Gigi and NPR

As I have mentioned before, I am worried that the kids won't be listening to "cool" music on the radio due to being chauffeured about by their aged grandparents. I have had friends over the years and their kids have known all the words to "Rapper's Delight" or "Fly" by Sugar Ray, and I gotta admit, it's kinda cute when a 4-year old is singing at the top of his lungs and knows all the words. It just is. Check out You Tube and you'll see what I mean.

Case in point, the other day I was driving B Boy around and the song "Royals" came on and all of a sudden, he sings, "..and we'll never be royals, " thank God he didn't belt out, "Gold teeth, grey goose, tripping in the bathroom, blood stains, ball gowns, trashing the hotel room." Yikes! That would have freaked me OUT!

Now, the odd thing about this, besides the lyrics of the song that I don't get, is where did he hear that song? He's been with us for a year and he mostly listens to classical music in the morning, I know, I know, we are so un-cool, and when I drive him, we sing "Wheels on the bus go round, and round, so not cool, and we may go over the alphabet, count to 20, and if it's near a holiday, we sing a song related to said holiday. So where did he hear that song and know some of the lyrics???????? This has me stumped.

It was cute that he did know the song, kinda, and I started thinking maybe I should listen to more mainstream tunes instead of.....NPR. Yes, I make this kiddo listen to NPR.

Therefore, he doesn't know a lot of the Top 40 tunes, except for the aforementioned "Royals," which I still don't get, but he does know about the government shut down, sequestration and Syria. Fun, no? Too mature, sure. But, would you rather have a conversation on his thoughts on the Great Recession of '08, or have him belt out, "I'm gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket." Yes, I know that song, I be so hip. But this isn't about me. So, should we listen to NPR or Robin Thicke's and or Marvin Gaye's "Blurred Lines?" YOU be the judge!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM

Gigi and Shakespeare

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." I heard that a lot as a kid. I don't think it was because I was that unthankful --I think it had much more to do with the fact that my mom is a big Anglophile and loved the Bard. (In the 5th grade, I could quote Lady Macbeth.)

In fact, I think many children are very thankful, they just have odd ways of showing us.  When they are little they are here to eat, sleep, drink, and master the ABC's and count to 10.  Being thankful, appreciative and understanding that much is being sacrificed for them is not in their little heads, and nor should it be....though it would be kinda nice for some recognition......but I guess that comes with a small or a random hug or a "I love you" out of the blue. (But, when they are a tad bit thankless, it hurts and it stings.)

Case in point, I could leave work early today, by about 30 minutes, so no worries Douglas County I'm here for ya, but I didn't leave work early...why? Because I was scared to leave early.  If I leave and pick up C Boy early from pre-school, he gets super upset! And, let me tell ya, that hurts! I got him about 30 mins early a few weeks ago and he looked at me and said, "Go away Gigi." Ouch!  Really? Wow! I must have looked stunned as the teacher said something like, "Now, Gigi is here so we need to put away the toys." And he said, AGAIN, "no I don’t' want you here."

OMG!

But, instead of bursting into tears, which I wanted to do, I instead said, "Wow, that hurts my feelings," to which he really didn't have much to say in reply.

I am super glad he likes pre-school, I mean who wouldn't, they feed you, they let you play, and they let you nap, in fact, they are big proponents of napping, which I think is GREAT! (I am pro nap myself.)  So, I'm glad he’s enjoying himself, but man, come on, home aint bad either! WE too are pro nap, and we too feed you!

Now, it will be interesting if he still feels the same way in high school when he is introduced to Algebra or Chemistry or reading Shakespeare himself...."No Gigi, don't take me home, I am working on an algorithm and reading Julius Caesar, so please go away!" Now, that’s a problem I could stand to have!

Oops, gotta go, it's 5:01 and that's just about right, not too early, not too late....

Gigi vs food

I used to be perplexed, amazed, confused and a tad bit smug when it came to children, their food and how they ate.  But now I get it.

Food and kids are just plain weird.  I kinda dread it.  The feeding them part.  It's hard.  Why?  Well, let's see.....it's too cold, it's too hot, it looks like hair (one of my favorites I must say!) that was the pulled pork from the crock pot.  And, C Boy has done that twice, so no pot roast, brisket or pulled anything for him....cause it looks like hair.  mmm hmmm.

Fruit they love.  And most veggies they love, which is strange I know and I should be rejoicing and I am, but it's still weird that they like veggies, so it fits this topic.

The other day we treated ourselves and went to IHOP.  I ordered the crepes cause they aren't too bad and I'm lazy and dont' make at home.  C Boy was very interested and was peering at them, so I asked, "would you like to try a bite?"  He said YES so I put a small piece on my fork and he took it right off,  like a fish with a worm, and he chewed and then he thought about it, and chewed some more and then thought some more and then had a look of sheer horror on his face.  I said. "you don't like?"  And he started to spit them out.  At IHOP.  At the table.  He just kinda let it all slide out.  And, I said noooo but it just kept sliding out.  It wasn't too hot, too cold, or too spicy - they were crepes with berries.  Not sure if it was the texture or the taste, but he was having none of it.

Now, if I had taken a bite back in the old days, and didn't like it, I would have been told to swallow it or at least put it in my napkin...granted, there wasn't much I didn't like, so this was not, I repeat not, a frequent occurrence but you get the point. 

I do have to admit, however, that both boys do eat well.....just not what I would expect them to eat, or what I think of being a complete meal, but as I said above, kids and what they eat is weird.  C Boy doesn't like peanut butter!  Or cheese.  That's odd, right? 

And, there's the playing with the food, broccoli looks like little trees, and they kinda do, so I get that, but what they can do with an Oreo is truly a crime.  Those poor cookies get squished, squeezed, pinched, sucked, twisted, and mauled.  And B Boy, he somehow, gets it all over his face and hands, and pants, and table.  And we're just talking about one cookie.  One small poor little cookie.  Annihilated.  By a two year old.  He looks like he dove into a vat of dirt after he eats one cookie. 

It's tough and now I understand all the tricks and recipes and cookbooks and marketing and specialized food products that are children's food.  'Cause they are weird little eaters.

Gigi vs the Cereal Bowl

Yes, sometimes I think I'm a great Gigi but just because I still think like a kid in so many ways:  "Ohhhhhhh, that would be a great place to hide, or, awwww, good fort building material, or cool look at those straws with built in chocolate milk - how cool is that!"  Thus making me a very cool Gigi...or so I thought.....

I recently came across a cereal bowl with a built in straw to slurp up the left-over milk -  my first thought, genius,  and second, boy oh boy will the 4 1/2 year old LOVE this, I mean love!  What's not to love, a bowl....with a built in straw???  (I don't even like cereal that much, and I wanted to try it.)

And try it out we did this morning, as a special Monday morning treat!  And, as I eagerly waited to hear oohhhs and ahhhhs and you are the greatest Gigi ever, what I heard instead was, "I dont' want this bowl I want the white bowl."  What?  The white bowl, the very plain white bowl, the white bowl with the small blue line that  I've had for a long time, and I must admit does have excellent cereal eating capabilities, but, it doesn't have a BUILT IN STRAW!  So, I said, "Hey, this is green and has a BUILT IN STRAW, HOW COOL IS THAT?"  to only hear once more, "I don't want to eat out of this bowl, I want the white bowl."

After I got over the oddness of C Boy not wanting to use the fun bowl, and wanting to use the boring white bowl, I started to think what should I do here?  (Now unbeknownst to the 4 1/2 year old, the white bowls have been packed as we are in the process of moving, oh yay and fun.)  So, we really did have to use that bowl...well, there was another bowl I could have used, a larger blue bowl, but I had already poured the cereal and milk into the green bowl.....the fun bowl.  It's green.  And, did I mention there's a straw built in????

Ok, enough of the straw as there is a bigger issue at hand, which is, do I transfer the milk and cereal into the big blue bowl or stand my ground???  I decided to stand tall, hold the line, keep it real, and told C Boy that he needed to use the green bowl.  He said no.  I said yes or no cereal.  He said ok......really I thought?  You are always starving in the morning, you eat a ton all day long, and to say no...to the fun bowl??  But no he said.

So, off to the couch he went and I took that green bowl of fun to the desk where I check emails, and sat right there and ate it all up.  I did not sip through the straw as I'm not a huge milk fan...unlike C Boy who loves milk.  Hence the straw.....I am having a hard time letting that go, aren't I?

Anyway, when we went upstairs to get dressed, C Boy immediately went to his PawPaw and told him all about the tragedy of the bowl.  PawPaw, being very smart and enjoying a blissful marriage, told him you dance with the one that brung ya, and eat from the bowl you sat down to.

And, just in case you are thinking of calling 911 and reporting me to the breakfast police, after he got dressed, he did get a graham cracker and a glass of milk....breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all.  But tomorrow is a new day, and it'll be a new day with a built in straw.

Gigi vs Nicki Minaj

Becoming a full time Gigi at the age of 49 was a blessing and also a shock to the old system, and I do mean old system.  Old physically, old emotionally, just good old fashioned old. 

When we first went to pick up the little fellas the adrenalin really kicked in - I mean I thought I could move a mountain, or lift a car off an injured pedestrian, it was awesome, except for the potentially injured pedestrian:)    But, I really loved the no aches and no pains and thought, "I'm cured, how great is this!"  I felt on top of the world!

But, that lasted about a month and a half.  I now know that adrenaline comes and then it goes; adrenaline is a cruel, cruel mistress.

So, now I'm sans adrenaline and back to the creaks, aches and owies that being a 50 year old Gigi presents.  Being an older caregiver will present some challenges and I've been thinking about those lately.  Of course there's the obvious:  I'll be 61 when C' boy gets his drivers license, I'll be 63 when he graduates from high school, go class of  2027!  (OMG 2027?)

School and driving are the obvious things, but there are a few things that aren't so obvious like, we won't be up on all the cool music.  Hard as you try old people just don't know what's in, we just don't, and if you do, you're creepy and that's no good either.  I may think I'm cool, but that's not how that works.

So there's the music thing.  And the old and creaky thing.  I won't be zip lining with them on vacations, though I wouldn't have done that at 30.  I also don't want to let my hair go gray now - I feel overly compelled to be the youngest looking Gigi I can, I may be creaky, and listening to easy rock, but I'll be doing it with Garnier #63, Golden Brown Sugar, I tell ya.

And, I know, I know, all of that doesn't matter, but when you want to limit any and all potential pitfalls for your kidlets, your mind starts a wandering,"will they miss out on certain things?  Like dancing to Nicki Minaj or knowing the cool apps, or getting their hair cut like that Beiber kid?"  But as I review the above, maybe not.  No great loss on the Nicki Minaj thing, or the Beiber hair.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a cute, preppy hair cut and some Gap jeans!  Or so the old Gigi thinks....

Gigi and TV!

TV vs Gigi - who will win???  When the boys first came to live with us, I was amazed that they didn't like TV.  I mean amazed.  I loved TV as a kid and still do and I'm ok with that.  I thought a little TV for them would be ok, as long as it wasn't too much and it was educational, and blah, blah, blah.

But, to my amazement  they would not, I repeat not, watch TV.  And I tried.  And, then...... I felt proud!  "Oh no they dont' watch TV," I told my friends, they just arent' that into it, feeling very smug and proud that I could entertain them without TV.  No TV babysitting for moi.

Then one day, as I was flipping around the TV, 'cause I like TV, we stumbled upon "Bubble Guppies," yes, you read that right, "Bubble Guppies."  I'm not sure what a bubble guppy is, but I gotta admit, they're funny.  They did a Lady Gaga parody last week that was oh my gosh funny.  I'll try and insert the youtube clip in this blog...if I can....hey, that would be kinda un-granny of me, eh?

Anyway, getting back to the TV thing....we stumbled onto the Guppies, and then, wait for it, "Team Umi Zoomi."  I'm not really sure what an Umi Zoomi is, or where they live, Umi City?, but I do know C' Boy loves it and he now knows what a trapezoid is, and many of the other shapes, including a few that we had to look up.  (Not sure what a shape expert can do career wise, but I believe he's well on his way.)

So, since we have now deemed children's TV not to be the work of the devil, Katy bar the door.  We now watch, Princess Sophia, ok, I now watch Princess Sophia, and Paw Patrol, Dino Dan, Lil Bill, and  Dora.  Oh and Diego.  And, maybe an episode of Blues Clues and Cailou.  But that's it.  Really.

Guppies and Gaga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhS-REK-U3U

Lots of WEB MD when you are a Gigi!

Ok, I remember being a kid and being sick, not a lot, but yeah, getting colds and getting tummy aches.  I broke a few bones too, and went to the doc.  But, in the 10 months that I have been a full time Gigi, I have:  been to the ER three times, witnessed four stitches being put in, being taken out, and seen one episode of projectile vomiting that landed right into C's cereal bowl, which I must say, was quite impressive, if not disgusting.

We've had experience with:  RSV (yeah,  to all my non-kid friends, I had to look it up too), Hand, Foot and Mouth virus (I kept calling it Hoof and Mouth disease until I remembered B Boy does not have hooves), mysterious rashes, THE Croup, tummy bugs, and the obligatory running nose.  Oh, yes, there was also a tummy episode that resulted in a blackish, sticky type of vomit that I have never seen before, nor wish to see or smell again, and that was only topped off by a summer time diarrhea episode where I mistakenly gave the infected person a deep blue Popsicle the night before, resulting in a hideous blue liquid diaper that looked like cotton candy, which now you will probably never eat again -- you are welcome.

We had our 3rd ER trip over the weekend,  1:30am, why, oh why does it always take place over the weekend, in the middle of the night????  WHY? 

Turns out it was THE Croup, but, I have to say my first thought was it is THE Whopping Cough as they have done such a great job with THEIR PSA's.   The first thing I thought of was, "Oh God, it's THE Whopping Cough, and we haven't had our booster shots, and will B Boy get it too?  Oh God!!!! (Good job Whooping Cough Ad Council, you were first thing on my mind.)

So, we headed over to our friendly ER.  Which is brand spanking new and quite lovely.  (How did they know I was going to need them now more than ever???)

Doc took one look and said, "Gigi, it is THE Croup."  Don't you have the Internet so you could have looked this up, I'm sure he was thinking.  And yes I do --- that's where I read all about THE Whopping Cough.