Christmas Letter 2011

odds n ends

Nothing much new just a few little funny stories about the boys..

Dead Inside

A couple of weeks ago Grant started telling me all mommies were mean.  “It’s true.. they are”.  I kinda brushed him off and figured it was some weird phase or he was mad about having to do is ONE job of emptying the dishwasher (and not letting him con Henry into do it for him).  But this kept coming up in different conversations throughout the week and the other attributes he’d given to “all mommies” were getting more disturbing.  “All mommies are mean, they are evil.. and they are dead inside”.  Weirdly I took the most offense to the “dead inside” comment.  How could he think I was dead inside?!?  I’m the most alive-iest inside person I know!!  (could someone dead inside come up with a word like alive-iest?.. ok don’t answer that)  And really, that’s a weird concept for a kid to say… “dead inside”?  really?  I can’t imagine WHERE he would have heard that.  I pushed for more answers.  I got “they’re all wrapped in themselves”.  What?!?! Now we’re all self-centered?  Where is this kid getting his intel?  Am I going to have to actually start WATCHING Power Rangers to find out what it’s teaching my kid?  I had to get to the bottom of this.  “How are they wrapped in themselves.. what do you mean, Grant?”.  He answered “You know.. like band-aid wrap stuff.. wrapped around their heads and bodies and stuff.”  The light went on.  Mummies.  Got it.  It all fell into place.  So I could breathe a sigh of relief knowing my kid didn’t find me dead inside and wrapped up in myself, mean and evil.  I’m normal.  He’s normal.  The world has been restored to it’s normal self. 

 

Does Not Approve

Yesterday after swimming lessons I stopped to get the boys Happy Meals on the way home.  On the way home Henry opened his only to find they’d mistakenly given him a GIRL TOY.  We were already on the road and I wasn’t about to go back and switch it out.  So I told him sometimes girl toys could be fun too.  He seemed fine with it.  Grant however was not amused.  From the backseat I heard him say with much disdain in his voice “That’s a BARBIE doll.   I don’t like Barbies.. if I ever got a Barbie I would just go over and throw it right in the trash”.  Henry somehow didn’t catch what was going on and wanted to fit in so he of course agreed “uh huh! I would throw it away too”  and I hear Grant say “well that’s whatcha got!”  It didn’t turn into any huge argument so I didn’t think much of it.  When we got home they were able to open their toys and Grant looked on with serious disgust as Henry opened his Barbie Head with it’s matching comb.  Fortunately Henry didn’t know what Grant meant when he said “Actually Henry’s Happy Meal toy is really lame”.  It’s always weird when you hear your kid come out with little phrases like that.  Today I’ve already heard Grant again say twice “If I ever got a Barbie I’d just throw it in the trash”.  Perhaps the power of suggestion would make Henry do the right thing.  It’s like he thinks it’s devaluing all of the other cool toys in the toy room by even allowing it to exist in our house.  I’m going to keep it around for awhile to see what happens to it. 

They are seriously and endless source of entertainment.. every day. 

Time Slipping Through My Fingers…

Grant graduated from preschool on Wednesday.  I think the with all the chaos of the end of the school year events and planning it didn’t really leave me with too much time to do any introspective thinking.  I found over the weekend these small waves of reflection sort of popping up at random times throughout the day.  In some ways he seems like such a little boy still. Can he really be leaving for school ALL DAY in the fall?  In other ways I’m completely stopped in my tracks at how much he’s grown.  This is a picture of Grant on his first day and last day of preschool at Bellevue Country Day School.

I remember his first day and his nervousness. He is and forever will be an observer first. He sits back, takes in the environment, the people, what is going on, and what his role will be and then decides if he wants to participate. There was a lot of thumb sucking and observing going on that first week. The little boy in the second picture knows his role and is more confident and talks excitedly about kindergarten in the fall (though I still sense a tiny bit of anxiety and I know it will take him to get used to it).

This morning I came home from Zumba and found all 3 of my guys watching Planet Earth.  I came in and Grant gave me the run down about snow leopards and how they had to kill other animals to eat them and a load of other little facts.  I’m always amazed at how much he picks up and how his mind works.  He laid across the couch with his head in my lap, while he carried on watching.  I got a little teary remembering 5 years ago sitting in the exact same location with a tiny baby that fit in the crook of my arm while I fed him.  I had tons to get down today but lingered there a little longer knowing this moment would be gone in a heartbeat.  I was reminded of the ABBA song Time Slipping Through My Fingers. 

on to the next chapter…

lyrics

Slipping Through My Fingers lyrics

Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she's gone there's that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I cant deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn't
And why I just don't know

Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time

Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...

Slipping through my fingers all the time

Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile...

AQUA ZUMBA DEMO! WEDNESDAY APRIL 27TH AT 7:30PM

I’d like to invite you and your friends to a free Aqua Zumba demonstration class that I’m teaching on Wednesday 4/27 at 7:30pm at Samena Swim & Recreation Club in Bellevue. This is a full length class and is free for participants. Non-members must sign-in at the Front Desk and pay the Samena Guest Fee of $8, which can be applied to their first enrolled session. The session starts the following week at the same date/time. PLEASE CALL SAMENA TO PRE-REGISTER AND RESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR THE DEMO! 425-746-1160

From the Zumba website:

Known as the Zumba® "pool party," the Aqua Zumba program gives new meaning to the idea of an invigorating workout. Splashing, stretching, twisting, even shouting, laughing, hooting and hollering are often heard during an Aqua Zumba class. Integrating the Zumba formula and philosophy with traditional aqua fitness disciplines, the Aqua Zumba class blends it all together into a safe, challenging, water-based workout that's cardio-conditioning, body-toning, and most of all, exhilarating beyond belief.

So, leave your floaties at home.. bring a towel, your water bottle, aqua shoes (if you have them), and your groove thang (to shake) and join us for a calorie-burning hour of fun and great music.
Please let me know if I can answer any questions. I can be reached at misty_dampier@hotmail.com or 425-818-0220.

Samena Swim and Recreation Club

15231 Lake Hills Blvd. Bellevue 98007

Bellevue, WA 98007

Thanks!

Misty

Getting schooled …

I’m always amazed at all the stuff Grant comes out with that he’s learned in school.  I ask him every day what he did and his answer is “ummm I can’t remember” then in the middle of doing some random task he’ll blurt out some odd trivia.  This week, I was surprised when Grant came home and told me about his old classmate who had come back to visit from Egypt.  His teacher explained to the class that there was a lot of fighting going on in Egypt and that was why they came home.  It feels weird that he’s now becoming aware of current events.

Other things I’ve been informed of over the past school year in passing conversations:  Pluto is no longer a planet.. according to Grant it is now a “not planet”.  The brontosaurus is not a dinosaur anymore.  Indigo is no longer a recognized color of the rainbow (I actually had to look this up). 

Henry, as the second born is always letting me know what is going on in his little world so he can get equal face time.  This morning I was up early with the boys and he crawled in my lap and was chattering about Lego and then stopped and said “Actually, Mommy I need to tell you sumfeen… it’s actually kinda stinky in there.”  As the parent of a child not quite through potty training, I immediately went into questioning “Where? Did you go in your pants? Where is it stinky?”  He replied “No, in your mowf”.  I’d be kinda fine if kept his opinions to himself in that respect.  Gotta love ‘em.