Grinners
Every once in a while I succumb to the pressure that is out there, sometimes stated, sometimes not, that all some of us do is talk about our kids on our blogs. And then I don't want to post for a while. And then I realize that if the day came that might sister or my mother, or those I started blogging for in the first place, said, "Enough kid stories already!" then, well, THEN I'd have reason to stop. Until then...
Last night Benja, getting ready for bed, saw a commercial for The Grinch on TV. He was thrilled to hear that it would be playing tomorrow at 8/7 Central. He asked if he could watch it and I offhandedly replied, "If you are a good boy." He then launched into a 7 minute monologue on all the things that would make him a good boy and how he was going to do all of those things, single-handedly. He then concluded, "And if you say anything I do isn't being a good boy, I just smile like this---and then you'll see I'm being a good boy." This was very telling for me. The smile of which he speaks is a horrible, face distorting, teeth baring, eye squinting, chin jutting thing he does, in the middle of getting scolded. It is unsightly, even for the mother who loves. And entirely ineffective. Now that I know its purpose.
In college one of my roommates dubbed the cheesey, superficial, friendly-to-your-face people "Grinners". We didn't like Grinners. I still don't, to be quite honest. And here, my 3 and a half year old son has become a sort of one. So rather than do effective parenting and praise all of his great ideas for what makes a good boy and encourage more good behavior and guide away from the atrocious grin, gently, lovingly---I launched into a 10 minute lecture on how Grinners are fake and no self-respecting, intelligent girls (particularly the redheads) would be his friend if he did stuff like that. While I'm not sure this life lesson was understood by my not-so-interested audience, I AM certain I have a very effective method for getting the boy to sleep in a very timely manner. Come on home J, I can get the boy to sleep in under one 10 minute lecture.
In my defense, I haven't seen that grin once today. Perhaps Benja fell asleep to the images of smart redheads fawning over him, dancing in his head. Or the Grinch. Yeah, it was the Grinch. The first thing he said this morning when he woke up at 7:40 am was, "Is it 8/7 Central yet mom?"
Last night Benja, getting ready for bed, saw a commercial for The Grinch on TV. He was thrilled to hear that it would be playing tomorrow at 8/7 Central. He asked if he could watch it and I offhandedly replied, "If you are a good boy." He then launched into a 7 minute monologue on all the things that would make him a good boy and how he was going to do all of those things, single-handedly. He then concluded, "And if you say anything I do isn't being a good boy, I just smile like this---and then you'll see I'm being a good boy." This was very telling for me. The smile of which he speaks is a horrible, face distorting, teeth baring, eye squinting, chin jutting thing he does, in the middle of getting scolded. It is unsightly, even for the mother who loves. And entirely ineffective. Now that I know its purpose.
In college one of my roommates dubbed the cheesey, superficial, friendly-to-your-face people "Grinners". We didn't like Grinners. I still don't, to be quite honest. And here, my 3 and a half year old son has become a sort of one. So rather than do effective parenting and praise all of his great ideas for what makes a good boy and encourage more good behavior and guide away from the atrocious grin, gently, lovingly---I launched into a 10 minute lecture on how Grinners are fake and no self-respecting, intelligent girls (particularly the redheads) would be his friend if he did stuff like that. While I'm not sure this life lesson was understood by my not-so-interested audience, I AM certain I have a very effective method for getting the boy to sleep in a very timely manner. Come on home J, I can get the boy to sleep in under one 10 minute lecture.
In my defense, I haven't seen that grin once today. Perhaps Benja fell asleep to the images of smart redheads fawning over him, dancing in his head. Or the Grinch. Yeah, it was the Grinch. The first thing he said this morning when he woke up at 7:40 am was, "Is it 8/7 Central yet mom?"
Yesssss!
OK so here's the deal: other bloggers DON'T have a Ben or an Avee to blog about, so they can't get away with blogging about their kids every single time, sorry.
You can (and should!) blog about those precious kids of yours anytime you want to, the way I see it, you owe it to the world. And I demand it.
Grinners: I know. I have a thing about being scared of a lot of things, grinners are very much alike clowns, and they are at the top of my list.
But I seriously doubt Grinner Ben could creep me out :P C’mon!
“Smart redheads”: obvious and effective (?).
Fashionista loves The Grinch, years ago, when she was still little, she watched it every single day. Oooh, the memories.
Posted by
Super Happy Girl |
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 9:58:00 PM
You had better not EVER stop talkin about yourself I mean those two kids, it is the sunshine, my vitamin D! I just wished you lived where I can see them and aleast grant one wish and be benja's mom. Heres to hoping for aleast a tax break baby:) geesh:)
Posted by
Anonymous |
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 12:55:00 PM
LOL, how funny his "Good boy" grin. My youngest has his "Angel boy" grin to try and get himself out of trouble.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 2:47:00 PM
I love to read about your kids and your adventures in parenting. I also really enjoy your clever, witty writing style.
Does the lecturing method work with brand new babies? I am just looking for some ideas.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 4:07:00 PM
All I know is the lecture method doesn't work before they ( it) gets here:)
Posted by
Anonymous |
Wednesday, December 13, 2006 6:33:00 PM
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