Random... good smile though.
After weeks of hearing about Ethan's timeouts at school and getting frustrated with the lack of results after talks of how we expect better and how he knows better we finally have 4 straight days of no timeouts! Turns out, all it took was a promise of day with an overgrown rodent and lots of videos games. On a whim, last week I told Ethan if he could go 4 days without getting a timeout I would take him to Chuck E. Cheese. Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know it's bribery. But, I don't care... it got me results. Those who think bribery doesn't work have obviously never tried it. The bigger question of whether or not this blows up in my face remains to be seen. But, at this point I'll take the 4 days and be happy. Each day Ethan has been very excited to tell me that he didn't get any timeouts. So, I think it is something he is at least consciously thinking about throughout the day. That, or he's figured out the art of lying and decided he can have teh best of both worlds. I'm going to be the optimist in this and just assume he was behaved and is telling the truth. So, this Saturday he will get his reward. I just hope the rest of this week is timeout free now that he has his day with Chuck secured.
This past weekend Ethan and I played with the new legos he got from Santa. Santa brought legos last year as well... but, it turns out Santa didn't pay attention to the package and ended up buying Ethan a set that requires an engineering degree to actually get anything built. This year it was back to the basics and Ethan seemed to enjoy it a lot more. We even got out the direction book and Ethan built a helicopter all on his own. I had to point out a couple smaller errors, but other than that he did it all himself. We also built a semi truck together... and once again I found myself having to bite my tongue with some of Ethan's lego placements. After all, they are his toy and not mine. It just pains me to see things out of symmetry/balance. Funny story from that time... while we were playing on the floor dog fur kept getting stuck in the pieces. At one point I said, 'geez harvey... you're everywhere.' Ethan looked at me and said....' that damn dog.'
That one is on you, papa brett! Last trip to Minnesota Harvey was in his usual place under foot and dad muttered 'get out of the way, you damn dog.' Ethan was all over that... 'papa, what's a damn dog? why'd you call him a damn dog?' He hadn't used it until this past weekend though. On the bright side, at least he got the usage right. Being the responsible parent I am I had the 'we don't say that word' conversation. We'll see if it sticks...
Ethan and his helicopter
Last week I took Ethan to his second Des Moines Buccaneers hockey game. He was very excited about going and watching the game, but I think once again the zambonis were the big hit. We got there early so Ethan could see them resurface before the game started so he'd be able to see the zambonis a total of 3 times instead of 2. He did a pretty good job of following the game. He would get restless at times, but that's to be expected with an almost 5 year old watching a game that moves fast and probably doesn't make any sense to him. It was a great game... the Bucs fell behind 6-1 before starting two fights and storming back and tying the game 6-6 after two periods. And, that was about the point Ethan lost interest in the game. Sarah volunteered to walk around with him some so I could watch the beginning of the 3rd period, but we did not make it to the final horn. After the game, I asked Ethan if he still wanted to play hockey. He told me he didn't because he didn't want to have to fight. I quickly flashed back to the times when I got all excited and said 'Ethan! Look, a fight!' Apparently, two almost grown men attempting to cave each other's face in with their fists isn't something that really draws a 5 year old to the game. But, Ethan and I have spent many a morning on my favorite site www.hockeyfights.com reviewing the previous night's bouts and he always seemed to enjoy it. Maybe seeing it in real life was a little overwhelming. Anyway... using my quick thinking skills I explained to him that only 'naughty kids' fight and that he won't ever have to. I pointed out to him that the kids who got in the fight had to leave and couldn't play anymore. MUCH to my relief, after my explanation his fears seemed assuaged and once again expressed interest in playing. I don't know if I could have lived with myself if I had been the one who caused Ethan to abandon hockey....
The last month or so Ethan has been able to see quite a few movies. I believe we've seen Happy Feet 2, Arthur Christmas, the latest Chipmunks, and he also saw the Muppets with Kari. Out of the 3 movies I saw, the only one I didn't want to cut my wrists 15 minutes into was Arthur Christmas. And, I think that was just because I really enjoy Christmas movies. Happy Feet 2 was horrible. And, another not so subtle attempt to brainwash children into worrying about global warming. The Chipmunks... my god... I don't think there was a single redeeming quality to that movie. I didn't even bother with the Muppets... because the puppets creep me out and Miss Piggy is hands down the most obnoxious character in children's TV/movies. And yes, I'm putting her ahead of Diego, Dora, Max and Ruby. I hate her. Unless she is a pile of bacon on my breakfast plate I will die happy never seeing her again.
Finally, so this doesn't end on one of my awesome rants, I wanted to leave you with one of my favorite sights. Every night before I go to bed I tell Ethan good night even though he's already asleep. I like going in and looking at him and seeing him look so peaceful. So, I took this the another night when I went in.
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