My Quirky Family

When he comes home from school, no matter the temperature outside or in the house, Trevor may take his shirt off or run up to his room right away to change into shorts and tank top. Because he's hot. I was holding him last night, and he asked twice to take his shirt off and we told him no, it was too cold. So, he asked me to take my sock off so that he could put his hot foot on my cold foot. That helped for a minute, but then his dad suggested he go get a short sleeved shirt on. He ran upstairs and came down in a pair of shorts, no top. "I can't find a shirt I like," he says. He's a clothes horse of the highest order. We suggested a couple of places he could look, and he went back upstairs on his mission. When he came down, he had found a shirt, a tanktop, and was wearing different shorts that matched the tanktop he found. And, he was happy! Happy to be matching. Happy to be wearing a tank top.

This clothes horse... I took him clothes shopping at a store that sells second hand clothes. I can't remember the name of this one, but it's a lot like Once Upon a Child. I love these places. The one I went to is less like a thrift store and more like a boutique. They have clothes, toys, strollers, and some maternity clothes. It's all clean and all pretty good quality. And, I got him and Devin several pieces of clothing. And, the reason I took Trevor was because I recognized his budding clothes horse status. Unfortunately, there was a kid his age in the story and a bunch of toys, so I ended up picking out the clothes and asking him to approve or not. He approved all of it. He wears virtually none of it. I didn't get any tank tops. I think that's why his new stuff hangs unworn in the closet.

His other quirk has to do with wasting electricity. He sleeps with a fan on his face. Mr. Hottie Hot Hot sleeps with 2 to 3 blankets to stay warm enough with that fan in his face, he builds a little barrier of blankets to keep the cool breeze off of him. But, he tells me he likes the breeze and not the noise. And, then there's the light. Not a night light, but a lamp. It must be on. He wakes up at night if we turn off the fan and/or the light. And, then he screams, the terror in his voice obvious. So, we run upstairs to comfort him, usually take him to the bathroom, and then turn on his light and fan. When a calmer Trevor wakes in the morning, he politely asks us to stop turning off his light and fan after he falls asleep. Personally, I've decided I'm not picking this battle. I would prefer he stop picking his nose. The light and fan can stay. Computer Guy wants the fan to go. We're at an impasse, I think. The fan should go. Trevor gets bloody noses at night, and I'm sure the dry wind blowing around his face is a contributing factor.

That's my little man, quirks and all. His little quirks make me happy.

Devin's not quirky. He just does everything his brother does. Our new house has light switches, right? But, no lights. I'm supposed to plug lamps in everywhere, and each room has like one switched outlet. I do really wonder about rooms with light switches and no lights. Well, we finally got a lamp for Devin's room last week. And, of course, he wants it on almost every night so that he can be more like Trevor. Plus, his door should be open. And, he needs me to read at least two books, and then, he needs those books to stay in his bed. The other morning, he came to my bed about 6 in the morning. Both my boys will bring their sleeping friends, normally that just means stuffed animals, with them when they want in bed with us. Devin brought two stuffed animals and two books from his bed the other morning.

Potty training...Well, I didn't even try before he was three. Every now and then, we'd offer him the potty. Nothing consistent. I planned on just getting him potty trained when he was three. I even got him 6 pairs of underwear for his birthday. Forget about it. He has no interest at all in the potty. He resists the potty with words and tears. He ignores bribes of the biggest toy ever and candy for breakfast. When I ask when he will be potty trained, he tells me, "in a few minutes." In a few minutes, indeed.

Our new house has a pretty open floor plan. The kitchen is a lot like an eat-in kitchen, and the dining area faces the living room where the TV hangs over the mantle. Yeah. We watch TV during dinner sometimes. Not always, but yes, sometimes. So, no food in the living room is actually an easy rule for me to enforce and indeed follow myself, for the most part. There's no reason to take snacks into the living room since you can sit at the table and still watch TV. It's the American Way. Devin won't follow this rule. He'll break this rule when the TV isn't on. He will break this rule even as Trevor eats his snack at the kitchen table. I guess it's his expression of individuality.

While on the topics of snacks, Devin calls them 'nacks. "I want a 'nack." Lately, he wants all his 'nacks to include marshebbows. This morning, he wanted marshebbows for breakfast, but the computer guy said "no way" to that request. (Marshebbows? Marshebbows? Marshmallows.)

Despite his total lack of interest in proper toilet habits, he's anti-diaper changing. He had a blow-out at school the other day. His teacher had to undress him because it was so bad. He told her, "Not my shoes! Not my shoes!" Oh, the humanity, the indignity! Another day, his teacher gave him the choice of walking upstairs to get his wet diaper changed or not going to recess. "Well, I'm not going to recess, then!" was his response. He didn't want to walk up the stairs, he wanted to be carried. When all his friends went outside to play, he agreed to walk up the stairs to get changed. "I'll walk! I'll walk!" Even at home, he seems reluctant to get his wet diaper changed, telling us, "I'm not Poopy!" when we try to change his diaper that dragging between his knees because it's so filled with the pee-pee.

I guess every kid has his quirk. These are my kids' quirks.