Forgery Follow Up

So, Quinn grabbed the check on his way out the door to meet the bus today.

Q: "Mom! I'm going to buy a cookie with this check!"
M: "Quinn, taking that money is stealing, and you wrote my name pretending to be me, which is also lying and forgery. All THREE of those things make Jesus very sad."
Q: "Oh."
M: "So, I'm going to let you make a choice. What are you going to do with that check?"
Q: (pausing for several seconds). "Well....."
M: "Yes?"
Q: "I really want a cookie."

And then the bus came, and off he went, check in tow. SIGH. Failure at the moral lesson. I need to work on the potency of my guilt-trips before puberty hits and the stakes get higher.

After school today, I asked him if he bought a cookie with the check. This is what he said.

Q: "No Mom. I left the check in my folder all day. I didn't buy a cookie with it."

I didn't answer him, but inside I was thinking "yeah yeah yeah!!! The kid DOES have a conscience!!!!"

His First Forgery

Reportedly, the boys' school sells these enormous cookies for $1. I know this, because twelve times a day, they ask me for a dollar, to buy a cookie at school. To which I have always answered "no". I have offered to give them jobs so that they may EARN a dollar, but they have yet to take me up on the offer. Well, today, Quinn went a step further. He took a check out of my checkbook, and told me he was taking it to school to give to the "chef" so he could have a cookie. I told him that was stealing.

Q: "Well, if I ASKED you for the money, you'd say no, so I HAVE to steal it."

Oh my. Where do I start?

M: "Well, even if you gave that check to the chef, they wouldn't give you a cookie, because I haven't signed it."

Q: "OH. Your name has to be on the check?"

M: "Yes. And the amount. "

Q: "Ohhhhhh."

Within minutes, I found THIS check.

All during dinner, Quinn stared at me. I asked him what he was doing.

Q: "I'm keeping my eyes on you."

M: "WHY?"

Q: "Because you're going to take that money back, so I can't get a cookie. You're going to STEAL it!"

M: "It wouldn't be stealing. I would be taking back what was mine. Plus, you committed forgery."

Q: "Borgery?"

M: "Forgery."

Q: "Morgery?"

M: "Forgery."

Q: "Fogerty?"

M: "For-jur-ee. It means pretending to write someone else's name."

Q: "I'm still going to keep my eyes on you. Don't take that check! I'm going to give it to the chef tomorrow at school, and she's going to give me a cookie."

I'm thinking it'll be a valuable lesson to let him TRY to do just that. I just hope they don't think it's cute and give him the cookie anyways. It was hard enough for me to keep a straight face and frown disapprovingly as he wrote the thing out. At least it was good practice spelling.

Sunday School

Tonight's dinner conversation:

Mom: "Boys, what did you learn in Sunday School today?"
C&Q: "I don't remember."
Mom: "Didn't you learn about Elijah?"
Q: "HEY! How did you know that?"
M: "I'm a mom. Who's Elijah?"
C: "He's a guy who has a friend named Sha-lisha"
M: "Elisha?"
C: "Yeah. Elisha. That's hard to say. "
M: "What else?"
C: "Elijah rides a hot horse."
M: "What?"
C: "A hot horse. He rides a hot horse."

I have to admit it took me a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about... then.... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Hot horse, burning chariot. Riding to heaven in a chariot of fire....
Smile.

Where the Wild Things Are

I took the boys to the movie "Where the Wild Things Are" tonight. There's a scene where Max is leaving his monster friends to go back home to his mom. I look over, and there is Colby, head in his hands, sobbing. Quinn is wiping away tears. Behind us, a little three year old girl is bawling. Across the aisle, I see a grown woman crying. I couldn't help but laugh. Making all the kids and moms cry, this movie. I'm actually glad the boys can empathize with a character. Empathy's a good trait to have, I think.

On a side note, taking an 11 month old baby to a movie is NOT a wise choice. She babbled loudly the entire time - howling each time the monsters on screen did. And squirmed squirmed squirmed. Colby got his foot stuck in the back of the movie chair for a full 30 minutes before I could finally get it out. And Quinn went to the restroom THREE times, and kept talking loudly to me for the duration. Maybe I wasn't as in to the movie, as I didn't get to actually ENJOY it as much as the rest of them. It wasn't as bad as taking all three kids to church with me alone, but it wasn't too far removed.

Waiting at the Computer

I admit - I am a creature of habit. Each morning, I awake before the rest of the family, and sit at the computer to check my email while eating breakfast and blowing my hair dry. It's the routine. So last night, at 2:45 am, I hear a noise. I get up, and there's Colby, sitting in front of my computer.

M: "Sweetie! What are you doing up! It's still night time!"
C: "I'm waiting for you to come to the computer, mom, so I know it's morning!"

He had a LOOONNNG four hour wait in front of him. Obviously, I'm a more reliable indicator of morning than any of our clocks (dead batteries, every last one of them) or the sun (what sun?).

En Espanol

We were drawing letters in the air tonight at dinner, to reinforce their kindergarten lesson. Quinn decides to go a step further, and draw a whole WORD, rather than just a letter. "O" "N" "M".

Q: "What's that spell, Mom?"
M: "Onm. That's not a word."
Q: "Sure it is. It's how a robot says 'beep' in Spanish."
C: "Yeah, you know. Onm, onm, onm. I am a robot."

That Dora the Explorer. She's teaching these kids all kinds of things!

The Shortened Days

On Mondays, both Rob and I work, so the boys stay at school a full day, and then go to an after-school program. The other four days of the week, we've been doing half days, as five full days of school was a little much for them at first. Anyways. Here's what Colby said last night, after a full day at and after school (7:45 am - 5:30 pm)

Colby: "Mom! The days are shorter now!"
Mom: "Oh yeah. The sun goes down sooner now that it's fall."
Colby: "No. They go quicker."
Mom: "What are you talking about?"
Colby: "School used to go on and on and on forever. Now it gets over quick!"
Mom: "OOOOHHHHHH. "

I think he's finally adjusting :).

Naughty Words

Dang impressionable children. Quinn's new favorite word is "crap". He says it constantly.
Quinn: "Crap. I dropped this book."
Quinn: "Crap. I can't find my shoes."
Not to be hypocritical or anything, but I told him he really shouldn't be saying that.
Mom: "Quinn, I know you heard that from me. It's really not nice to say. If you don't say it, I won't say it. If you hear me say it, you tell me that it's not nice, and remind me"
Quinn: "OK. I won't say it anymore. I'll just say what Dad does instead. 'Son of a bitch'."

ADDENDUM: Just caught Quinn saying "crap" again. Rob witnessed it this time.
R (to me): "You must say that an awful lot."
M: "NO! I don't! I swear!"
Q: "Dad says 'Son of a bitch' all day long."
R: "No, only when I'm mad!"
Q: "Remember when you spilled your paint? You said it then. Dad, you need to stop saying that. It's not nice. Next time, just say 'dang it' all day."

Even Teachers Go to School

I know this is the third blog today, but the boys were just chock full of memorable quotes, so thought I'd share.

Colby: "Mom, there's no school on Friday."
Mom: "I know."
Colby: "Because Mrs. Hietila has to go to school."
Mom: "Yup. Teacher's Inservice Day."
Colby: "Poor Mrs. Hietila."

Maybe they've found some common ground, knowing their teacher is subjected to school, too :).

Early For the Bus

We actually were ready in plenty of time to catch the bus this morning, which is not typical at ALL. Standing out in the yard, Quinn kept looking down the road and muttering to himself
"This is so strange. Where's the bus?"
Mom: "We're early Quinn. It'll be here".
Quinn: "This is so strange!"
Mom: "Not really. We're just early."
Quinn: "But the bus isn't here yet. Where's the bus? Strange."

OK. Maybe we should try being early to things a little more often, so it's not so "strange".

Realizations

Quinn: Hey Mom! Guess what?
Mom: What?
Quinn: After school today, Mrs. Hietila left the school with her purse.
Mom: Yeah?
Quinn: She DOESN'T LIVE AT SCHOOL!!!
Mom: I know. Weird, huh?
Quinn: Very strange.

Continuing to Brag on the Boy

OK, I know I already blogged about Colby's good behavior in church. Well, the rest of the day he was just as good, so I thought I needed to give him KUDOS to the world. He just beams when given a compliment, it's so cute. I had the boys clean their playroom, which, as typical, took them FOREVER. When I went in to check, Colby ran around and finished all the last minute things (instead of whining.... what a change!). He then cleaned up all the cars in the basement after I asked him to... THE FIRST TIME. Astounding. He ate all his veggies at dinner, brushed his teeth, and is now sound asleep at 7:30 pm. Quinn had a time-out today for an incident that started out not entirely his fault, but then morphed into a bad scene (involving dirty underpants and "smearing", but we won't go there). Anyways. At dinnertime, I was bragging up Colby to his dad, and Colby said "Yeah, Dad. I was REALLY REALLY good today. Quinn was kind of good. But I was REALLY good." Just so proud of himself. We need to make a big deal out of days like today, so both boys want to do them again and again and again!! Gosh, wouldn't parenting be a breeze if the children were well-behaved???? WHAT would I do with all my spare time???

Proud of the Boy

Just for the record, my son Colby was a GOOD BOY in church today. Some of you may not know what a momentous occasion that is for us - to have either boy behave in church. Today, however, Colby sang the songs, paid attention, stood and sat at appropriate times, and even ignored his brother who was whispering his name from behind to distract him. YEAHHHH COLBY! You da man! He had a rare but well-deserved doughnut after the service in celebration. Maybe this is the beginning of a trend? And maybe he'll be a good example for his brother? I'm not holding my breath.

Pain Thresholds Compared

OK. The kid breaks both bones in his arm, and cries for 30 seconds. He gets gum stuck in his hair, and while I'm cutting it out with scissors, all I hear is "ow! ow! ow! ow! ow!" GEESH.

My Favorite School

This was a conversation we had last night.
Quinn: "Do we have school tomorrow?"
Mom: "No, not until Monday. Tomorrow is Sunday School, though."
Quinn: "Oh yeah! I LOVE Sunday School!"
Mom -- glowing with pride, warm fuzzies floating everywhere -- "Oh good. I'm so glad."
Quinn: "Yeah, it's QUICK. You sing a song, do some writing, do a closing song, and it's OVER."
Mom: deflating at record speeds. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh".

Musical Improv

The boys were sitting next to each other in the back seat of the van, and having a very difficult time keeping their hands to themselves. I barked something to the effect of "DON'T TOUCH EACH OTHER!" from the front. Quinn complained again that Colby touched him. That's when Colby came back with this song, which he sang perfectly to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down."

C: "I didn't touch your broken arm, broken arm, broken arm. I didn't touch your broken arm. I'm sooooo sorrrrryyyy."

The Benediction

We were making leaf "rubbings" with crayons today. Leaf under paper, rub on top. You know. Anyways, as I was showing the boys the technique, they were VERY impressed.

Q: MOM! You're a benediction!
M: Uh... what?
C: Yeah! A benediction!
M: I don't understand.
Q: That's magic! You're making the leaf appear on the paper! You must be a benediction.
M: OH. Magician?
C: Yeah, that. A MAGICIAN, Quinn.

The Mystery Carrot Man

One of the boys' favorite activities is ringing the doorbell. I am typically not amused. It usually occurs while Reagan is trying to nap. Several times over the past few weeks, I've heard the doorbell ring, and I've ran to open the door to give "the ringer" a stern talking-to, only to find a surprise carrot on my doormat. No boy in sight, but a subtle giggle coming from behind the corner of the house. HOW can you get mad at that? It's like "May Day", but instead of flowers, it's vegetables from my garden. So more like "Harvest Day". Cute. Just wish it wouldn't wake up their sister!!

Recall

THAT'S what it was Quuinn said yesterday in the van. He mentioned it again this morning (thanks for the reminder, kid).

Q: MOM! I see SNOW!
M: That's not snow, it's frost.
Q: Then the snow will come?
M: Soon enough.
Q: I want snow NOW!
M: Not me. Why do you want it to snow so bad?
Q: Because when it snows, then the next day will be CHRISTMAS!

I need to explain to him long and hard that Christmas comes irregardless of snow, so that we don't have fervent little-boy prayers (which are especially potent, I think) going up to God every day, hurrying things along.