the kids are moving past stacking rings (although forever loyal to THE WIGGLES) and on to a new stage in entertainment - puzzles. i have moved the puzzles down to a more reachable level and they are quite pleased to be able to play puzzles or words whenever they please. i have also moved the scrap or recycled paper and crayons to their level, so now sela doesn't need to come to me with her imperious command, "i need to draw" whenever the spirit moves her.
one of the kids best presents EVER and one that i will always keep came from lucy. (that would be the same miracle worker who bathed and fed sebastian dinner at her house for the first month after the triplets came home and charles was out of the country). she got them wooden puzzles with their names on them. brightly coloured and rectangle shaped, then the letters come falling out of the puzzle and can be pushed back in.
sela is unimpressed with me that i selected her such a short name. she mastered her name puzzle a year ago and has been mentally petitioning for a name change to "marie antoinette" "queen elizabeth the third" or some other letter lengthy name, although i suspect she feels entitled to the title business.
she quite enjoys doing the "sebastian" puzzle, and slaps the letters into place, "e" is for ear, "b" is for ball, and whenever i hand her the "s", even though it is the "sebastian" puzzle, she says as if it is the most normal thing in the world, ""s" is for sela".
carys is more methodical about achieving her puzzle, which is a good thing because it gives me more time to remember what things "y" is for. yogurt? ypsilante? yams? yaks? please don't remind the queen of reflux about yakking.
jasper likes his name although he believes that every letter is "s" and stands for jasper. but they love those puzzles.
while they are puzzling out life, sebastian and i are playing "concentration", basically where you lay the cards down and try to get pairs. we have a set based on underwater sea life characters....seals, puffer fish, crabs, sea lions, sharks, clams, octupus.. you get the picture.
naturally, i lose on purpose. like most kids and adults, seb hates to lose and wouldn't play the game if he thought he was going to lose. and concentration is meant to help him learn to concentrate in school and i am supposed to be helping him bla bla bla. the problem is, if he is going to win the game, that means i have to lose. like most kids and adults, i don't particularly enjoy losing, even when it is my beloved offspring winning.
does this make me a bad or less maternal person? do i care?
when he's wiggling his (admittedly very cute) tushie in a dance i know he learned from me saying "woo woo i'm on fire yes i am" ...it is very tempting to inform the exile from my loins that the only reason he is winning is because i am letting him. instead i get modest revenge and enjoy seeing panic flare in his little eyes as i get three pair in a row which usually gets him worried and recounting his pairs like scrooge mcduck. but honestly.
when can i start winning? how will my child ever appreciate my brilliance if i don't start beating him (at games) on a daily basis. i think i should start now.
I'm so glad they enjoy the puzzles, I had completely forgotten about them. My kids still love them, but Hugh still doesn't like it that Ollie's is longer!
Love Lucy
Posted by: Lucy | December 17, 2006 at 06:45 PM
When it gets too difficult Tessie do what you did about 30 years ago at Gran's house. Immediately after losing storm out of the room and disappear.When Sebastian finds you continue packing your suitcase and advise him you are going home.It seems to work. Gran hasn't won a game of snakes and ladders since.
Love, Dad
Posted by: Blakers | December 18, 2006 at 12:23 AM
*grin* thank you frugal blake for that wonderful image of tess as a tot. feel free to embar...er...post more :).
Posted by: knobody | December 18, 2006 at 04:18 AM
Oh my... I know EXACTLY how you feel Tess! My twins are 4 1/2 and naturally hate to lose. Every time we play games I always throw in a quick win just when the "tushie wiggle dance" gets too out of hand!
Posted by: Valarie | December 19, 2006 at 06:37 AM
This post has me laughing. "Exile from my loins" -- priceless.
Am I an even more bad mother because "concentration" (aka Memory) drives me batty and we never, ever play? No wonder my kids are crazy for the school holidays to start....
Posted by: Jody | December 19, 2006 at 09:41 AM
At Seb's age I let me daughter win most of the time too, but started winning once in awhile. She was okay with it as long as she got to win the last round.
We ALL secretly want to win!
Posted by: Julia | December 21, 2006 at 05:03 AM