Turning the table on telemarketers

Daddy - this one is for you!

Our family is pretty much solely a cell phone family now. We do have a home phone line but I could not tell you what the number is and the ringer is never on. I'm not even sure if the phone is actually plugged into the wall. We basically have it because with it our internet service is a couple dollars less each month and we have one of those printer/copier/fax machine things. So it is convenient to have the line for faxes when necessary.

However growing up I remember getting all those telemarketer calls. My dad is a storyteller. Actually his whole family is pretty much a family of storytellers. If you get my dad, my uncle Verlon and my brother together - you are sure to have a sore stomach the next morning from all the laughing.

Dad has been known to turn things around on telemarketers. My mother sells Mary Kay and I remember the story of him trying to sell an unsuspecting telemarketer some Mary Kay products. He's always been extremely supportive of mom!

So, Daddy - this one is for you. Telemarketers call and control the conversation using a script. Now we have a tool to fight back - the CounterScript. I'm thinking I may plug in the phone and turn on the ringer just so I can try this one out! I wonder how long I can keep it up without laughing? I dare you Daddy - give it a try and let me know what happens! ;)

Breaking His Heart

This morning as I walked into the kitchen to make myself some coffee, I noted the boys already at the table eating breakfast. Shaun had gotten them breakfast and in the process I had heard him get after Austin for not listening. This has been a big thing lately with Austin that we’ve been working on him regarding.

As I walked in the kitchen they both looked up at me and said “Good morning, mommy!” (Jesse’s is a bit more of a series of grunts that are vaguely recognizable with some hand waving involved.)

Then Austin’s big smile disappears off his face and he gives me the sad puppy dog look.

Austin: “Mommy, I’m soooo sad today.”

Me: “Oh, why is that? Because you got in trouble with Daddy for not listening?”

Austin: “Yes, he broke my heart, Mommy.”

Me: “Oh, really?”
(as I turn my back to him so he does not see my smile, he is definitely going to end up on a stage someday as an actor or a comedian!)

Austin: (big sigh) “Yes, he broke my heart.” (Big pause then another big sigh) “And he broke all my other shapes too. My circle, my square. . .”

Me: “Really?” (that is all I could manage at this point)

Austin: “Yes! And he hurt my feelings too!”

What do you say to that. I just kept my back turned until I could look at him without laughing. Then I had to go tell Shaun that he had broken his son's heart and all his other shapes too. Then I laughed again at the confused look on Shaun's face. All in all it's been an amusing morning!

Spitting Incident

Last night I was relaxing when my 4 year old son came in and said something to me. He was obviously excited because as he said it he spit on himself. I mentioned something to him about his spitting on himself, to which he smiled and spit in my face.

Now, he is a challenging child at times. His goal in life is to make people laugh, even if that means he gets into trouble. He is only 4 years old so many times his idea of what may be funny can be questionable. This was obviously one of those times. It was obvious he was not being defiant, he just had it in his head that it was funny.

I proceeded to slap his mouth. Not hard, but enough to get his attention. While I do agree with spanking when needed, I usually don't agree with slapping a child on the face, but in some cases (biting, spitting, cursing) a light but firm "tap" on the lips gets their attention faster than anything else can. Especially with a child who believes something is funny. This got his attention and he realized that mommy was not fooling around.

After I had his attention I explained to him that spitting in someone's face was not funny. In fact it is rude and disrespectful. When I punish my children for something I've learned to talk to them immediately after to make sure they understand why they are in trouble. Then I have them apologize to whomever was affected and we all confirm we love one another - usually with kisses and hugs.

After I spoke to him about why he got into trouble, it was time for the apology. Obviously though the way I asked it this time, confused him a bit.

"Ok, so what do you say now?"

A little bit of a confused look passed over his face, then he smiled and says in a cheerful voice, "Thank you, Mommy!"

I started laughing, I could not help myself. I usually tell him to say he is sorry. He is obviously used to the above question being asked in different circumstances. He was a bit confused but eager to please! As I am trying to stop laughing he, smiles at me then his face scrunches up in a bit more confusion. A bit more tentatively this time he says, "Your welcome?"

"No, honey. Mommy means what do you say when you've done something you should not do?"

He is a bit dramatic at times so this time he really scrunches up his face, rolls his eyes up and put his finger to the side of his mouth. Obviously really putting some thought into this one. Then he looks back at me with a huge smile, that dipple of his coming to life.

"I know Mommy! I'm sorry!!!" With that he put his arms around me, gave me a big huge kiss on the cheek and ran off very pleased with himself.

I was left sitting there smiling to myself thinking about how much I love that little boy!

Happy Birthday!

Today my middle precious baby is turning 4! I've realized that I've been thinking of him as 4 for quite awhile now. Maybe it is because of how much he talks and some of the stuff he comes up with. I would not be surprised if he ends up on a stage entertaining people some day. His goal in life is to make others laugh.

Everytime I said "Happy Birthday" to him today he would respond with "Happy Birthday!!". He had been so excited for this day to come. Shaun has been marking off the days on the calendar since the beginning of the month. He's told me many times today that he has had a "very wonderful and fun birthday!"

I took him to get his very first Webkinz today because his sister has quite a few and he wanted one of his own. He picked out a snake which he decided to name "Snake". We got online today and adopted his Snake and his sister sent him a Webkinz mail already with a package for his birthday. He loved that!

One the way to church tonight he took his sister's little bible that she received when she was dedicated. He wanted to read to us so he opened it to the front and started "reading":

"First God made the world, and he made all the animals, and he made the plants grow. Then he put a rock over there and then he made the dirt and some streams. He put the sky up there and made the grass grow. He made everything and then he made ME! Happy Birthday!!!"

So Happy Birthday my dear boy. You have definitely brightened our life!

Tyler's Catcher Experience

At the beginning of the season Tyler did not want to play catcher. She has trouble moving in all the equipment, she thought the position was boring and she could not see very well through the helmet.

However a recent game has changed all that. She plays t-ball where they are just teaching the basics. Therefore, they only play 2-3 innings and every child gets to bat each inning. Nobody is "out" although they do teach the kids how to get outs.

As the last child on the other team hit his Grand Slam (each child gets one base when they hit the ball, except the last player who gets a Grand Slam and everyone gets to run in.) They got the ball to her right away so she stood in front of the base to tag the runners coming in. In t-ball most of the kids usually run way out of the baseline to avoid the catcher. The last boy coming in was not the norm.

Tyler stood there with the ball in her mit, teeth gritted, waiting to tag the boy. He ran forward, straight at Tyler, determined to get to the base but not going around her. Tyler stood her ground and the boy ran into her and tried to slide. She jumped over the top of him and reached down and tagged him. Somehow she landed on her feet. Everyone went nuts cheering for her.

Later on the way home I was talking to her about it.

Me: "Tyler, that was really good today. You stood your ground and tagged him."

Tyler: "I know Mommy! I stood firm. It was like he was the devil and was trying to take me out!"

Me: "Oh. Did someone say that to you or did you come up with that yourself?"

We recently went through the Armor of God in Ephesians 6 and I was wondering if this was related to the shoes of peace that we put on to stand firm in the Lord

She rolls her eyes at me as she replies

"I didn't say he WAS the devil. I said that he was LIKE the devil!"

I really wonder where these kids get these things sometimes!

How to sleep better

Last night Austin was sitting at the table when bedtime came. This is our conversation:

Me: "Austin, it's bedtime. Finish up so we can get to bed." (He was working on his "homework")

Austin: "Wait Mommy!"

Me: "Why, it is bed time. We need to get you to bed."

Austin: "Wait, I have to rub my eyes first!"

At this he proceeds to ball his hands into fists and starts rubbing his eyes vigorously. After a few seconds of this he looks up at me and smiles

Austin: "Okay, mommy. I'm tired now, we can go to bed."

I guess that has been my problem all along when I have trouble sleeping - I forgot to rub my eyes to make myself sleepy first!

How to become a Cow

The other day, Austin (our 3 year old) was caught by my husband with a black marker. It seems no matter how much we put these up out of their reach, somehow they are still able to find them!

When Shaun found him, he had covered his arm from the wrist to the elbow with black dots. Shaun asked what every parent does when they find this. . .

"Austin, what are you doing?"

Now, most kids would look up and say "I don't know". But not Austin. He looked up at Shaun with an expression that said "Duh, dad!" and very matter of factly informed him. . .

"I'm putting black spots on me because I want to be a cow!"

Well, of course! Why didn't we think of that!

Mother - William Tell Overture

Another mom at work showed this to me recently. (She has three boys!)

eBay Mom

Someone at work forwarded this to me today and I laughed so hard. I only have three kids and understand what it is like to haul all of them on a grocery store trip. I can't even imagine six kids. I don't know what Pokeman cards are worth, but I hope she made some money on these.

eBay Mom

Scroll down and read her comments regarding the cards.