Their Own Dang Fault

If they forget to bring home the parent form for me to sign, what gets returned to the teacher is their own dang fault.

15 Year Old Stats

I scheduled the boys' well-child visits back in June, but the earliest the doctor could get us in was August.  Fine.  We'll come in August, even though the date was after the start of Cross Country, and the boys needed physicals to participate.  We'd make it work.  We waited two months, and then, the night before the appointment, my husband erased it off my Google calendar because it also showed up on HIS calendar, but did not pertain to him.  I got a notification that he erased the appointment, but thought it was no big deal because I had gotten a reminder phone call, and had saved the message. When I checked the voicemail, it said that the appointment was at 3:30, and because of construction on the highway, we arrived at 3:35.  Our bad for being five minutes late.  In reality, though, the appointment was at 3:00, and we had missed the dang thing!!!  WHAT????  The doctor took pity on us, due to the incorrect info we had received during the reminder phone call, and said that if we waited for about 30 minutes, he'd try to squeeze us in.  Fine.  We were here, and they really needed sports physicals, so we would wait.  Within 5 minutes of the appointment starting, though, the doctor was called away for an emergency C-section.  NO!  I cried.  How would the boys get their physicals if you leave now?!?  Quinn was embarrassed by this comment by his mama, because... priorities.  The entrance of a baby into the world was obviously more important than a sports physical, but STILL.  This put us in a very precarious position, after waiting two stinking months for an appointment.  We tried to reschedule with the front desk.  He couldn't get us in again til nearly October.  That would not do.  As he left, the doctor said "just go to the walk in clinic."  OK.  We'll do that.  So that's what we did today, but instead of being free, as it would've been during a well-child visit... it cost me $75 a piece.  GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.  Super irritating.  Super duper irritating. All the way around.

ANYWAY.   At 15 years, 1 month, and 9 days old, both boys weigh 120.6 pounds.  Precisely.  Quinn is 5'9.5" tall, and Colby is 5'8.5" tall.  Colby has a small scoliosis, and HORRIBLE posture, which I feel probably contributes a bit to the height difference.  We went to the shoe store to buy running shoes last week, and had the boys measured.  They both are now size 13.  GOOD GRIEF.

Onward and upward, men.  Literally.

You're No Saint

Colby's name feast day:  Saint Maximillian Kolbe.  We were discussing him at dinner, when Quinn asked Colby to pour him a glass of milk.  Colby said "pour your own milk".  You know, as kind and loving brothers do.

Quinn: "St. Kolbe sacrificed his life for another human being, and this Colby can't even pour me a glass of milk.  You've got some work to do."

Don't we all.

Thanks

The scene:  Driving in the car on the way home from cross country.

Mom: "Boys, how was it?  How far did you run?"
Quinn: "About 5k.  It was long."
Mom: "You know, Brycen's cross country team runs 8 miles in practice."
Colby: "That's not true.  He's totally exaggerating."
Mom: "No he's not.  Some cross country teams run 8 to 10 miles a day."
Colby: "Not all at once.  No human being runs 8 miles all at one time, without resting or walking."
Mom: "Yes, Colby, they do.  In fact, when I was younger, I could run 8 miles without stopping.  I've done it several times."
Colby: "UGH, Mom.  You don't understand what I'm saying.  They don't do it all at once.  Brycen is totally exaggerating."
Mom: "Yes, Colby, they DO.  ALL AT ONCE.  I'm going to call Brycen right now, so he can tell you himself."
Colby: "UGH!  Don't do that!  Don't call him!  UGH!"

Calls nephew, who is in the car with his mother.

Mom: "Hi Brycen!  This is Aunt Monica!  Your cousin Colby has a question for you.  Colby?  What's your question for Brycen?"

Colby: "Hi Brycen.  Why is my mom so annoying????"

Ta Dum DUM.

The Chef

So, I made chicken soft tacos for dinner last night.  Quinn is not a fan of Mexican food, even if he likes all the individual ingredients.... if the word "taco" is used, he adamantly refuses to consume it.  When Quinn got home from organ lessons, he decided to transform dinner to something he deemed palatable.  He took the tortillas and cut them into triangles, and baked them into chips.  Then he took the avacados, mashed them and added spices to make a guacamole.  He added the chicken with tomatoes, and topped it with his guac and chips.  It looked dang good, and I was seriously impressed.  All those times he watched the Food channel with his mama have paid off!  He's a great cook!

Not Quite Awake

The mama was dropping the children off at school this morning, and Colby was telling me about what they did yesterday.

Colby: "We watched Forest Gump in English".
Mom: "Of course you did.  It's only in English.  Why would you watch it in another language?  That makes no sense!"

Quinn and Colby: "UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....Mom...………….. in English CLASS."

Oh.  Yeah.  Right.

I obviously am not yet fully awake.

The Poor Children

All three of my children are neglected and deprived.  It's true.  They've told me.  The boys say that ALL their friends make fun of them because they only own an iPad mini, an iPhone 4 (without data), an HP laptop, and a WiiU, which is reportedly "the worst gaming system there is".  Because of this, according to my children "all their friends" think that we are POOR.  "When we go to robotics for the weekend, you only give us $40 a piece for food!  Yes, that's enough to eat, but what if we got stuck there?  There's no extra in case of emergency!"  Reagan concurred about the Aho kid status as economically deprived.  "Evelyn thinks we're poor because we don't have candy or Kleenex here."  It's true.  They only get candy at Easter, and Halloween, and Christmas, and for their birthdays, and during parties. But not every day!!  AND we use toilet paper to blow our noses.  Even worse, we treat our boys as "one person", because they have to share a bedroom and share a computer.  When I pointed out that Colby had his own keyboard, and his own launchpad, he told me "YES!  That wouldn't work if I didn't have a computer that is shared with Quinn!  And shared with his music program!"  That does sound like they're one person, having to share like that.   Poor children.

I offered them all kinds of household chores in an effort to help them earn their very own new computers.  I was told that this was unfair because "I never pay them enough.  Not even minimum wage!"  I assured them that if they DID minimum wage-quality work, I would certainly entertain the thought of paying them minimum wage.   When I reminded them that they did earn money for good grades on their report cards, I was told that that also wasn't a "good deal" because it only happens every three months.   Poor children.

Electronics are not a human right, children. They really aren't.  I was in college before I got my first computer... bought with my own money from my own job.   I was 43 before I got my first smart phone.  I must've been even poorer than we are now.  That's pretty sad.  I didn't even KNOW I was poor!  How horrible is that???