Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Centered

For some reason, both boys were on my lap the other day, each on one leg. This was painful. So, I told them if they wanted to stay on my lap, they had to stay centered.

Trevor brought his hands together like a steeple over the center of his chest, took a deep breath, and bowed his head.

Centered.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Crash!

I just heard a little crash, and then Trevor said, "OOOWWWW!"

I asked, "what happened?"

He said, "Devin didn't do it. I can tell you that."

He's so used to blaming his brother for everything, he had to clear the air first thing!

Monday, September 14, 2009

The computer is haunted

Trev likes to play video games on his computer, his little haunted computer.

After he left for school one day a couple of weeks ago, I kept hearing the sound of children laughing. I went to the deck and listened intently. I went to the front yard, walked all around, listening intently all the while. I couldn't locate the source of the sound. And, there is nothing more haunting than the sound of children laughing when you can't locate the source.

Finally, I opened Trev's laptop and found the sound. The compupter I thought was off was in fact, on. And laughing at me.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Special Agent Oso

If you've ever watched Playhouse Disney, you know that the shows all adhere to a formula, never varying from that formula. They may tweak their formula from season to season, but they stick to the formula.

Handy Manny always gets a call, and on the way to his call, he attempts to help his bumbling neighbor who always turns him down. On the call, the tools always argue a bit, but they ultimately solve the problem, then sing a song and "fix it right." On Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Toodles brings 2 known tools and 1 mystery mouskatool to solve whatever problem they have. And, on Special Agent Oso, Oso is always dispatched to help a little kid solve a problem, and there is always a deadline, and Oso and the kid always solve the problem mere nano-seconds before the deadline expires.

Trevor is now on the lookout for that rare episode of Special Agent Oso where Oso doesn't solve the problem. I do hate to disillusion him and tell him about the formulaic nature of Playhouse Disney and, really, all the shows we love. But, I think I had better. He's pretty serious about wanting to see Oso fail.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Obama Speaks

Well, I like Barack Obama. But, I haven't been paying attention since he took office. I got what I wanted, then got lazy.

I would have stayed lazy, too, except all this drama (DRAMA!) over health care, and even more drama (DRAMA!) over a presidential speech to school children.

And, to that last bit, let me just say, Trevor listened the speech, and he is totally indoctrinated now and committed to universal health care.

And, by that I mean, he plans on washing his hands frequently to help prevent the spread of swine (aka H1n1) flu. He also plans on staying in school and acting like he cares EVEN WHEN HE'S IN HIGH SCHOOL!

My ball, My ball!

Devin started soccer last night. Now, I'm no soccer mom, but I think he's pretty good at dribbling the ball. And, since he's never played soccer, I think that means he's pretty good at soccer all together. Time will tell, but I think he's got a bright future in soccer.

They did a little scrimmage to assess where the kids were at.

When Devin got the ball, he started kicking it towards his goal (his goal, not the other team's goal...see? A bright future!). The whole time, he was saying, "My ball! My ball!"

And, I thought to myself, "I like that strategy. It's a little transparent, but definitely straightforward."

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

So, I said to Devin...

"Devin, do you have to go potty?"

He was holding himself like he does when he has to go potty or when he's bored. I never can tell the difference.

He didn't have to go potty. But, I mentioned to him it would be bad if he wet his pants.

"Like you?" he asked.

"I don't wet my pants," I assured him.

"You did at Disney World."

And, it's true. I did. It had rained, and I walked into a store with a marble floor in my traction-less shoes, fell down, and wet my pants. After 38 years and 2 kids, I'm entitled to wet my pants every time I attempt to crack my skull.

But, I probably shouldn't mention any future accidents to Devin.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Roth Family Mojo

We have a little mojo.

2 to be exact.

The first mojo was handed down to me from an old friend. I call it the Crane Game Mojo. We sometimes win at crane games, and I credit it all to the mojo.

I hesitate to to tell you the secret here. I've found that sharing the crane game mojo reduces its power. But, maybe it's time.

The first part of the the mojo is finding a crane game with toys its willing to give up. The crane game has its own mojo where it packs the toys in really tightly. But, wily crane game players, and those not so wily, eventually will work a toy or two loose.

The second thing you have to do to activate the crane game mojo is to position the crane over the heaviest part of the toy. Sometimes it's the head, but other times, it's the bottom. To best position the crane over the toy, look on all available sides of the machine.

The last part of the mojo is luck. The claw only closes well enough to win 1 out of 10 times or something like that.

Now, you have the mojo.

I gave the mojo to John about 10 years ago. We knew he had the mojo when he won three toys in one shot. I had lost the mojo by sharing it with John, and I thought it was gone forever. But, I've recently gotten in back, and I won two toys by myself in the last 3 or 4 weeks. Yesterday, John and I worked together and won a big toy on a big crane game. We rocked the mojo well enough that I think it's OK to share.

Our other mojo, and I love this mojo, is the ability to beat the crowd. We don't always beat the crowd, but we do more often than we don't. Some might think it's just showing up before the crowd arrives, avoiding the crowd, or a figment of my imagination. And, maybe it is all that. And, maybe it's cheating. I think I may have innocently line jumped and beat the crowd recently. Oops! I didn't mean-ta! Either way, it's a mojo and a family story that I completely treasure and/or dig.