No punch reward...

I always feel like I have to explain the whole punch comment to everyone because I don't want them to think I am like hitting the boy or not, they have a punch card at school we are treated like a demerit so the teacher will paper punch their sheet. My wonderful young boy finally go 0, which really is more of an accomplishment for me because I finally signed all of the 100 papers that are sent home for me to go through and sign then return (I don't think I have signed so much in the k - 3 as I have this first month in 4th).

Knowing that he wanted to go to the fair and honestly not going with my family I was really not wanting to go there this year without them, I gave the boy the option of going to Boondocks or to the fair. He excitedly wanted Boondocks.

We went to Costco and got discounted passes and made our way there (I know me at Costco on a Saturday, yikes, but I survived).

It started off really fun, he wanted to do miniature golf first. Of course he got all annoyed because I was beating him so then I had to pull the "oops guess some how I have lost my skills at playing mini golf just so my son is happy today" trick and quickly he started liking the game again.

He got to go to the smaller track to race, he wanted to do the bigger one but he is still about 8 inches too small. While standing in line there were two boys that were being very obnoxious and then they started to beat each other up, I had to step in to break them up because I guess their parents were no where to be found to stop them from fighting. When it was finally their turn to race H was with them, the reason why this story is significant is because H finally passed them after he got on stuck on the course and there was a small part of me that was really rooting him on.
We then went to the arcade, of course, it is like his favorite part of going to places like this is playing whatever he can. The problem with him being an only child and having me as a single parent is I don't necessarily just let him win, I just get to the point where I really don't care to win so I let him win frequently. This is bad, very bad. Why is it bad???? Well because when he does start to lose he gets extremely upset and frustrated and "the game totally cheats" attitude comes out. He was so upset that I almost made us leave at this point but I decided I wanted to drive one of the go carts first so I would give him the chance to chill out before then.

As we get in line for the go carts where I would drive he would ride, if did everything I could to get him to cheer up... guess what it worked. I was rather proud of myself because I don't normally succeed, picture below for proof.
We got to ride and I chicken out of letting step on the gas from the get go but I think we did pretty good of catching up to everyone and we even passed quite a few. He enjoyed every minute of it.


Last time we were at Boondocks my experience on the bumper boats was less than desirable, I was ready to scream at one kid and I actually think I did, but I had the boy convince me to get on this time. He was so ready to take me down.

He was so happy I got so wet, he tried to hide back his smile. I enjoyed it this time, even if I still got soaking wet from other punk kids, including my own this time.

But I think I did pretty good getting him wet too.

And don't forget prizes, he was so happy to get this inflatable hammer and yes it squeaks (oh joy for me)...

And of course the LARGEST smarties I have ever seen, the are like a quarter size around! Seriously freakishly large.

When all is said and done I am proud of my son, it is not easy being my kid but he does a pretty good job most of the time. I love him and am really glad we could spend the day together having so much fun.

Spiderman, spiderman...

I am a geek at heart, I am not good at remembering all the nitty gritty details when it comes to the geekhood but I like it none the less. I am quite proud to say that the boy is taking after me in the geekness and even better yet he does remember the details.

I have worked at my job for 10 years now, there are many new faces that I don't know names to but there are some old ones that I consider friends with. In my many hours at work sometimes to get through the day I find ways to amuse myself and hopefully others. One of those ways is at the end of some of my emails I put a note of "Thanks, from your friendly neighborhood AP girl". One of the guys I work with got a kick out of this and we have joked back and forth about this. He even sends me invoices to enter with some fancy artwork of the Spiderman symbol on it.

Well one day I had one of my girls bring me a package and inside was a Spiderman comic book, seriously made my day, I left it out for all to see and of course had to explain the inside joke. Well I did finally get around to telling my friend thanks for the comic, he said he was cleaning out some stuff at home and wanted to know if I wanted a few more. I gladly accepted to take these off his hands and brought them home to the boy. There are 8 in all, probably not worth anything but they are still great, the boy was so excited for them.

H made a thank you letter that I am to send out to him. It reads like below...

"Dear Mr. Q,

Thanks for the Spiderman comics I read the web of Spiderman spider-armor. I love Spiderman. Your the coolest. Too bad that I haven't met you in face.

Sincerely,

HIG"

He even drew a picture of Spiderman's face and on the back a picture of Venom's face with a screaming victim.

Fun Friday, okay so it's Monday...

This year in school they get to have Fun Friday's, as long as they don't have more than 4 punches (demerits) and they are caught up on their school work. This includes any number of things, last Friday they were supposed to walk to the CommonCents store to get Icees. Well not enough parents had volunteered to help out but it was also quite cold so Mrs. G ended up postponing it until Monday. I had planned on showing up on Friday but had completely forgotten so I made the effort to make sure I was there today because really come on this is totally cool in kid land.

I love to help out with his classes when I can, I don't get to do as much as I want because I have some serious deadlines at work but when I can make it work out I try as much as I can because when I show up to class for him H treats me completely different and even though I know he loves me I know he really shows it while I am there to help out. I am not sure if it is boasting that he has a parent to come in to help or what but it makes me a proud mother on one cute and adoring little boy when I am there.

When I showed up I was talking to the teacher and she had made mention that CommonsCents were not going to donate the Icees this year but she had gone in and begged them to reconsider, so an extra special thanks to Mrs. G and to CommonCents for making this happen especially with many companies making many cutbacks for such things. The kids LOVED this, they had so much fun.

The three boys in the middle are the terrible three as I call them now. Garrett, Hunter and Travis. Garrett has been friends with Hunter for years now, they have gone to the same day care and school since before kindergarten. Travis is a new friend of Hunter's who has just moved into our complex, he is a pretty good kid. Hunter makes friends so easy and many of them call him his best friend, but between Travis and Garrett I totally am sensing some strong competition for Hunter's attention, but he does a good job of mellowing them out in the end so it makes me proud of him.

Shopping with mom...

H for the most part is really good at shopping, there are a few things that happen that can get on my nerves though but as long as we are in a hurry we don't normally encounter problems like this.

First, avoid the toilet paper/paper towel aisles or you will need to check behind every one to find him.



Of course sometimes his "hiding" is not as good as he would like to think, but most parents know how that goes.




Second, avoid going towards the pillow sections, he will literally sit there until you go to find him and then he can't even get out by himself, you have to help him up.


And last but not least, avoid shoe shopping unless you want him wearing the booty socks the whole time, but really who can a void such a cute boy?

Remembering heroes and other things...

I know, how cliche but I remember talking to H about 9/11 a few months ago, this date is significant to America now and I usually don't hide things when it comes to my son, he asks and I may not explain all the gory or unfortunate details but he does get the truth.

9/11 happened in the same year he was born, he was just 8 months old and I was riding the bus on the way to work. On the back seat I had a walkman, not an iPod, and I was listening to my radio station I normally do on the way to work. I couldn't believe a word I was hearing, I cried the whole way, not much work got done in our office that day.

I have not been one that has wanted to have a family for a number of different reasons, listening to everything happening only reminded me why I didn't want to have children because it is hard for me to even think today on how we can live in a world with such tragedy, but I have learned to find the good in things, I struggle still with this but usually the best moments with my son help to remember what is right in the world.

There are many different heroes, some step up in the heat of the moment and others are heroes by choice. We just want to offer a wonderful thanks to any and all heroes but most importantly we want to make sure that any heroes that have fallen in duty your bravery is forever rewarded in our hearts.

Genius vs. dummy...

Okay, so the boy is old enough now that I give him chores.

Usually most of the chores are the ones that I had when I was younger growing up and hate to do even to this day. One of these chores is helping me to load the dishwasher, he is in charge of the silverware. No way he could screw this up and it was always the most tedious part of the dishes that I hated.

Now what urks me the most is I have done this for years and years but I never thought of what he has decided to do. When he puts the silverware in the dishwasher he sorts them out in the basket.

Why oh why have I never thought of this growing up and even in my adulthood? So a chore that took me 3 times as long as him now only takes him a matter of a minute at most to grab the clean silverware out of the basket and put them into the drawer. I tell you I don't know if I like my son being smarter than myself.

How fair is this that he has taken just moments to figure this out and I never have? I forget that he does this so when I have him do his chores before he can play and it takes such a short amount of time I just get more annoyed with myself.

Really...

The comment really is just for me, really has it been that long since I have blogged, I feel so bad.

School has started, my little one is now in 4th grade. He loves it, I don't know how we are going to pass because homework means serious business in this class. Wow, he has had so many punches (aka demerits) because we have not signed something or turned it in on time. I guess we will only learn as we go.

My favorite thing overheard at the first day of school after the teacher described Fun Friday's and what fun things they usually do "This is going to be the best year ever!", more power to you teach for getting them to say that.

My other favorite thing so far is a homework assignment that H had, a questionnaire about his name, it goes like this...

Why did your parents choose your name?
It was the only name they could agree on. (this is a very true statement)

If you were named after someone, who was it?
Isaac is my dad's Jewish name. (again true)

What nicknames do you have, and how did you get them?
Hunt from Garrett. (I have never heard him call this and part of the reason why I agreed to Hunter was because you couldn't shorten it)

Do you like your name? Why or why not?
Yes cause it's a good name. (glad he likes his name)

If you could choose another name, would you, and what would it be?
If I got tired of Hunter it would be Officer. (is this because you could choose it as a profession? I love the way his little mind works)