Thursday, February 26, 2009

Rock on!

My eight-year old son has been taking guitar lessons for just over a year now. He started out with a simple First Act student guitar, but soon asked for an electric. In pleading his case, he reasonably pointed out that "It's hard to be in a band and play acoustic guitar." Mom and Dad sighed, but went ahead and bought him his first electric guitar...and amp. Hands poised over our ears, We braced ourselves for the inevitable house-shaking, eardrum-vibrating cacophony that was to come. However, we had all forgotten that Derek just doesn't like loud noises all that much! He keeps the amp turned to about 2, the dishes don't shake, and we canceled the earplug order. That is, until yesterday. Derek came home from his lesson much bouncier than usual, and announced in a rush that "Justin taught me power chords, and he also played me Back in Black by AC/DC!" Uh oh...I mean, that's great, honey, very exciting stuff! He continued, without pausing for breath, "So Mommy, can you download some AC/DC songs, like TNT, and Thunderstruck for my iPod?" I was just absorbing this heavy-metal request, and opening my mouth to answer him, when he finished, "oh, and you can take off my Bible School songs, I don't need them anymore!" Ding ding ding...that sound you hear is your "baby" growing up too fast! Goodbye, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and welcome to the Highway to Hell!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fat Tuesday--2 ways

This morning I wished my sons a Happy Mardi Gras. I explained--in purposefully vague terms-- that some people follow the custom of living it up for a few days, before thinking about the meaning of Lent and the coming of Easter. (I carefully avoided any mention of Bourbon Street, or Hurricanes, or beads, although I must confess to having experienced all of these...) I tried to keep it simple, but I wasn't sure how much the 5-year old understood. Until he came up to me after school, eyes downcast, looking somber, and said, "Mommy, we have to be serious today." Oh-kay...why? "Because today is the first day the Devil tried to tempt Jesus to do bad things!" Yes, you're exactly right! Except that's tomorrow! He brightened immediately, as if immensely relieved to be granted even a temporary reprieve from being "serious". He perked up even more when I reminded him about what puts the "fat" in Fat Tuesday: all-you-can-eat pancakes at our church!
Laissez les bon temps roulez...and pass the syrup!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Julliard Elementary School, 2nd period

My 8-year old son has been playing around with music since he was a toddler. He started strumming a miniature guitar as soon as he could hold it. Every time we went to a restaurant, he would immediately locate two straws, and start drumming on the tables. Lately he's moved on to writing lyrics, in a special notebook he's reserved just for this purpose.
A sample copied directly from his pages:
"It's hard to be, it's hard to be, it's hard to be a hero.
Living the life of magic, it can be so very tragic.
It's hard to be a hero, swingin' around the city,
Fighting crimes around the block, you can never be too careful.
There's a bad guy under every single rock.
It's hard to be a hero, hero, hero."
Every so often, he reiterates how much he's just itching to be in a band. My first thought was: "Dude, you're eight!" What actually came out was, "Um, you need some friends who play instruments." He earnestly added that he wants to write the songs and play the music, but NOT sing. Wednesday night after his guitar lesson he was just brimming with musical enthusiasm, and got all hyped up to "write a song." So he sat down at the keyboard and started picking out notes. Guess who got to transcribe this masterpiece? I wonder if the Jonas Brothers started out this way?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Julliard Elementary School, 1st period

Both my husband and I are music lovers. Fortunately, our kids have always listened to whatever we like, which has allowed us to mostly avoid horrors like the Wiggles, and KidBop. It also means that the first time Derek actually sang us a tune, it went something like "Daddy was a bank robber, but he never hurt nobody" (thank you husband, and the Clash). My spouse, however, maintains that I began "ruining" my sons in-utero, by exposing them in their vulnerable developmental state to repeated listenings of Grease and other classic showtunes. Hey, I lived High School Musical, so we may have to get used to the idea of future thespians...For example, this week at the dinner table I was enthusiastically describing the Hip Hop dance class I just started attending, when 5-year old Riley suddenly exclaimed, "Mommy, I want to take Hip Hop, too!" Husband looked appalled, and asked in a strangled voice, "Do you know what that even means?" "Sure!" my son chirped, and promptly launched himself out of his seat to hop around the kitchen on one foot, bent forward at the waist, with the other leg extended behind him like some kind of demented flamingo. "See me, I'm hip-hopping!" Yes, you are. You go, funky little boy.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Deep Philosophical Questions (yeah, right!)

Sometimes, when I'm surrounded by the male creatures who live in my house, their behavior causes me to ponder some very complex and difficult issues, such as:
Which direction does the Earth rotate? (Thanks, D, I'll have to look that one up.)
Why do I have to wear a jacket when I don't feel cold? (Because of the HUGE, nasty germs that can get into your body if your coat isn't protecting you, that's why! I just thought of that, and it's so much better than the usual "because I said so." I'm using it tomorrow, as a matter of fact.)
Why might Barry Bonds go to jail, when Alex Rodriguez probably won't? (Drugs are bad, okay...and apparently being a big fat liar is even worse!)
Can I take a picture of my butt? No? How about my brother's butt? (Of course not, and give me that camera right now!)
Will you let us have brownies for breakfast? (Nope, it'll stunt your growth. Morning brownies are only healthy for Mommy.)
I have a headache; do I have to go to school tomorrow? (A little kiddie-Motrin and a good night's sleep and you'll be all better! Trust me, honey, mothers know these things.)
And on that note, goodnight all, and have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Boy Story

When my husband and I contemplated starting a family, back in the days when we had leisurely dinners together, with a nice glass of wine, and discussed whatever was on our minds for hours on end...where was I? Oh yes, we both strongly believed that we would be more comfortable raising girls. My husband is an only child, and has always been very close to his mother (in a healthy, non-creepy way). And, of course, I have always been a girl myself, so I can claim just a little bit of background in this area. Well, imagine our astonishment when the sonogram technician pointed out tiny little boy parts on the screen at that first visit! But after the initial shock, we quickly adjusted to the idea of having a son. By the time the second one turned out to be male also, I found myself actually preferring to have "two of a kind". The boys share many of the same interests: riding scooters, throwing balls, playing with dirt in every imaginable way. In some ways they are very similar, so I'm always amused and slightly surprised when they demonstrate their personality differences. For example, they recently got into trouble together for puncturing an air mattress that we had bought for sleepovers. Until they saved up enough of their allowance to replace it, they were banned from having their usual Saturday night "brother sleepover" in one another's rooms. The 8-year old was upset, but accepted the punishment stoically, in his typical rule-following, obedient fashion. The 5-year old imp, however, whispered to his brother that he would sneak into his room after Mom and Dad had been upstairs to check, and they could still have their sleepover! Creative? You bet! Trouble? I shudder to think what his active mind will cook up when he's older (like next week). Oh, and how do I know all about the "secret plan"? My older son promptly told me, naturally. Bless his little law-abiding heart! Maybe I'll only have to lock one of them in his room when they're teenagers...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Toasty Thoughts for a Bitterly Cold Day

Some things that warm me up and make me happy when it's 20 degrees and blustery outside...
--Wrapping my hands around a mug of hot chocolate. (Melty, gooey marshmallows optional, but encouraged. Somehow they add to the heat factor. It's a yummy mystery.)
--Letting the cat lean against me wherever I'm sitting. It's like having your own portable, personal, purring heater.
--Hot soup. I still have a strong affinity for good old-fashioned tomato soup and grilled cheese (dipped, of course). My mom made it often when I was growing up. She thought she was getting away with not cooking for a night, but to me it was the greatest dinner ever.
--Ski socks: the kind that go halfway up your shin, and are so thick you can't feel the cold floor through them. Not sexy at all, but very comfortable!
--Getting into my car which has been parked in the sun for 6 hours while I'm at work.
--Knowing that the weather forecast is calling for near-60 degrees this weekend. This will not be helpful for my raging case of Spring Fever, but bring it on anyway!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Baseball = Life

As a lifelong baseball lover, I have had many a fruitless argument with those who claim that "football is much more exciting" or "basketball is better because there's more scoring"...or other such nonsense. Those people, if they have wandered here by mistake, should stop reading right now. The truth is, pitchers and catchers report to Florida or Arizona in less than 2 weeks (10 days, if you're really counting, like me), and I have both baseball and Spring on the brain. So to pass some time, a few rules for life, borrowed from America's Game...
--Be respectful and watch your language, or you might get thrown out!
--Listen to your coaches, because they know more than you and want to help you improve.
--Play fairly (except when the pitcher isn't watching, then by all means steal a base).
--Take turns; wait patiently; and cheer for your teammates when you're on the bench.
--Don't let your mind wander, lest you get hit by a foul ball or flying bat.
--Choose to feed your body in a way that will make you strong and healthy (and that won't land you in JAIL, duh!)
--Try your best, but keep in mind that even excellent hitters fail 2/3 of the time at the plate!
--Remember it's a long season, so even if today sucked, tomorrow's a brand new game. (And they average your stats, so the results look better...eventually.)
With apologies to Crash Davis, I will end with these profound words: "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes...it rains."
Play Ball!