The other night I was reading to the kids a bible story where Joseph-with the coat of many colors-is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and I asked Alex if he knew what a slave was?
Yes.
He told me he was a slave in Ukraine.
No you weren't I told him.
Yes, I work hard and get hit with a stick.
I explained that perhaps he was sometimes treated like a slave but he did get to go to school and they did feed him and he got to play etc. He shrugged. In his mind, he was a slave.
He's taken it on himself to help Rylee with her friend issue. She has two sweet friends in our neighborhood but seems to always walk home by herself. (This is due to the fact that Rylee won't ask these friends to wait for her and she's slow like a snail leaving her classroom.) First he talked to one girl and asked "Why you no walk with Rylee?" He then reported to me that this girl could not understand him. I figured that was it. But the next day he talked to the 2nd girl and happily reported that this girl said, "Okay, we'll wait for Rylee." He did this all on his own. I just can't help but find this big brother-looking out for little sister attribute terribly endearing and sweet.
Alex starts 11 year old scouts today. He's been bugging me for a new scout shirt which I got for him yesterday. He was so excited and covered my cheeks with kisses between saying thank you, thank you, over and over.
Alex is quite a clutter bug and I am am the anti-clutter queen. Each of my children have a locker to store their things. Coats, backpacks, shoes, etc. Alex leaves his things EVERYWHERE! I call him in to pick up stuff over and over again and I'm just through. So, for the last week when I find his things-toys anyway-I just put them up and away. So far I've collected quite an assortment of toys. Yesterday it was his DS he left on the piano. I knew this toy would be missed. He asked about it after school.
Alex: Mom, where my DS?
Me: Hum...where did you leave it?
Alex: On piano
Me: Does it go there?
Alex: No.
Me: Where does it go?
Alex: My locker.
Mom: Well, I have it and if you'd like it back you'll need to do an extra job for it.
Alex: Okay
Then he walked off. Later he asked if he had to do an HOURS worth of work for his DS. No, just an extra job. Then he told me-very indignantly I might add-if the job is too big or hard he won't do it. Okay, I said then you won't get your DS. And that was it. I wasn't planning on giving him a horrid job but now I'm thinking it might just be harder than I originally anticipated. We'll see. Me holding on to the DS could go on FOREVER. No big deal to me. Well see how long Alex can hold out.
(I also have his yoyo, cell phone and some other miscellaneous toys. I have a couple of Rylee's things too so don't think I'm singling him out! Grr....how I hate clutter and stuff left around!)
There was something else I wanted to write but for the life of me I can't remember.
So, from "being a slave" to indignantly announcing to me he WON'T work if the job is to hard, I think the boy has come a long way.
Here's where we were last year:
3 of my blog friends said something...:
What a awesome kid!
I constantly marvel at your parenting skills.
This made me laugh. Doubling our kids has produced tons of clutter and Ana and Victor are the same way. Once a week I anounce the day I'm going to pick up and what ever is on the floor that day (or when ever I ask for things to get picked up) goes into a basket. Then on Saturday they can buy back their things for a quarter (I like the extra job idea). Poor Ana is constantly buying back her shoes, and I'm pretty lenient with her and will hand them to her and ask her to put them away 1-3 times before they go in the basket.
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