Okay....Wait a minute child you aren't supposed to like girls.....

Who would have thought that it wouldn't be the oldest child to start liking girls first.  Not me.  I thought for sure I would be fighting the girls off of him by now.  Nope.  He doesn't give them his phone number unless I know their parents and he isn't interested in dating at all.  (That may have something to do with a small threat by his mother to attend ever date he goes on until he can safely drive himself and his date places.  Oh and the claw will be in attendance as well.)

Tonight we went to our annual ice cream social, not back to school party.  Zach was playing in the water feature with his friends, Adam was playing with his friends, then I spot Corbin.

Corbin is playing with a little girl who looks to be about 2 or 3 years younger than he is.  Not only is he playing with her but they are having a full blown conversation. Then it happens.

They approach her mother and introduce him to her.  Then they come see me. Corbin with his arm around her while he introduces her.

Corbin:  Mom, this is my friend.

Little Girl: I'm Bella.  May I ask your name?

Me:  It's very nice to meet you! (Wow!  Now that's a polite child!)

Then she sticks her hand out to shake mine.

Then they run off holding hands...What in the world!

I don't know if this is cute and awesome that he has a friend or disturbing.  How is it the 9 year old has developed a crush before the 12 year old!  What in the world!

Why do I take them to the movies?

We went to see the new Percy Jackson movie with a group of our friends and my mother.  Towards the end of the movie one of the characters appears to be dead.  From behind me I hear Adam.

"She's dead. Grandmother, she's dead.  I can tell."  This said with total nonchalance, like he sees dead bodies on a daily basis.

My friend leans over and says, "Yeah, he's yours."  Shut up!

Then there is Corbin.  He didn't want to go to the movie and let us know often that he wanted to go home. He spent most of the movie in my friends lap with ear plugs and a blanket wrapped around him.  Tonight he says,

"I want to go see Percy Jackson again!" 

Really?

"Yeah!  It was awesome!"

Sigh, well maybe this time he will actually watch the movie. 

We have come a long way baby.

From the time Zach was 3 almost 4 he has been involved in theater.  Which means that the little boys have grown up in Theater Arts Academy.  The theater has seen all the boys grow and change over the years.  Tonight was another fun show, and for this mom an hour of amazement, relief, and wonder. 

Zach, well Zach did a great job as always. He was a little reluctant to do theater this time, I think the preteen crap has kicked in, but he decided to go ahead and join the cast so he could help Corbin in his first youth cast.  I am so proud to be his mother, and as far as preteens go he is an amazing young man and I am well aware he could be so much worse....He could be me, God bless my mother for enduring me and not dropping me off the Bay Bridge.

Corbin was three months old when he attended his first show.  Over the years we have all endured him screaming in the theater due to his fear of the dark as a toddler and all his other issues that have occurred.  Tonight.  Tonight was the final show of his very first youth cast.  For those who don't know this means he graduated from sitting with me, going on stage singing a song and then coming back to me to sit through the show, to actually being with the main cast and having many lines.  Jennifer and the whole staff at Theater Arts Academy are amazing with their patience and perseverance.   Corbin put on a show tonight.  He danced all the dances and I don't think he missed a line and he was in character the whole time, though I think maybe they made his character just for him.  At the end of the show they gave Corbin a certificate to show he had moved from little ones to youth cast.  My little boy, in front of an entire audience, did a huge fist pump and yelled "YES!" 

Adam.  With his speech delay he has been very reluctant to speak in front of people.  He gets tired of us all saying "What?  What did you say?"  He did such a great job singing his song and following the choreography.  Thanks to my dear friend Kathryn and everyone else who has helped us along the way with his speech he has come a long way. 

All the kids did a great job tonight and I am so grateful to all the teachers, therapists, friends and family that have helped us over the years to get us to this point.

After Dinner Conversation

While cleaning up after dessert tonight I found that Adams chair was covered in angel food cake.

Me:  Wow kid you are messy!

Adam:  Yeah.  So What.  (With the teenager attitude.)

Diego:  Keep talking like that and you are going to learn how clean the floor again.

Me:  Yeah, you and that smart mouth of yours.

Adam:  I don't know why my mouth did that.

At this point we are trying not to laugh so we both turn around and start doing the dishes laughing internally.

Getting Frisked

Watching children play in the backyard at our friends house is so much fun.  From watching the 4-9 year olds trying to tie water balloons, playing with dead fish, and the good old fashioned frisking.  That's right I said frisking (want to know about the dead fish read the prior post Seasoned Mom for details.)

Friend: Aww they are holding hands.  Should we start to worry?

Me:  Naw.  Adam is already spoken for I think we are good.  (giggle) 

Friend:  What is she doing to him now?

Me:  I don't know.  It looks like she is feeling him up or patting him down.

Friend yelling at the kids:  What are you doing?!

Frisker: Looking for something.

Me:  I hope he hasn't stuck the dead fish in his pocket.

Friend:  I don't think so.....Better check later just in case....(kid interrupts her by yelling)

                       Mom!  He squished the fish on the skate board!

Me:  Well that solves the fish problem, again.  But what is she after?

When we got home, our friend followed us, not in a stalker kind of way but to get some peaches from our backyard, we asked Adam.

Me:  Why was she frisking you?

Adam:  She thought I took the 4 year olds survival knife and put it in my pocket.

Me:  Did you?

Adam: (Smiling)  Nope!  He was using it to kill spiders.

Monsters!

The Seasoned Mom

Sitting at my friends kitchen table talking about our up coming school year and all the things we have been doing over the summer.  She was just telling me Sunday they went and caught fish at a near by pond.  The fish were put in a tank in their classroom and seemed to be doing a really good job of staying alive. As we are discussing the fish all the children go to the classroom to investigate said fish and all the wonders that are in the classroom.  Most of them emerge a short time later to go play outside as us moms just hang out and chat.  I say most because one child emerges from a back room much later than the rest with his hand in his pocket. 

Mom to the four year old:  What's in your pocket baby?

4yo:  Nothing.

Mom:  Let me see.

4yo:  Nothing.

Mom:  Did you put a fish in your pocket? (without cracking a smile, or yelling that is not okay.)

4yo:  Pulls his hand sheepishly from his pocket with the dead fish tucked inside his hot little hand.

Mom:  Okay, thanks for showing me.

The 4 year old goes outside.  The next thing we see him do?  Start to get a plastic pocket knife and open the fish up for dissection.  At this point I am on the floor laughing.  It takes a seasoned mom to just let the 4 year old go about their business. 

Me:  So, I hope he doesn't stick it back in his pocket to save for later or you are going to be picking fish guts out of the laundry.

Mom:  Yuck!  I didn't think about that!  Wait look he is adding it to my garden as compost.  I'm good.