Corruption – Daydream believer
I make pancakes in the kitchen on a Sunday morning. Every few seconds I hear another word bellowed from far away 'bulbous'……..'bouffant'………'gazebo'……….'shindig'……..'whale'… ‘macadamnia’ ….….'wubber'……'beluga'……….''galloshes'……'Wario'………There are several more of them, but those are the only ones I can remember, the only bits of the puzzle available to my tiny brain. I'm not able to make any sense of them, but each word is followed by a shriek that definitely falls into the humourously amused category.
I think of all the toys that we left out the night before. Instead of 'tidying time' they were allowed a stay of execution, or rather the toys were. The elaborate conglomerate was permitted to cover the floor and most of the furniture for an additional 24 hours, negotiable.
Today, the game continues. To have a game, any game, pretend or otherwise, extend beyond the statutory 10 nano seconds, is to be encouraged, nurtured and permitted to be 'messy' for longer that I am comfortable. Not so much deck the halls but booby trap the floors.
I continue my conveyor belt production of pancake for the masses. I am tied to the hot plate and cannot leave it unattended. Even at the age they are now, there is always the possibility of the unexpected, the unpredictable.
He yells at his brother and sister who skip off to see what has him entranced. I amazed that they respond. I am amazed that he called them, a request for joint attention is always applauded, so fresh, so new, so amazing. With all of them now in one location, far away from the hot plate I can follow the guffaws of laughter to the hall.
In the hall they all crowd around the computer. I need to become computer savvy and “internet savvy” if I am to be able to protect them. Suddenly I am grossly aware of their development and the trend ahead. If anyone doubles back, I'll be able to intervene, stop them from getting access to the hot plate. The lure of U-tube is inescapable for this generation.
My youngest son is doubled up, almost on, or maybe off the chair. The other two observe the screen, the internet, a Mario clip. I watch. I can hardly hear a word as both the boys screech together, joint attention if ever I saw it. My daughter turns to me and raises an eyebrow, just like my brother, her uncle, a sceptic, a non believer. I wait a few moments more, just to be on the safe side, that the clip isn't going to sink into p.orn or violence or some other horror. It doesn't. He hits replay. She raises her arms to let them flop down to her sides, a gesture of disbelief.
I slip an arm around her shoulder to guide her back to the family room. We leave the boys locked in.
I pour more batter on the hot plate. I suspect it's a boy thing. The clip is not in the category of humour for me, nor her. For my boys the clip definitely rates a 10, “hilarious.” The days of innocence are withering, I can’t hide in a different era. I need to protect my own little “monkeys.”
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 am
*sigh* (but a happy sigh…)
I assume that your boys are like the typical male of the species worldwide, in that they will have the volume painfully loud???
cheers kim
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:48 am
LMAO!!!! I watched it twice!
I can see why your boys think it’s funny!!! It really is.
I would have been right there with them, laughing hysterically. It is an hysterical conversation-
Loved this:
“Instead of ‘tidying time’ they were allowed a stay of execution, or rather the toys were.”
This post really made me smile and laugh.
Love you
Suzy
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:48 am
*went to Clarksville once, but not on a train*
*isn’t sure if it was THE Clarksville*
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:31 am
Who makes pancakes anymore? LOL.
I have a freezer full of frozen ones. I am a great cook!I think my kids are on a permanate reprieve from picking up toys. I so dislike tripping over things in the dark.
I loved the Monkeys as a kid!
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 am
Hooray for the beautiful joint attention!
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:12 am
i make pancakes for my kids from a mix when they visit – good for you Maddy, pancakes are good for the soul
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:27 am
Internets savvy. Just when I think I’ve got a handle on it, my seven y.o. finds a way to outsmart me. Don’t even get me started on what he’s downloaded. And he watches Yootoob constantly, mostly Schoolhouse Rock and has watched Godspell in its entirety, since someone was kind enough to upload it for us.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:40 am
The play skills are very exciting. Good for you for breaking the rules to let them build on their game.
That Super Mario video was funny. BLUBBER!
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:45 am
Hooray for all of that joint attention!
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:51 am
ahh boys will be boys!
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:12 am
Adding my children to the internet scares me. They know that I’m on it “all the time”, but… I worry.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 am
I have a hard time letting my kids get on you-tube. You just never know what will be in the videos… glad you were there to check it out!
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
I can just picture them! A special moment. May they share many more!
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:38 am
The end of the video made me giggle. but it must be a boy thing to find it utterly hilarious.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I guess it’s quite worrying in some respects. I don’t think I’ll teach Amy how to use the internet. They do have access to it at school but of course it will be totally barred of any adult material.
Crystal xx
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm
That’s a boy thing for you
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
My husbands sister has some mental retardation and her boyfriend does too. When my husband went to visit he found a porn video that was downloaded by his sisters boyfriend. A couple of years ago they found a picture of his um… on the computer.
My husbands parents wouldn’t know how to even open the internet.
Just goes to show you that even people who can’t read can find things that shouldn’t be found on the internet.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
My husband and I agree- we can’t play that clip for Joey. Or we’ll have to learn it- syllable by syllable- by heart. And not voluntarily.
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
The Elder has seen every “Thomas the Tank Engine” clip on YouTube! How do they learn to do that????
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I’m going to test that out on my son. I suspect that the fact that it’s a video and not a game will cause problems — but I’m so curious…
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 am
Your boys certainly found the Mario brothers thing fun and who would not find galoshes funny!
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I have often longed for a daughter, another female soul in the house, to roll eyes and throw up hands with over the “boy things”. But that would mean more laundry.
Alas, only the dog is female at our house…other than myself, of course.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
macrame!!!