Anyway, let's get to it. Ethan Robert made his Grandma Brett very proud a couple weeks back. He used the middle finger at school. To be honest, I'm a pretty big proponent of the finger myself. I figure if I don't give my monitor at work the finger throughout the day it is a success. I resort to it so fast I don't even realize I do it before it's already out... it's quick, easy and gets the point across. That being said, my mom makes me look like an amateur. She's a 5th degree black belt in the art of giving the finger. HOWEVER, this incident cannot be blamed on either my mom or me. I'm not sure where Ethan picked it up, but it wasn't us. I'm guessing one of the kids at school learned it any they all thought it was funny. Right up until they had to go in the office and talk to the director. Things tend to get less fun in a hurry when authorities like teachers or neighbors in their tighty-whiteys show up/chase you.
On top of learning the art of the middle finger, Ethan is also learning the art of ending conversations. Two weeks ago Ellen picked him up from school and brought him to the park. While in the car Ethan started asking questions about Ellen's bike rack. At one point Ellen was in the middle of an answer when Ethan interrupted her and told her something along the lines of 'I don't care anymore'... I'm not sure if her answer was too wordy, wasn't giving him the information he was looking for or if Ethan just lacks tact. But, either way from now on you should all be aware that while you're answering his questions he's silently judging you and will give you instant feedback on what he thinks of your answer. Which is ironic considering somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of Ethan's questions don't even merit a response.
Last week, I took Ethan to the library to help me pick out some books and get a couple books for him as well. He's taken quite a few field trips to the library at school, but I haven't taken him to the library myself in a couple years. So, this trip was a lot of fun. He was quite insistent on being a part of my decision making progress. He pointed at a lot of books, and I ignored him a lot. I have a method to picking out books and he was cramping my style. After I made my decisions we went to the kids area and he had a blast picking out books. He'd grab a few, come back to the table and page through them to see if he wanted to bring them home. I'm not sure what he was looking for in the books, but he took several back before he was satisfied with his choices. Reading has always been something I've enjoyed, so it was fun to see his excitement. I'm hoping this is something we can make into a regular occurrence.
Last Thursday, I had a long, unpleasant day at work. And, after getting home with Ethan he was incessant with asking about playing and wrestling and any time I left the room he was chasing me down. Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoy the time with him. I look forward to it. But, on those rare nights when the day has sucked and you're just ready for it to be over you kind of just want some peace and quiet. Maybe, spend the night on the couch watching bizarre cartoons. I feel bad about those nights, but some times I just can't help it. After about the 27th time Ethan asked what I wanted to do I responded, 'I don't know, pal... why don't you decided?' when really I was thinking 'I just want you to crawl out of my ass for 10 seconds'. Great parenting, eh? I'm always torn on days like that because like I said I usually look forward to the play time. I hope I'm not the only parent who has felt like that... I don't think I am. But, who knows..? Just something I think about when I'm having one of those days.
One quick story... many times in the past when I was amusing myself by bugging my mom it would often in end with something unfortunate happening to me such as hitting my funny bone, or something random like that... at which point my mom would inform me that 'that was god punishing you for being a jerk.' I always found that entertaining... So, last week Ethan was doing the same thing. Trying to be funny by sticking his feet in my face. At one point he got a little overzealous and kicked the coffee table at which point I told him that was god punishing him. Ethan's eyes got kind of big and he looked a little unsure of what to think at that point. I quickly told him I was joking. Ethan is learning about god at church so I'm guessing me telling him that god was punishing him was a little out of his league for humor. I'm thinking maybe that 'joke' should wait until he's older... :)
I think that's it for now. Soccer starts this week and baseball starts next week. Should be a busy couple of months as the weather continues to get nicer.
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