Fast Food

Mama/Papa at McDonalds/In-N-Out to Sarah/Stephen:

"Eat your burger! No more fries until you eat another bite of burger!"

(Repeat for other junk food like pizza.)

Yes, we know, we are terrible parents.

(But better to eat out once in a blue moon than have our cook suffer a nervous breakdown, right?)

School Bus

Sarah loves the idea of going on a school bus, even though she has never been on one. This conversation is from a few days before she started her Head Start "school."

Sarah (from back seat): Papa, when you're big like me, you can go on the school bus. This big! (Holds hands out) Not this big! (Holds hands out). That's good. You want to go there? You have to be big.

At McDonalds

Sarah was playing with a nice boy at McDonalds. The boy's father was nice and said hi to Sarah.

Man: How old are you?

Sarah (thinks, makes a questioning face to Papa): Papa, how old am I?

Papa: Three.

Man (to Sarah): He's six.

Sarah: I'm six.

Man: No, HE's six.

Sarah (to Papa, hands up in question stance, face screwed up): I'm six?

Sarah (to man): I'm six. I'm six! I'm ALMOST six.

Metallica

Sarah (hears a Metallica song on the radio): Look Papa, DRUMS!

Sarah (pause, listens): LOUD drums!

Sarah (listens some more, laughing): Silly song!

A few days later, she heard a Metallica song on the radio again and started bouncing all around the back seat.

Sarah: Louder! Turn it up!

I turn around and both Sarah and Stephen are having a ball, bouncing around and laughing to the music.

(Papa: My babies are muzzies??)

Motorcycles

Stephen loves motorcycles. Every time he sees one he wants to stop and look at it and touch it. It makes no difference if it is running or parked.

This kid is going to be a lover of adventure.

Stickers

This afternoon at In-N-Out:

Mama: Who wants stickers?

Sarah: Me!

Stephen (smiling, pointing to self)

First Week of Head Start

Well after her first week of Head Start preschool, Sarah is still loving every second of it. She seemed especially happy all week. (Sarah AND Mama. Although it was extra work for Mama all week since Papa was recovering from his back injury, Mama gets a breather in the afternoon that is helping her a lot.)

It is helping us as a family to get a more regular routine, too:

Get up, breakfast, YMCA in the morning, come home, get ready, school, mama breathes & gets caught up at home, pick Sarah up, go to the park or play outside, dinner, story, in bed at 8pm. This week we will be instituting a brief, after-school nap, too.

Now, if we could just get Stephen to sleep all night again like he was doing before!

Good Friends

Sarah wanted her friend Molly, 4 years old, to share some of her books with her, but Molly didn't want to.

Sarah: You're not being a good friend!

Molly (crying)

(Mama: Oh no!)

The Cat

Papa: Stephen, do you remember Grandma and Grandpa's cat?

Stephen: Hhhhsssstt! (Swipes hand and makes anguished face)

Papa: Oh, you do remember!

(The cat swatted him in the face a few months ago on our visit.)