Smart Mouth

All right…. so here are some random kids things. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

1. They care about animals as much as their mommy. Remember the squished in the road turtle I cried over? CJ made CAUTION! TURTLE CROSSING! signs and posted them along the road after that happened (he was five.) They both create outdoor habitats for bugs. They are usually the ones screaming so I pull over for a turtle. We have rescued, birds, cats, caterpillars, lizards, fish, etc…. together. Last night they were finding food for grasshoppers together.

2. My kids hated to wake up in the am until I got them unique alarm clocks. So, in the morning, on their side of the house, I can hear CJ wake up to birds chirping and CL wakes up to a puppy barking. This also makes me them wake up HAPPY! Well, most of the time.

3. They BOTH sleep walk. A LOT. And have conversations with me. This freaks me the EFF out. CL will walk all the way across the house and stand in front of you staring at you. This means she has to pee. I have to carry her to the toilet and then she gets herself back to bed after that. CJ likes to talk about random shit. Freaky random shit. He scares the begeezus out of me. Usually? I hide under a blanket when I hear him coming and he eventually finds his way back to bed.

4. For years CJ was underweight and a picky eater, and it was a battle to get him to eat. Then, I decided he could be in charge of what he ate, within reason. I don’t force him to eat what I cook, or to try things, but he has to eat something healthy if he doesn’t eat with us. And as long as he isn’t eating junk, he can eat whenever he wants. Now he isn’t picky anymore and has went from a size 8 to a size 14-16 in just over a year. (and no! not because now he is a tub-o, he just got REALLY tall, and filled out…)

5. Neither one of my kids spoke when they were supposed to, developmentally. CJ didn’t talk at all until he was three, he used signs, then signs and words, and then just words. CL didn’t start talking until 2 1/2, but didn’t use signs as much as CJ. Both of them had speech therapy from age 2 until kindergarten, and periodically afterward. CJ hasn’t had any speech since he was eight, he takes gifted and talented classes (in subjects he enjoys only, though his tests would allow him to take all if he would apply himself) and he reads at a 12 grade level. CL is still in speech therapy, she goes twice a week.

6. The kids are both very hard to discipline. Time-outs, spanking, naughty mats, taking away priviledges… things like that, have never worked for them. CJ would talk to himself (in his mind) when in time out and burst out laughing. CL walked up the driveway from the school bus the other day and said to me, Don’t say a word. I know what I did was wrong. I am so sad. Taking TV away won’t make me a good girl. Creative punishment and reward is the only way to get thru to them….. CJ used to pee on the toilet seat and wouldn’t clean up after himself, I made him sit in the pee. (That was the LAST time he ever left pee on the seat!) If CL is naughty, I will buy her a present, let her see it and then take it back to the store. I will eat their candy. Wear their shirts and hair ties. Rename their stuff animals and refuse to call it the correct name. If you leave your shoes in the doorway I open the door and throw them as far as I can. One summer, I had a giant embarassing plastic police hat, if one of them (my niece was living with us then too) was being especially naughty I made them wear it out in public. Sound harsh? It is the only thing that works.

7. My kids have TONS of nicknames. Besides my son’s real name (which is not CJ) he also answers to Yellow, Fred, Princess, Gordy Lumpkin, and Timballisto. My daughter (whose real name is NOT CL) also answers to Beep-Boo, Princess Puffalina, Puffy, and when she is naughty I call her Princess Fartalina.

And one bonus one, since I did eight on my 7 random things too.

8. They are friends. They get along better that any pair of siblings I have seen. CJ is a far better older brother than I EVER was to my little sisters, and I think that is the thing I am most proud of. They would do anything for each other. Sure, they annoy the crap out of each other sometimes, but the majority of the time they are best friends. And they both only have friends that like their sibling. All of CJ’s friends love CL and let her hang out with them, and all of CL’s friends worship CJ. In fact, at her birthday party she stopped her party because he skinned his knees. She held his hand and wouldn’t leave until I got all the band-aids on, and even then she made all her little friends come over to see what happened and kept asking him, are you sure you are okay? Then later? I saw CJ (and his friend) jump on the trampoline with her and her friends, even though it cleary hurt him. He did it because she asked. How many times have you seen 12-13 yr old boys playing with 6 yr olds because they want to? Because they genuinely like them?

I must be doing something right.