5 year old brushes his teeth

Found that my 5 year old brushes his teeth best with a sand dial at hand ~ far be it from them to figure time at that age... afterwards, the best way to floss their teeth, is when they're laying in bed .... less work I feel -- course they'll need to get back up and do a mouth rinse before hitting the sack.... Joys of parenthood, be prepared... be VERY prepared.

ooooh ...

Tessa said "----oooooh, Jackie said happiness without the HA"

Jack, now upset, frowns. Tessa counters by saying -- "stop it, Jack -- you're such a bad actor!" At this point, Jack yells, "I don't want to be an actor!"

Hump

Inadvertantly had the computer speakers cranked up on max, startling my 5 year old off the couch with his Leapster. Immediately Jack yells ''"Dad, you made me hump!" I know, I know, he's still developing his vocabulary.

Once was hair

After drying the kids up at swimming practice, I tried to comb Jack's hair at the YMCA locker. I paused and made a motion as if combing my own head. Tessa catching this, asked me why I did ... I explained to her, " it's been awhile since daddy's had hair, honey, that's all."

Jack on being pregnant

Jack asked if men can give birth to babies. I said nope. He asked if there was EVER a case of ANY man ever having one ... Asking him why, he countered that if he couldn't give birth to one... and if a girl didn't like him (gasp), he wouldn't be able to have a family ...and be ALL alone. Kid just turned 5 last month. Hey don't look at me, I told him it's all good, not to worry and to finish his churros first.

Montessori

Montessori, a great school... Jack is attending and loving every minute. His teacher, Ms. Camilla Nichols is a joy. They recently held an event on Oct. 13th at the Short Hills Campus in which they invited Dr. Michele Borba to give a slide lecture on "Raising Socially Resonsible Kids."

My notes to follow

Pumpkin Fest

Had a pumpkin fest with my family last night. We picked up a few at the Terhune Orchards in Princeton.

Tessa, Jack and Sonia drew their pumkin faces. I followed up by carving the big one.

The process:
When carving, take an orange marker & outline the facial feautures... do the lid 1st... then gut it... then eyes /nose + finally the mouth in that order -- otherwise that leaves the process in precarious position (top face may topple!)

Using the petroleum jelly we had left and wiping it to the exposed inside face will help prolong the life, slowing down decay (pumpkin wants to stay moist)!

Nap time

On my way home with Jack, I told him to take a nap. He said it was, "No fun. You just lay down.... it's boring." I told him he needed it in order to grow. He said "If you eat alot you can grow." I insisted that he needs more than that to grow... That he needed to "Eat, sleep, play sports and study. Four important things."

He countered -- "No it's not! There's a fifth!" A fifth? I thought, and asked him... "What's the fifth?"

He said, "I don't know -- He made you first!" Who's He? He yelled, "Jesus!"... You're right I told him. So placed upon me... I thought the 5th thing. I told him was...love. The rest of the car ride he was quiet.

This is a test, of course.

This is a test, of course.