Aid's First Crush

And I think it's serious.

This adorable little thing walked up to our house with the wind blowing her gorgeous red hair in every direction. Aid gasped. "Mama," he whispered, "She's beautiful."

Joram is one of Bob's best friends. They went to college together. He and his family live about an hour away from us so we don't get to see them anywhere near as often as we'd like to. Cora is his oldest at 5. And she's darling and quirky and playful.

She's the whole package as far as Aid is concerned. Of coarse, he may want to lay off the booger eating action if he wants to get the girl.

Shared Space

We have two little boys who share a room.  And they both like their own things, so the room, while a bit chaotic for my taste, reflects their current interests.

Today, Aid tried to lock Grant out of his room because he wanted to play by himself.  Grant lost his mind.

Some day I have a feeling I am going to see duct tape running down the middle of the room. I am sure of it.

Our Neighborhood Gang

And we love every last one of them!

 (Poor sick Grant.)

A Love Story

Blueray, our beloved fish passed away. We believe he was sucked into the filter but since we only saw him floating there who really knows.  As I posted before, we struggled with whether or not to tell Aid the truth. It seemed so easy to just replace the little fish and no one would be the wiser.  My plan was to replace the fish once and if it died again, I was going to have to fess up to Aid.

But then I told the lie. And he looked at me with those big brown eyes of his and started asking all sorts of questions and I couldn't do it. So I sat down and had "the talk".  "Blueray died, " I explained. "We don't know why or how people and things die, they just do. It's just life" I started. He proceeded to ask me some follow up questions. Eventually I asked him if he would like to get another fish or if he needed some time to think about it. Well, this is Aid so he was immediately relieved that he got to go to the store to pick out another fish!

We ended up with a reddish Betta that we named Redford. We also nabbed a little fish for Grant. Grant's fish was immediately returned to the store after I watched Redford stalk and headbutt the little thing for 30 minutes. He looked petrified. Redford is not a gentle soul like our Blueray. He's a mean little bastard. I swear that you could see how happy the little fish (who was named Fish) was when he was returned to his school of fish at the store!

So then I asked another employee if there was a type of fish that could be in a tiny little aquarium with our little Redford. I was initially told that 'Fish' would be fine with him. This time I was told no. But we could get a frog or a crab (for $2). The lady promised me that the frog required less care then the fish. So now we have our Frog, named Frog, and our Beta named, Redford. They swim and frolic together and seem to get along swimmingly.

On our way back from the store, Aid asked another follow up question...."Mama, when Redford dies, can I get another fish?"

Glad to see this didn't hit you too hard kiddo.

I Know, I Know.

I know it's been forever. I have several posts and even more pictures that I need to post. But I am so frustrated with blogger that I can't get over the hump. I attempted to update the picture of the boys on the blog and it changed it's whole format. I can't seem to easily load or line up the pictures and my one attempt took me absolutely forever. I hate the background and just want it all to go back to how it was.

Blogger Gods if you ever want me to blog again you will fix this!!!!

Or, I'll just try again tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight.

Fear

I have always said that I am going to be the mom who keeps it real with their kids. I don't want to make false promises that I don't really have any control over.  I will not lie to my kids because I want them to have a centered outlook on life. Blah, blah, blah.

Aid has gotten to a stage where he is really starting to think through things, and thus becoming more afraid of things. Some of them rational, some of them irrational. Am I giving him the centered parent talks I have prepared for? Well, I tried. Then I bagged it.

The first moment came when we were swimming at the beach (a term I use lightly). We have been teaching him how to swim. Mid swim, Aid frantically clings to me and says, "Mama! Don't let me fall into a shark's mouth!!" "Aid, " I say calm and collected. "There are not sharks in lakes." I proceed to talk about how the lake is too small, and sharks are only in the ocean. Or the zoo. But not in lakes. I'm going on and on and Aid again screams, "But don't let me fall into his mouth!"

"Ok! I promise I will never ever let you fall into a shark's mouth." ( I am fairly sure I will not have to renege on this promise)

The second moment came while we were riding bikes this morning. I have been working with Aid on breaking. He had a somewhat tragic fall from his bike when he first got it (on Dad's watch I might add) and has refused to ride down any hill since). I have finally convinced him to get back on and not only how to break, but when to break. (which is really the key for him because he panics.) So we are riding along and before we get to the dreaded hill Aid asks, "Mama, will you never ever let me fall off?" (Well, here we go...) So I proceed to go into some long diatribe about how sometimes you will fall off your bike, but you probably won't get seriously hurt which is why we got you a helmet (that you aren't wearing) but also that you have to pick yourself up and get back on the bike.  Finally! I am able to gently tell my kid that life is hard sometimes. He will be realistic, prepared, and....I looked at him. His little eyes were big with fright and he stopped riding. "But mama," he says with his lower lip trembling, "Will you not let me fall?"

"No, Aid. I will not let you fall."
"Ever?"

I teared up realizing that my little man just needed my reassurance. There's a lot of time ahead of us to talk about the reality of life. But it was also a moment realizing that there will be a time (many times probably) where Aid falls in life. And it will be out of my control. I will only be able to hand him back his helmet and tell him to get back on.  But not today.

So I answered. "Ever Aid."

Beach Boys

There are very few people who can get me into a swimsuit and into the water....