Bed Time!

When I was in Minnesota last month, I stayed with my aunt and we got to talking about back in the day when us kids would visit her kids. Her kids had a pretty set routine when it came to bed time. My family on the other hand... Let's just say my parents were more interested in getting a full night's sleep for themselves than worrying about when their kids would go to sleep. My aunt just didn't understand first of all how my parents could allow such chaos and second of all how my siblings and I managed to regulate ourselves without the supervision.

Now I have my own kid and up until recently he was staying up late with me every night. He usually fell asleep on the floor playing with toys or on the chair watching something on his Kindle. I even, on occasion a la my parents, just went to bed before him because I was tired and he wasn't. But recently, his mom instituted a bed time which I sort of adhere to. Every night at about 10pm I tell him to brush his teeth and go to bed. And he does. Cool. I think he argued on the first night and every so often he comes out to tell me he's thirsty or hot or something, but I have a kid with a bed time.

Is it necessary though? Do kids need to have a bed time? I've read a few articles on the matter and there are a couple of studies that link irregular bed time routines with problem behavior, but then a couple that counter with the amount of sleep rather than the time of sleep being the key to behavior issues.

I'm too laid back to care about this too much. I don't have a strict schedule or routine to my days, so I can accommodate whatever. But for now, I have a kid with a bed time.

Beisbol been Berry Berry Good to Me

You're Out!

I think Colsen has decided to end his baseball career. He doesn't like it at all. Ashley and I just want to be those proud sports parents, but nope Colsen has other designs. He's played in just three games and he has cried about having to play in all three. I mean literally crying. For why? There's no crying in baseball!

What's the correct way to handle this? On the one hand we're the demanding parents that are forcing their kid to do something he doesn't like. On the other hand if we let him quit, are we setting a precedent for a life time of quitting and failure?

He's five. Maybe I'm overthinking it?

I played baseball when I was six. I'm pretty sure I cried because my mom bought me a black glove instead of a brown glove. I didn't play again until I was nine. So maybe he just needs time. Dang. And all I want out of life is to be the cool sideline parent with the superstar athlete kid. I guess I just have to settle for him being the superstar of my heart? 

Mining All Day Long

When we went to visit Colsen's cousins last month, his older, influential cousin introduced him to Minecraft (aka Mindcraft if Colsen's telling the story). And since then he's been obsessed. Not only does he play the game itself. He goes onto You Tube and watches videos of other people playing it.

Well, today... I played Minecraft with him. I downloaded it on my phone and we played it together. And... I pulled up a You Tube tutorial about it and watched that.

Long story short, we literally wasted more than half of our day playing Minecraft.

Ridiculous...

Sledding

Today was a spectacular day for sledding! Sunshine. Fresh snow. Not a lot of people out on the hill.

And of course, it's always more work for me because one of us doesn't want to walk back up the hill.

The snow was pretty fresh. And sometimes we crashed.

By the way, that should be a PSA for not using your cell phone while sledding. Usually I put my hand down to keep us stable, but that time I didn't because I was holding my cell phone.

Later, he lost interest and decided he would bury the sled in the snow.

Instead of saying "cheese" he said "snow ball" when I took a picture.

And then we went for hot chocolate to warm up.

Like Peas and Carrots

Isn't it weird sometimes, the combinations that kids come up with? The other day I asked Colsen what he wanted for dinner. He said, Jamba Juice and pizza! So here he is drinking his Jamba Juice. I'm proud of him for making a healthy choice (somewhat, depending on what you get - the juice, not the pizza). I was driving by a McDonald's at the time, hoping he would want to eat there (I've decided a good parent won't suggest fast food, but won't deny it if the kid specifically asks for it, which he didn't do - sad face for me, though I don't need it either).

Another weird thing was he wanted to play dump trucks and airplanes. I got the dump truck and I drove around on the floor while he flew around. Still don't know what the purpose of that game was. There was hardly any interaction between my dump truck and his airplane.

By the way, do peas and carrots really go together? Peas and corn maybe. At least corn comes in small kernels, kind of like peas. But carrots? You really have to chop them up to eat them with peas. I don't like peas though. So maybe that's why I don't get it.

I finally got my dishwasher working...

He doesn't really put any elbow grease into it, but it's a start.

I've been trying to teach Colsen to do chores. You have to get them started young, right? Plus, Fred Meyer was selling those dish scrubber things buy one get one free and Colsen really wanted one.

After washing the dishes, he cleaned his room and the living room. This is why people have kids.