"Noah, please come inside...Noah, it's time to go in the house...Noah, let's go!...(no reaction)...That's it. No books before bed." Noah immediately pleads as if his life depends on it, "I can listen! I can listen to you!"
Mary and I don't know how to respond except "Really? Why don't you then?"
Noah's response has become so automatic that he says it every time he gets in trouble no matter what actually brought on the condemnation. He acts as if the universe is conspiring against him and swallowing his freedom. Although this is his last ditch effort to evade punishment, his proclamation ironically reiterates our frustration and cements his guilt. In our heads, Mary and I finish his statement for him, "I can listen to you...but I choose not to."
As long as he refuses to listen, we'll be listening to his refuse.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Never Ending MonStory
The most common phrase in our house these days: "Daddy, can you tell me about a monster?"
Almost any story will do. This would probably work for Noah: "One day AriMonster went for a walk to...THE TARGET STORE! She went inside and found...TOYS! She tried to take a race car off the shelf but all of the toys fell and trapped her...TargetMonster saw the accident and called for help...who came to help? NOAHMONSTER! NoahMonster ran through the aisle with his magic broom and swept all of the toys away - flying and crashing off the shelves...then NoahMonster picked AriMonster up and took her to...CHUCKECHEESE! They went in and played SKIBALL!...but the game was broken...so they called MOMMYMONSTER! for help. She brought her toolbox and NoahMonster was her assistant and they fixed the game. Then they scored 1,000 points and won a prize...a FLASHLIGHT! They took the flashlight home and the house was dark because the power was out...they used the flashlight to look in the freezer and they saw...ICECREAM! It was melting without power so NoahMonster, AriMonster, and MommyMonster ate the whole carton of ice cream...then they all took a long nap."
If you think your journey is over and your story has finished - you haven't been around here often...
The second most common phrase in our house these days: "Daddy, can you tell me about another monster?"
Almost any story will do. This would probably work for Noah: "One day AriMonster went for a walk to...THE TARGET STORE! She went inside and found...TOYS! She tried to take a race car off the shelf but all of the toys fell and trapped her...TargetMonster saw the accident and called for help...who came to help? NOAHMONSTER! NoahMonster ran through the aisle with his magic broom and swept all of the toys away - flying and crashing off the shelves...then NoahMonster picked AriMonster up and took her to...CHUCKECHEESE! They went in and played SKIBALL!...but the game was broken...so they called MOMMYMONSTER! for help. She brought her toolbox and NoahMonster was her assistant and they fixed the game. Then they scored 1,000 points and won a prize...a FLASHLIGHT! They took the flashlight home and the house was dark because the power was out...they used the flashlight to look in the freezer and they saw...ICECREAM! It was melting without power so NoahMonster, AriMonster, and MommyMonster ate the whole carton of ice cream...then they all took a long nap."
If you think your journey is over and your story has finished - you haven't been around here often...
The second most common phrase in our house these days: "Daddy, can you tell me about another monster?"
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