Death

Jack has been asking me about death lately. Will I die? he asks. For a while, I didn't answer the question directly. I said, when you are really, really, really old.. waaaaay in the future ... far away. Then finally, yesterday I said, yes, one day, you will die. He said, oh no. And sounded very sad. I have since introduced the idea of heaven. Earlier today, he asked me where he was when Ryan and I did our cross-country cycling ride. I told him he was in heaven. I said it was outside of space. You live there before are born and after you die. Mainly, I do not want Jack to have existential anxiety when he is 5. I remember when my mom explained what heaven was. I was also 5. I was raised Catholic so it seemed to fit with my idea of reality. I asked her what you wore in heaven and she said nothing. This caused me a lot of concern but I did not worry about dying. I don't think I challenged this idea until high school. Ryan is an atheist but has promised to go along with my story. We really don't know what happens when we die anyway so I am not exactly lying. It helps me introduce my idea of God to Jack which has been difficult to do since we don't go to church. We are talking more about other peoples' religions. His questions are always so big.

Don't call me stupid

Yesterday, Jack was upset because I had said movie time was over. He really cannot regulate his emotions around screen time. Every Friday, we allow him a movie or video game -- usually for no more than 1 hour. Every Friday, when it's over, he freaks out. He screams. He cries. It doesn't matter that I remind him not to do this before movie time starts. So yesterday, in addition to the usual drama, he called me stupid. He has said this before and I have told him not to do it. We were supposed to have ice cream last night and after he told me I was stupid, I told him that was not ok to do. It is mean and disrespectful. I told him I would never call him stupid for those reasons (and for others obviously). We are introducing the idea of consequences. The consequence for calling me stupid was that we cancelled ice cream. He was upset about this but after a while, he understood. We'll see if he does it again. I said 'don't call me stupid' several times. Each time I thought of Kevin Kline's character in A Fish Called Wanda. It made me feel silly. Being a stern parent does not come naturally. That said, don't call me stupid!

Lazy days

We are moving slowly this summer. On Friday, we didn't get out of the house until noon. Then we just hung around the neighborhood. We love to walk around and pick raspberries. Jack spent some time on his pedal bike (it has training wheels). We wandered down the street to watch construction of a new house. We took the bike trailer to the video store and rented The Return of the Jedi for movie night. Jack then changed his mind and wanted to watch Mary Poppins. I think Star Wars in movie form is thrilling and terrifying to Jack so when given the chance to watch, he often opts out. On our slow mornings we read. The kids play (usually not with each other). Sonia is always very busy and entertains herself very easily. She has been into dress-ups as they call the dress up clothes. Jack gets antsy but often finds something else to do as long as he knows we have some plan to get out of the house later. Yesterday, our morning was similar. We played with the neighbors a bit then went to the downtown Seattle Public Library via the light rail. We haven't been to the central branch in a while. The kids loved the play area and they have a great selection of books. For dinner, we hit a family fave 'U Need a Burger.' Our weather has been less than awesome. However, we really don't mind. It's generally not cold or rainy. I loved seeing the sun today but have given up complaining about the weather. Sonia in her "dress-up"

Jack climbed up a Japanese Maple

Summer?

We've been having fun since school ended. Many of our days are slow. Jack went to a museum of flight camp one week that he seemed to like. It went from 9-4 every day so he was beyond exhausted at the end of every day. Because it's warm we just go outside and hang out. It's been fun going to the pool, picking berries (now raspberries), going to different beaches and the wading pool, and just wandering around the neighborhood. We've also met with some of Jack's fellow kindergartners. It's hard to believe he'll be heading to kindergarten. He seems ambivalent about it. I feel the same. Some of the time, I am excited, others, I think I should homeschool. I know he can't have an idea of what it means to go to kindergarten. Either do I really. The public school system of Seattle seems mysterious. I am sure I'll have lots to report. Sonia has developed a very strong opinion about her clothing. She decides what she wears. It's usually something reasonable with a princess or fairy costume over it. Jack recently wanted to leave the house with his shirt on backwards and two different shoes on. I didn't mind but Ryan made him change.