watching a 6-year old play video games.  Don’t get me wrong: it’s our own fault for getting the Wii game console for him and letting him play on MM’s xBox.  That said, he’s become incredibly fond of Lego games, particularly Star Wars and Batman.  The problem is that these games are fairly complicated, and require lots of advance strategy and thinking.  The other problem is that Crash needs to share the TV with the rest of the family, so his video game time is strictly limited.  This makes meeting some of the goals in the games a “challenge.”  To his credit, Crash has taken to just “getting through the story” instead of exploring things the first time through.  But the most frustrating part is watching him do the same thing over and over, with the same result (usually ending up with the character’s demise or accomplishing absolutely nothing) and explaining to him that he’s not accomplishing anything, yet he continues to do it anyway.  We’ve taken to just saying “move on, that’s not working” but he still insists on trying it at least two more times.  The other serious frustration??

“Crash, go to your left, I think that’s the way to [get out/get the [insert prize]/defeat the bad guy].  No, your OTHER left.”

This morning, Crash woke up, climbed out of bed, and went straight to the living room.  MM kindly reminded him he needed to go potty.  The conversation went like this;

MM: Crash, did you go potty?

C: No.

MM: Crash, you need to go potty and get dressed before you come out to the living room.

C: But I’m still tired!!!

MM: If you’re still tired, why are you out of bed?

C: I thought it was SATURDAY!

Whereupon he returned to bed.  No doubt this is not the last time this mistake will occur, but it was really, really funny.  MM just found 3 binkies and a baby spoon in Bang’s crib.  It’s just going to be one of those days.

Today, I signed Boom up for swimming lessons this summer.  I’m a big proponent of kids being safe in the water, especially in California, where lots of people have swimming pools.  Crash has been going to swimming lessons four days a week for eight weeks every summer since he was 3 1/2.  Last year, the wonderful swimming instructor told me that she had taught Crash all she could, and that he needed to be taking lessons from the woman in town who leads kids into swim team.

The swimming instructor is fantastic.  She only takes three kids to a class, does half hour classes, and usually fills up by February.  Lessons start in June.  So, one of my New Year’s rituals has become “call Toni” to make sure that the boys end up with a reasonable time for lessons.  The first year, I didn’t sign Crash up for all four sessions, and one of the sessions ended up being at 7 p.m., which is WAY too late for a 3 1/2 year old (at the time).  But the weird part is that it’s January, and we’re already dealing with what we’re going to do this summer.  It seems too early to start thinking about summer when the highs have been in the mid-40s all week.

So, we have a baby gate set up about halfway down the hallway to keep Bang from getting into Crash and Boom’s room.  It’s set high enough so that both Crash and Boom can crawl under it.  Bang hasn’t figured out yet that he could crawl under it too, which is a good thing.  Anyway, both Crash and Boom needed to get their jackets from their room.  Crash insisted on crawling under the gate army style/cat like on his tummy.  Boom insisted on scooting under on his back so he could see the gate and know if his legs were low enough.  Their personalities are just as different, but they seem to get along well (at least for now).

It’s been four days since I rejoined the “real” world.  So far, I’ve explained to staff that sending emails for discussion is not a good idea, drafted a memo to that effect, baked cookies after MM made the batter, talked to Crash’s teacher twice, picked up Boom without providing snacks on the way home once and been to work on time once.  Oh, and I volunteered to take on the major project in our office because the attorney currently handling it is leaving.  Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.  But at least now I have time to update the blog more often!  I’ve also not been washed away by all the rain, but noticed that the river I cross twice a day seems to be rising.

Today is also Bang’s 4 month checkup.  I’ll post later on how that goes, since MM is taking him.