skates are set to slow songs. God forbid you get off balance now. Even though you have a hand to hold, the worst thing now is to skate badly and look like a total dweeb.
You're not talking. You're too nervous. He's not talking either, which you take as a good sign. You're thinking of that hand you're holding and how it feels different than any hand you've held before. You're thinking of what you're going to ask him as soon as the song is over. The couples' skate ends more quickly than you thought it would, and your hands separate with the waning of the ballad's last A Capella note.
"Do you wanna go out with me?" That lump is back again, but only until he says yes. Neither of you know what to do next. You're not familiar enough to look each other in the eye for more than a second or two. "Wanna go to the snack bar?" You're more confident now, but only slightly. He says yes again, and so begins the awkward journey you will now make together. The couples' skate has made you a couple.
Ten o'clock comes all too soon and he leaves. It's too late now to exchange phone numbers, but you'll see him at school on Monday. You can't wait until Monday.
*************************************************************************************************
"Hi, Kyle." I smiled at him with pride as he hopped into the car. "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah," he says, bouncing in his seat. I am sure this pre-teen is regressing from the cool persona he must have displayed behind those skating rink doors.
"Who was there?", I ask, looking for familiar names. He spouts out a list. It's contents are familiar, but oddly, he leaves out any girls' names. I didn't think too much of it, but I ask anyway.
"Was Sierra there?" The question was casual. I knew she had a crush on him.
"Nope, not this time." He wasn't disappointed at all, so I let it be.
The ride home was uneventful. Kyle was his usual self; I was mine. At home I went to talk to Ben, and Kyle followed shortly behind to say 'hi' to Dad.
Ben started with the same line of questioning I had used, "Who was there?" Kyle blurted out the same list of males as before. I chimed in, more keen this time on what he wasn't telling us.
"Oddly, you're leaving out any girls' names," I gave Ben a smirk, teasing Kyle. Ben caught on all too quickly. He pounced at Kyle, teasing mercilessly. Ben and I were both smiling, knowingly.
"Were there girls there? Was your girlfriend there?" (We knew he didn't have one). Ben was inquisitive with child-like curiosity, bouncing like Kyle had done when I picked him up. We wanted desperately for Kyle to spill the beans. Unfortunately, we might have over-killed.
Instead of responding with the same zip he had a moment ago, Kyle sank down, trying to conceal himself. He couldn't conceal a smile and he couldn't hide the increasing color in his cheeks. We were onto something.
"There WAS a girl there. Did you couples skate? Did you hold hands?" Ben was zealous. I was just as excited, but I gave Ben a knowing eye to take it down a notch. We waited with baited breath.
Kyle sank down further, trying to conceal those red cheeks. His eyes were gleaming. Embarrassed, all he could muster was an affirmative nod.
She had asked him to skate; she had asked him to be her boyfriend. They held hands on the skating rink floor. Ben and I reveilled, both in the nostalgia and the successful gleaning of information.
Ben and I and Kyle were all in the same territory, on opposite sides yet unopposed. Kyle, embarking where we had once tread, found it new and exciting. Ben and I spouting advice across the hills already climbed, found our new parental terrain to be ... daunting.
You're thinking of that hand you're holding and how it feels different than any hand you've held before.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Monday, 19 January 2009
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Our Local Basketball League
Announcing www.bentonvillebasketballclub.org, the official web site for Bentonville's youth basketball development program.
Please visit! The Bentonville Basketball Club is in dire need of donations for uniforms, league and tournament entry fees, facility rentals, custodial fees,.... you name it. If you'd like to donate (anything helps), please message me your contact info.
So speaking of basketball, I am in basketball up to my ears until late March. Between all 4 boys, since November, we have had practice and/or games 6 days a week when practices are held as regularly scheduled. If any of the practices get moved around for any reason (and they often do) we are shifted into 7-day a week basketball patterns.
Ben is coaching a team, none of which our boys are on, but it is in the same league as Kyle. So that means their practices are same day and time, but their games are not. A typical week for our household involves 2 practices for each boy including Ben, and multiple games on Saturday. So far our record for number of games held in one Saturday is 8. We are not hoping to top it. :)
I'm really not complaining. If there were any one sport that we had to drown in, basketball would be my choice. At least I'm watching something I understand, unlike football.
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- Member Since: 9/7/2007
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