More pancakes?

The kids are having pancakes for lunch today (because we had extras from dinner last night).

I walked up to Joseph near the end of his first pancake and asked, "Do you need more pancakes?"

"Not yet," he answered. So I stood for 10 seconds longer and watched as he forked the last piece into his mouth. He looked up at me and said, "Now I do."

Such precision.

Stray Elbows

Ahh...summer is here. And so are the squabbles. My two most active players on the fighting fields are Daniel and Leah. "In one corner..." It's like the characters in stories that you love to HATE. It seems to be much more enjoyable for them to be in a fight, than to cooperatively play with each other.

For the 2nd time this year, I've resorted to the SERVICE punishment. A ways back, Daniel was having a hard time showing kindness to Rebekah and was given the assignment to serve her for the rest of the day. (If he failed in that assignment, it was extended another day until he had it figured out.) The rest of that day was so much nicer and I think Rebekah felt a new sense of "special" from the treatment (in an innocent way). The next day she asked if Daniel still had to serve her! I think it did a lot to restore her bad feelings from the mistreatment she'd received before.

This afternoon Daniel and Leah get to serve each other. I very calmly talked through what the issues were (which was like "pulling teeth") with both of them and decided they needed a good dose of service. If they can't pull it off, we'll continue it tomorrow. Of course, I made sure to explain that this was not servantude! When I thought I had understanding and unwilling acceptance, I sent them back down to play.

At that moment, Daniel brushes by Leah and gives her an elbow shove. So he gets another 45 seconds of "guidance." Then I explained what a referee is to Nathan (we are not a sports-oriented family) and told him he is the referee. If there are complaints from the two probationers, I will be finding him for an objective report. And now I hope to catch a quick nap. (Crossing my fingers that the phone doesn't ring.)

Along the lines of serving, I have a grumble about "other people's children." We have been going to the school for their free summer lunch program. Today is RAINING. I was bringing Sarah in with me under one arm (picture a football), pushing the stroller with the other and coaxing Joseph closer to the doors and out of the rain. (His older siblings left him behind when they went in! Stinkers! Daniel got an earful for that!) Anyway, there is a girl about Daniel's age or possibly older at the door as I lift the stroller up the two steps. As I approach the door, she walks in and the door closes in my face. WHAT??!!?? Has this child never been taught to hold the door? RUDE, rude, rude. Don't think she didn't see me...she did. Grrr! I shifted my load and grabbed the door. Leah was on the other side struggling to get it open (heavy metal door). At least Leah redeems herself a tiny bit from leaving Joseph outside.

Christmas Angel

Leah is our Christmas Cherub. She is full of emotion and never boring. I'm afraid she gets away with too much, either because we're tired of going through it for the 3rd time (Rebekah will get away with everything) or because she's too cute to really get into too much trouble. I think it's the first reason mostly, but every once in a while her cuteness saves her.

She is very sassy though and often not very nice. That's where even her cuteness can't save her (since it seems to entirely disappear). We are often warning her "not to talk to us that way."

Today she had a nice trip to her room.

Leah is going to be 3 years old two weeks from today. She's already on her way to teenager! It's going to be a fun ride. Hold on to your hats!

Check out this video of Leah during Sunday lunch a couple of weeks ago. Notice the amount of eating she's actually doing! Sorry for the shaking...Daniel was bumping the table!