Kids!

Every morning for the last couple of weeks, Doug has begged to eat his "Pirates of the Carribean" cereal for breakfast. So, I should have known something was up yesterday morning when he requested Cocoa Puffs instead. But, I am slow on the uptake at times. My alarms didn't go off until a little while later when Rayna asked for the Pirate's cereal and Darcy was unable to get it to pour from the bag. Pulling the bag out of the box, we could see through the liner that something brown had dried in drippy streams down the inside portion of the bag and the 1/3 box of cereal had all congealed into one large, unpourable lump. It was hideous. I knew immediately which of my three children was responsible...the one who had wisely avoided the Pirate cereal that morning! Upon parental interrogation, the perpetrator confessed. It seems that Doug had found a creative way around my rule that you cannot leave the breakfast table until you have eaten all your cereal and have drank your milk. He had POURED what was left in his cereal bowl back into the cereal box! The result, 24 hours later, was quite gross. His consequence is that he has to eat Mommy's cereal for the next full week. (I eat Uncle Sam's fiber cereal sweetened with just a bit of Fiber One cereal sprinkled over the top...no sugar.) That has become Doug's lot. Yesterday morning, he gagged on each and every spoonful and I finally had to set the timer or he would still be at the breakfast table now, trying to gag that bowl of decidely NOT sweet cereal down. This morning, he did much better. He approached his bowl of cereal with dread and reluctance, but he didn't gag on each bite. Who knows...maybe by the end of the week he will have actually developed a taste for unsweetened cereal!

This morning, after breakfast, I sent the kids upstairs to clean their rooms. Doug had asked to watch his Justice League cartoon (Christmas DVD) and I had vetoed that. They needed to get their rooms cleaned before they sat down to be zombies in front of cartoons. So, I was utterly shocked when, only a few minutes later I heard Justice League sounds blaring out of the upstairs where their bedrooms are. Direct disobedience like that is rare. I scooted up the stairs to mete out justice of my own, but was momentarily baffled as I rounded the corner and saw the little DVD player--all closed up and shut off--even as the sounds of the Justice League at battle remained deafeningly loud. I stood there looking stupid as my children continued busily picking up their toys and putting them away. I finally had to stoop to asking Darcy where that sound was coming from. (It was so LOUD that I couldn't even figure out which direction it was emanating from.) She happily pointed to the little micro tape player that John had given her for Christmas sitting innocently on her bookcase. Evidently she had taped an entire episode of Justice League with her audio tape player and they were now enjoying the SOUND of their cartoons even though they couldn't WATCH them!