Thomas is for Babies!!

For the last few years Magician has absolutely IDOLIZED Thomas the Tank Engine - he has the trains, the tracks, the shirts, the sneakers, the pajamas, the games, the toys, etc. etc. etc. etc. Well it seems that SuperGerky has convinced him that Thomas is for babies. Since Gish is no longer a "baby" he may not like Thomas anymore. If you ask him, he will still say no, Thomas is for babies and I like Lego Star Wars (although he has no idea what lego star wars really is). I was a bit worried about it for a while (think of all the crap I would have to get rid of and start all over again!), but it seems that Gish is still a closet Thomas fan. He still begs to wear the stuff and play the games and watch the shows, etc. In fact last night he asked me if he could play his Thomas computer game but since it was pretty late and close to bedtime I told him he would have to wait until tomorrow. He threw the typical 3 year old tantrum and then after about 30 seconds was completely distracted by the moon (or so I thought). He started to tell me a story.

The story went like this:

Mommy, the moon is following us (we were in the car). I am going to jump up and sit on the moon. But I can't reach the moon. I will have to wear my jumpy shoes and jump as high as I can to touch the moon. But I still can't reach it. I am going to get my magic motorcycle and ride that over and it will throw me up to the moon and then I will be able to catch it. When I catch the moon I am going to grab it and pull it down to my motorcycle. Then I am going to take the moon and ride it on my motorcycle to the train tracks. I will throw the moon behind the trains and it will get in the way of the trains. Then I will get the sun. I will take the sun on my magic motorcycle and throw it up to the sky. Then the sky will turn blue. Then it will be daytime. And then (wait for it, wait for it......)

And then I will be able to play my Thomas game.

Recess and Lunch

Today was the first day of first grade for Supergerky. I asked him how it was - "good." I asked him what he did - "I don't remember." I asked if he remembered anything he did today - "lunch and recess." And so it begins. There are about 6 kids from last year in his class again this year, but not his closest friends, which is just fine with me. It will be good for him to meet some new kids. I think he likes the teacher and he didn't seem at all anxious so I guess all is well. I suppose I will know more as the year progresses. He will have to learn to eat a little faster because shockingly he had enough time to eat his pasta, but not enough time to eat his green beans. He ate his fruit at snacktime even though I coached him about a dozen times before he left that his snack was in his backpack and not in his lunchbox. Ah well.

Magician... here is my latest Magician exchange (from only moments ago).

Me: Gish, finish your pasta and your carrots.

Gish: Mommy, I don't want to eat anymore pasta. Can I just eat my carrots and be done?

Me: (noticing most of the pasta still on his plate) I would like you to eat just a little more. 5 more bites and you can be done.

Gish: No. I don't want to.

Me: 5 more bites.

Gish: 4 more (negotiating already! I thought that didn't happen until at least 4!)

Me: 6.

Gish: 7.

Me: Deal.

We counted out his 7 pastas and happily ate them all thinking he won the battle. 8)

That Kid

I'll tell ya, if that kid wasn't so darn cute......

Magician, at the tender age of 3.5, has perfected the art of pushing his brother's buttons. This was this morning's exchange:

The boys were watching some movie and in said movie there was a bike race. Apparently Magician identified with the protagonist of the movie (ok, so they were watching The Goofy Movie, perhaps protagonist is overstating it somewhat). After a particularly exiciting bike race, Magician throws his hands up in the air and proclaims, "I WIN!" Supergerky, competitive to a fault, responds, "It's a movie, no one wins." Well, Gish was insistent that he won and that SG lost. After a prolonged battle of "No you didn't", "Yes I did" (repeat until you feel like your head is going to explode), SG comes to find me so exasperated he has tears in his eyes to tell me of how WRONG Magician is and he keeps saying..... I spent a few minutes calming him down and making him see that it didn't make a dfference what Gish said, that SG knew the truth and that's all there was to it. Why not just let him think that he won. "Because it's NOT FAIR! How come HE gets to win and I have to LOSE!" Clearly this was going nowhere quickly. So I tried a different tactic. I ask SG, "so tell me, what does he get if he wins?" After thinking about it for a second he answers, "nothing. He gets nothing." Right. So what's the big deal? SG processes this bit of information, seems ok with it and runs off to tell his brother, "so what if you win, you don't get anything if you win."

Gish answers, "Yes, I do. (pause) I get a trophy!"

SG in a frustrated huff, "MOMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

What am I gonna do with that kid??