What is Carrie up to?

What does boredom do? Eventually?

2020-04-08T11:17:00.001-07:00

The kids have a lot more access to electronics than they are normally permitted. We definitely still have 'no device' times for the four younger kids, but this is a measure of electronic freedom they're not generally afforded.

But the bad and good kinds of boredom will creep in. I'll illustrate using Anthony as an example

The bad kind of boredom is annoying. You are whiny, take offense easily, want others to make your life a wonderful magical fairy land. We definitely see this from my little guy sometimes.

The good kind gets creative. And that is what I'm here to talk about. We went to the park in Independence that lines the river. Molly wanted to do this for her 'Social' time. (each kid gets a day per week to decide what we'll do after dinner. Participation is optional). When Molly suggested going to a park on the river (besides Riverfront and Minto Brown, both of which we've been to, repeatedly, lately), I suggested this one. And no one wanted to go. It made Molly cry. (She was pretty tetchy all day). When the boys saw Molly was upset, Anthony who is very tender hearted, was repentant, promised to go 'I still don't want to go, but I'll go'. So we loaded up (leaving Riker, who'd walked twice, so we didn't feel guilty).

It was beautiful by the river, and Anthony started pretending he was in the game 'Animal Crossing'. He picked up sticks and called them his 'flimsy fishing pole' (That's a game thing). Everyone had a great time. Then we decided to tromp back down main street to loop back to the car.

Anthony found some dandelions and tried to wish for 'Pesto Sandwiches for dinner'.

Once we'd made the loop, a fountain was noticed, so we investigated this, and more importantly there was an ampitheater in this part of the park. Jack stood center stage a lot (he misses theater SO MUCH).

Anthony decided on the drive home that he and Jack should put on a play. They decided that it should be 'UP' (the Pixar movie). He asked me if I could buy them wigs. They discussed the set (we have cardboard) They discussed how many times they would need to watch the movie 'Up'. Jack said that it was a very big project. Anthony responded 'That's why I said 'two weeks''. They discussed who could do the old man voice. Jack explained that because he was older, he had a bunch of voices he could do. They discussed who the audience could be (basically no one, since lock down).
I really wish I'd recorded their funny little conversation.

So that's the upside of boredom. Today on our family AM walk, Anthony was trying to invent a language that sounds like baby talk. He's a keeper.

2020-04-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

So we went for a walk in Minto Brown Friday morning. I was finally feeling better, and we all wore boots, because there was a trail we hadn't gone down due to some water on the trail (under objection from the kids).

We crossed the water (it still went into Patricia's boots. Partially be cause mid calf boots aren't very many inches tall when you are 4, and partially because she will splash when given the opportunity).

We trekked along a distance, and then decided to enter some woods to explore.

We spotted another trail, so I figured we'd just go down that trail, in the opposite direction in which we'd been heading, and that it would eventually loop towards our parking lot.

It did loop, but it looped towards Riverfront Park. Where we called Wesley. Because we had some very done people.

I really don't think that 'growing out' of my poor sense of direction is happening so far. Maybe in my 50s.

We had conference this weekend. It was strange, fully twice I had tears dripping down my face. Once while singing 'The Spirit of God' following the Hosanna Shout.
Once while singing 'We Thank the O God, for a Prophet' when they had congregations from around the world sing in their native languages. I was very grateful indeed for conference this weekend. We were extrememly lax with the kids. We required attendance (everyone, even the tired teenagers were great about this), but we didn't ban electronics as we usually would. I personally felt that right now, every day is conference weekend (tons of couch time, hunkering down at home), and that it would be counterproductive to go strict. The calculation paid off, and I think we all felt the spirit.

How about a few thoughts?

2020-04-02T23:05:00.001-07:00

I keep thinking of what to write about. But then I feel overwhelmed, or tired, or busy with nonsense or I can't get my photos to sync.
But I do want to take the time to remember. Things I want to remember.

I'm learning how to make facial masks that will protect SOMEWHAT for the virus. Apparently even the good masks can't provide 100% protection I learned from listening to NPR today. But I have friends asking for them. And we may all be requried to wear out in public soon. So tomorrow I'm buckling down and making a bunch. I felt sick yesterday, so did Molly and Wesley. It's terrifying, they are so precious, and they both are Asthmatic. But then we were all doing better today. I kinda don't get how we could even GET a regular illness with the LIMITED contact with the outside world I'm having (and I'm the one who goes out) and social distancing, and constant santizing of everything.

Lots of unhurried kid time. We're trying to keep to a schedule but there's room for things like reading a chapter of Harry Potter a night and a movie or a board game EVERY evening.

The sadness and sweetness of being FORCED to be apart. This was created with plastic cups at the Liberty Elementary fence. I got pretty misty. I miss the students I worked with too. My good friends, my church friends, my theater friends, my friendly aquaintances. I miss people I saw all the time and people I rarely did.

Time has slowed. Usually when I think about the day of the week it is, I'm like "I can't believe it's already Thursday!" Now I'm like, "Oh crap, it's only TUESDAY!"

So, what now?

2020-03-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Struggling but also thriving. I think a lot of us are in that situation.

Riker.

2020-03-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Written by Lillian

Riker our dog loves getting walked and due to the corona virus we have been take walks at parks every morning Riker seemed to have noticed I'm almost always there so this morning when my mom was waking me up Riker came into my bed and curled into a ball right next to me (Riker loves comfortable spots and will plop down all tired) so it took me a while to get up but when I did he followed me every where finally we went on a walk to northgate.

Crazy Lock Down at the Hare's

2020-03-23T10:44:00.001-07:00

Made by Lillian, Lately, during this long spring break, we have entered a war zone of what to do in the morning and whether or not to have video games (some times that rebellion's meeting is five in the morning.)
it was pretty rough the first day of break which scared us to think we might tear down the house with our fights but now it,s pretty much resolved but they are wars on who gets to play the new animal crossing.

It's pretty fun!

Here are the people who run the video game rebellion

Anthony: Their leader

Jack: Ally
Patrica: The Slightly Innocent Follower

Is this life now?

2020-03-22T21:46:00.001-07:00

There is Patricia, March 13th, in what Wes Sr. called 'the last public performance in Oregon'. I don't even know what exactly to say about what social distancing, cancelling school for 6 weeks (at least), cancelling every public performance, meeting, conference, trip, etc.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, they started cancelling things. Big things. State Basketball playoffs, DECA competitions, Choir tours for the kids at South. Then theatre performances. At a certain point, I was in agony for all the people who were having events cancelled. I was struggling to concentrate at work, I was SO distressed. I kept thinking... this is like an 'extrovert's nightmare'.

Finally, I did something I hadn't ever had occasion to do before. I accessed my EAP benefits and arranged for a phone counselling appointment. Friday, I spoke for 45 minutes to a very kind therapist who talked to me...At one point she asked, 'I wonder if this is all triggering something for you?' and I said, 'Now that you mention it...'

When I was 20, I ended up with bilateral reflex sympathetic dystrophy in both feet. It became extremely painful for me to walk more than a few steps, so I became wheelchair-bound. My feet were swollen, hot, and tender. To really compound the situation, we moved, as planned, to Eugene, to complete our education at the University of Oregon. We knew pretty much no one, and the people who reached out from church were mostly rebuffed by me, because I was so ashamed of my state, of the state of the apartment. Additionally, for most of this 8 month period, we didn't know what was wrong with me. So we didn't know if anything would ever be better. We lived on the 3rd floor of an apartment building, I did school remotely, and I was alone all the time except for Wesley.

She asked me what things helped me through this period. Suggested the tools I used then might help me weather this hard time as well.

So amazed by how helpful 45 minutes can be.

2020-02-23T18:38:00.002-08:00

Lillian is getting braces soon! She has two orthodontists right now. They're dueling for her business. She's seeing one of them everywhere she goes, so I guess he's really trying to have her as a patient!

Roland's First Sacrament Meeting talk

2015-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Once the youth in our church reach the age of 12, they start participating in Sacrament Meeting, by giving short talks, usually based on a General Conference talk.

Roland's first talk filled us with pride, because he worked very hard on it, and other than listening to him practice it, we had no input. A kind man in the ward asked him for a copy (the ultimate compliment), so I transcribed it for him, and decided to post it!

My name is Roland Hare for those of you who don’t know me. I like football and the Ducks. I didn't like the National Championship. I've been asked to give a talk on Our Greatest Coach by Matthew Garrett.

Coming to church is like a practice. The scriptures are like a playbook, for any type of defense Satan sends that tries to put us down. A normal day can be like a scrimmage or a game, at work or at school.

He is always teaching and challenging us, many times he gives us adversity to challenge us. A coach might put you at defensive end, arguably the most disciplined player on the field, to strengthen you. He might make you a high councilman.

He always has a game plan for each one of us, like ‘what job we have in the ward’ Home teachers are like personal trainers.

He knows our strengths and weaknesses, so whatever position we're in, he wants us to be there.

He inspires and motivates us, he wants us to return to live with him again. He is like a coach, he roots for us even when we've lost the way.

He is always teaching. The lord has said that we must be prepared and follow His instructions if we want to succeed.

He has a Game plan, he never lets us quit. He pushes the team to the tend and expects hard work because he knows every second that passes is a second closer to the end of the game-and to reaching the ultimate victory.

He is aware of each player’s needs. And no one loves us, knows us, or cares for us as much as our Heavenly Father.

He knows when to call time-out. Like a dedicated coach watching us in a game or practice, Heavenly Father knows how we are performing.

He inspires and motivates. Like a coach who passionately roots for the players, Heavenly Father is always there to motivate, inspire, and cheer for us, especially when we face our toughest opponents.

He promotes unity. We are all ‘sons and daughters unto God’. D&C 76:24.

He makes practice joyful. As we learn and grow, Heavenly Father wants us to find happiness and enjoy each day, not suffer through life.

He always helps us win. If we remain faithful players on His team and listen to His divine instruction, we will win ‘a great victory’ 2 Samuel 23:10,12 and receive the ultimate reward, even His kingdom and all that He has.

Fulfill your personal plan: Seek through the Spirit to identify it and carefully follow that direction that the Lord has put in your life. What you decide to do now will affect how well you fulfill that divine personal plan He has for you.

I have a testimony of the gospel. I know Joseph Smith translated the plates. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Why do you arrange author visits?

2014-11-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

So I've told this story so many times, it almost seems apocryphal. When I was a little girl, 1st or 2nd grade at Sumpter, my class was ushered into the library at school to hear an author speak. He was a young (seemingly to me at the time, tall), with a head full of curly hair. I must have loved listening to him speak, because I still remember him telling a story about arguing with his publishers about whether 'inched across the room' was still appropriate now that the metric system was adopted in Canada, or whether 'centimetered across the room was the current usage'. I doubt I understood what that was about, but I collected his books after that (sadly at the time, I had no book to be signed by him, my (possibly flawed) recollection is that we in my grade were included in this experience at the last minute). I owned many books as a girl: The Bruno & Boots Series, No Coins Please, I Want to Go Home, Who is Bugs Potter.

I don't know what happened to any of those books, but even as an adult I would pick up his newer books, both children's and Young Adult titles.

When I started volunteering for the Scholastic Book Fair at Schirle, our wonderful Librarian arranged a visit for popular children's author Roland Smith to take place during my spring fair. I was thrilled to hear this news, told that story to her, and worked to help take some of the fundraising burden off the library.

The kids responded to this visit with enthusiasm I hadn't imagined. They lined up each book fair shift desperately trying to get more titles from the author. I was sold on author visits even more than I had been!
Since then, I have booked or helped facilitate visits from:
Suzane Selfors

Stephanie Bodeen

Deborah Hopkinson

Robert. D. SanSouci

Which brings me to this year:
Gordon Korman

I had always had a goal of bringing him to my kids' school. However, it is expensive, and he lives far away. Due to the unprecedented success of a new fundraiser last year, I knew it was time to ask for the funding!

Many of the teachers (who were as excited as me) wanted to know: how did you get him? The answer: I asked for the money and asked him. It was more work than that, and I needed to find another school, as he wanted a 2 school commitment (he was already headed to LA for two days of this week). Easy: I asked my first choice school, Roland's (then future) middle school. Even though it was a much bigger financial commitment for them (percentage-wise) they took a deep breath and said yes!

It was quite a bit of work to make it happen (I've never had an author come from farther, and I've never been point person when we were sharing an author with another school). But it was wonderful. The kids responded so well to his presentations, they laughed, and were generally very enthusiastic later.

Gordon Korman was so kind to me, and gracious to everyone he met. I think it must be hard to through your lot in with complete strangers, but he is a champ.

Wesley and I had a chance to show him around downtown a little, and we enjoyed getting to know him.

Roland meeting the author, getting his books signed.

Crossler's day was pretty chill, but Schirle was a whirlwind of book signing, presentations, faculty luncheons, special guests from the district and Scholastic, and kindergarten classroom visits.

Some teachers were pretty excited!

I was so pleased it went off without a major hitch, and got a picture with the author before he left.

Major life goal: Check! Now I can't wait to book next year's author!

What is that trailer for?

2014-09-02T14:38:00.002-07:00

So as a super duper special treat yesterday--I took the two oldest kids to a FIRST RUN theater! They never do that with me, I'm not kidding. The last movie I took them to see outside of a second run theater was Cars. Not a humorous exaggeration--the actual film!

I selected The Giver. Neither of them has read the book, though Molly has read and very much enjoyed other Lois Lowry works. (As a side note, when Goodreads hosted chat with her, I was selected to ask a question, and my question got answered!):

Do you ever do school visits anymore? I've been wanting to meet you since I was a girl reading 'Anastasia' books. (which my 10 yr old now loves) Thanks for all the wonderful hours of reading over my last 27 years or so!

No school visits anymore, alas! Too little time!

Cool huh? So, though I am careful about PG-13 films, I had heard enough about the adaptation that I felt confident taking my oldest two 10 & 11 to see it. And I was right. Though some important changes were made, I felt it captured the spirit and ideas of that great book very well. I really enjoyed it, especially when, about 15 seconds in, Roland leaned over to me and whispered, "I already like this movie". I did have a few teary moments, especially when hearing the name of a character, Rosemary, then I let out a sobby yelp that my children clearly felt came out of nowhere.

But I have a beef with the experience. Once we had our popcorn, and settled in to watch the trailers, the trailer for 50 Shades of Gray came on. Suddenly I hustled those kids out and sent them for mandatory bathroom breaks. I kept an eye on it from outside the theater, and though it was clearly the PG-13 trailer, I was steamed! Who do they think is coming to see The Giver? It is based on a Newberry award winner, and it's intended audience is no doubt young adults and their families. Now I know I took my kids before they were 13, but so what if they'd been 13? There is no trailer for a film like that that is appropriate to play before the movie I saw! I wanted to complain, but to who? Luckily my kids were blissfully unaware of the very adult content they almost got to see. I hate censorship, but I love good judgement!

They look ready for adult films, don't they?

When is his Birthday?

2014-08-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

Anthony's 2nd birthday is today! He was so excited he learned a trick:

We couldn't enjoy him more, even as I'm tearing my hair out, trying to manage 2 naughty male toddlers. He slides right into my soft heart!

He's tiny and of somewhat Irish extraction, so possibly a Leprechaun.

I don't have a jokey caption here, but I like this little pipsqueak!

He wants to take the ball and run with it, in a very real sense!

I shared some more photos, because I used some birthday money his Grandma made him to make a photo book of his last year. Happy birthday buddy! We sure love having you around!

Shall we backtrack to Christmas?

2014-07-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Ho Ho Ho!

That's all that needs to be said for Christmas right? It was a good season. I made Lillian a new color-wheel quilt, and some other stuff...

Here is Anthony, by the Christmas tree, with his long curly hair. I gave a little sob when I saw these photos. Why did we cut it?

Here are some running around outside this winter or maybe spring pictures.

I like those kids.

Do you ever get tired of hearing about my camera issues?

2014-07-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the camera again is pretty caput. But maybe blogging will inspire me to at least get those photos trapped in there downloaded.

But I'll post a photo. That's a start.

Here is Molly, being Scout at the start of the show. She says "Miss Maudie, this is an old neighborhood, ain't it?"

Miss Maudie says: "Been here longer than the town"

Scout says: No, I mean the folks on our street are all OLD.

Don't worry, I'll post more pictures, but won't be rehearsing the whole show.

In the intervening days since we got our lives back from Maycomb, Alabama, I've been putting the kids to bed, trimming their nails, checking on teeth brushing, and trying to catch up on sleep. I've read a lot, watched less TV than I'd like, and have now made it back to my aerobics class 3 times!

Why do school libraries stay closed all summer?

2013-11-17T21:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our principal, another parent volunteer, our media assistant and me, ours doesn't anymore!!
Because of a cool pilot program, we got a little funding (very little) to operate a library morning each Tuesday this summer. Some nice teachers like above did storytimes.

Kids did crafts. (I was in charge of that)

They read books with reading buddies (Molly is above, right)

And played board games, wrote reviews of books they read.

Most importantly, they checked out books!

It is probably the easiest volunteer chairing I've ever done. It almost planned itself, the kids who came were self selected--wanted to be there, and we never had to ask anyone to ever leave. The parents and teachers were helpful, and I learned how to check out books on the SK system. So--dream come true.

Are we swinging through life?

2013-10-03T12:48:00.005-07:00

So we've been up to lots of stuff. Roland and Lillian are playing flag football again. Wesley isn't coaching, which is kind of a big deal to him. I hope he can handle the loss of control.

Anthony has grown a molar, and is working on the other three simultaneously. He is constantly climbing on to chairs and tables, and making a merry mess. He says 'uh-oh' constantly (it applies a lot), and is working on other words. He says the phrase 'shut the door' (which we can interpret) to the kids if they don't shut the baby gate or the garage door.

Who was Dionysus?

2013-10-03T12:48:00.004-07:00

Molly was invited to attend North's Dionysus Awards night. Their reinvigorated drama club hosted a night akin to the Tony's 'with categories for best musical number, best lead actor, etc. We also voted online.

'Put on a Happy Face' was nominated as best musical number, and won! (It was adorable!)

Molly, and the little girl who was in the show with her, Ella, were both nominated for 'Best Attitude'. In an exciting development, there was a tie!

There were four nominees, and the little girls both won. Little statuettes and everything. I asked the drama teacher if she'd fudged the results, and she assured me they were genuine.

I'm glad I have these pictures of them. They were so cute together.

After dinner, and the awards, they all danced to 'Time Warp', which they often did at practices.

Some high school theater things don't change.

Molly with the lovely Ms. Bond. I can't say enough nice things about her director of this show.

What a nice evening to share with her.

Do you ever?

2013-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Want to post all the ridiculous things that happen to you as a mother over the week, but each day's insanity pushes out the previous day's?

Today I got home from taking Roland to the bookstore. He HAD to have the Mark of Athena, and he bought it (all 42 copies in the library system were checked out.). That was a nightmare, as expected for any after school outing. I even followed through on the threat not to buy Lillian the Curious George book she'd picked.

We got home, the big kids helped get the littles inside while I finished up dinner, and they stayed outside to play. Roland comes to tell me that Lillian is down the street. (when supervised by her older siblings, she is expected to stay in the yard) I come out to deal with it, and she is fighting with Molly, on her bike. She is definitely not allowed to tool around on that without asking! So I drag her inside, to discover Molly has found a new malfeasance. Jack took the taco sauce from the table and poured a goodly amount onto Anthony's tray.

It just doesn't stop!

What's keeping you so busy?

2013-09-13T08:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my dad came and installed locks on the door to the garage and the front door. I'd spent tons of time dragging the little guys out of the garage, and Jack could leave through the front if he wished. I was so grateful.

This morning, during family scripture time, once all the kids and Wesley were ready for the day, Anthony came lurching in from the garage (he'd been able to get in because the older kids had been going in for their shoes and backpacks). In horrible slow motion, we realized he was covered in cat poop. Wesley commented: "Now I know why monsters in movies walk the way they do. It's after babies."

Has it been a month?

2013-09-10T11:07:00.004-07:00

We've been trucking along.

More soon!

What is that saying?

2013-08-10T11:19:00.003-07:00

Adventure: Something you'd rather be telling the story of than experiencing.

I feel like that applies to parenting, especially in the Summer.

This Summer, most days haven't been truly terrible, but each one of them has had at least one hour that I would just love to run out on, and tell the story of later, without having to get through it.

Like yesterday. It wasn't too bad a day, but by 3:30, I'd kicked the kids out to the back yard for 'outside play time'. Things went downhill from there. Jack turned on the hose. I turned it off. Lillian and Jack played in the mud created by the hose. I bathed them, asking Roland to take Anthony to his room and play with him. Roland soon yelled that the baby was poopy and leaking on the floor. I called for Molly to watch him in the tub, making sure that Anthony didn't drown while I cleaned up Roland's room.

Anthony threw up a little after being cleaned up, which I attributed to him eating soap. It was a precursor however, of things to come.

We managed to have dinner (Wesley had to work late), and get out the door. I left Roland behind, and instructed Lillian to not let Jack fall asleep on the way to the library. By the time I looked back 2 minutes later, Lillian herself was asleep. We woke her up to go inside the library.

We met a friend, and Jack soon started playing in the sensory table in the Discovery room. He has played in this rice filled box with 'dinosaur bones' underneath a lot, so at this point he has just started throwing the rice.
I realize, we have to leave, because I cannot make him stop doing this, and when I pick up Anthony, I realize he has a fever. (Which really explained the vomiting).

Later that, I saw my friend at church, and her baby had a fever (they'd inadvertently shared a bottle). Nothing like spreading the joy around!

How old is Anthony?

2013-08-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my littlest turned one. We just did a little song for him...He was amazed by all those voices directed at him. The camera got left at church last week (Please please be findable!) so I don't have a photo, though some sisters took pictures, so maybe they'll be forthcoming.

Anthony and his cousin Will have been so cute to watch together...we'll miss him so much now that he is returning to VA.

At one:

Anthony is taking several steps, falling, then standing back up and walking again. So he is making that transition from toddler to walker.

He is in the 22nd percentile for height and 33rd for weight. He is not one of my bigger babies!

He says some words...Hi, dad, uh-oh, Lillian, ba *(sometimes means 'bye').

He opens and closes his hands when we do 'Sunbeam' or 'Popcorn popping'. He is very excited by his musical contribution.

He loves to clap and laugh.

He drinks only cows' milk, and lots of it!

He likes to eat our table food, and in the tradition of my kids, loves sweets and fruit.

He is completely essential to us.

What about a nature hike?

2013-07-03T07:51:00.003-07:00

Our cub scouts went on a guided hike through Minto Brown. I saw parts of it I'd never seen.

Roland wasn't there, he was at Track practice, and so was Molly.

Here we are walking over a pond on a fallen log.

What's the down side?

2013-06-20T09:59:00.001-07:00

So we're pretty much having the summer I dreamed of for years...i.e., one with the money for gas, and some modest summer activities. I've been driving to swim lessons, Molly's in a summer theater camp this week, and Roland and Lillian started football last night (track wraps up this week).

The downside is that I am exhausted! Summer days are SOOOO long. Last night, when we all got home from football (some of us went to the library since it was so wet at the park) we ate dinner. Then the kids turned on the movie while I was bathing Anthony. I made my feelings clear that I did not want everyone to stay up. But Jack was cuddling his dad (whom he has been ignoring lately), and I was overruled. So I said 'fine' and went to take a bath. But Jack heard the bath running, ran upstairs and commandeered the bath. He ran out almost all the hot water, I took a lukewarm bath after Wesley put him to bed, and then we stayed up late (to me now) to chat, since we still hadn't had much of a chance.

Jack dumped the contents of a bottle of soy sauce into the formula container yesterday. It'd be a lot more fun to just burn the money.

Some people who live at my house are pretty cute!

What does Jack really mean?

2013-06-10T12:34:00.002-07:00

Jack is sick today. One of my chief complaints about most of my kids is how sick they get. And by that I mean 'not enough'. Now I don't want hospitalized children. I don't have that mental illness...but my kids (except Molly) never ever slow down when they are sick (unless they have strep or the stomach flu)(both are rare fortunately). Adults would love to take it easy when they have a bad cold, but here, the kids just get much crankier, much less able to deal with life when it doesn't go your way (and it usually doesn't), and much snottier (both meanings).

Today, an auto insurance agent called. I wanted to talk to him, he had a great quote for me, and I needed to give him some information. Jack is on a campaign against the fish. I hauled him away twice from the tank, then went back to searching for the relevant documents. Finally, I noticed he was at them again, this time with a ladle, trying to catch them. I pulled him away again, and he hollered.

Here is the transcript of what we were thinking:

Me: Jack, will your villany never stop? I wish you would stop it with the pets. First you hunt our poor elderly cat all morning, now you are at the fish again. I can't believe you didn't kill them yesterday when you threw all the junk drawer contents including batteries into their tank. If you loved me, you would stop the mischief for just 2 minutes!

Jack: Mom, why do you hate me so much? I feel terrible!

Me: How is your cold relevant to the jeopardy you are placing the fish in?

Jack: I feel so horrible, and the only thing that can POSSIBLY distract me is to try to ladle the fish out of the tank. I hate you! Life sucks! I'm too tired to go to bed, don't put me to bed, oh no! BED!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!

Jack: Sleep thoughts.

The end.