Dear Connor,
Daddy and I love this show called "This Is Us" (it's one of the only shows we both like to watch AND one where Daddy actually stays awake for the entire episode no matter how early or late it is, which--believe me--is a rare feat!) and during last night's episode, one of the teenage characters said, "I know my mother does some stupid stuff sometimes, but mostly she's cool."
As the future mother of three teenagers, that is the highest praise I will hope for from you and your siblings. :-P
Love,
Your eternally cool mom
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Push It
Dear Connor,
We had this conversation in the car yesterday:
You: Mama, how hard is it to push out a baby?
Me: It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do physically. And it hurts a LOT.
You: Wow, I'm really glad I'm not a girl!
Love,
Mom
We had this conversation in the car yesterday:
You: Mama, how hard is it to push out a baby?
Me: It's the hardest thing I've ever had to do physically. And it hurts a LOT.
You: Wow, I'm really glad I'm not a girl!
Love,
Mom
Friday, November 10, 2017
Cry Session
Dear Connor,
It began innocently enough. We have "Movie Night Fridays" in our house and the movie this week was Boss Baby. We had seen the commercials when it was in theaters way back in March and it looked really funny, so we were excited to finally be able to rent it on Netflix. During the first half of the movie, you, MuiMui and DiDi laughed and giggled and seemed to be enjoying the movie. Fast forward to the climactic chase scene near the end--I kid you not, all THREE of you started bawling, one after the other. First, you started screaming and crying. MuiMui was already whimpering in fear and when you started crying, that pushed her over the edge and she started wailing. The movie didn't upset DiDi but seeing the two of you crying did, so he took his cues from you guys and began sobbing. What. In. The. Holy. WORLD?!?!?
We have watched plenty of kids' movies that had scary parts (the wolves chasing Anna and Kristoff in Frozen, the Beast kidnapping Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast, etc.) but the particular scene that we were watching in Boss Baby when the three of you lost it didn't seem like it would trigger any nightmares. The movie centers around a little boy and his baby brother and during the big scene, their parents are at the airport and about to leave for a business trip. The parents had left the boys under the care of a babysitter who turned out to be mean, so the boys had run to the airport to catch their parents. The boys didn't get there in time, though, so they watched from afar as their parents boarded the plane and the crew shut the door. And it was at that exact point that you started crying, thus setting off the sibling chain reaction.
Of course, in retrospect, Daddy and I now see why that scene would be so frightening for three little kids. Their parents left them! They have to stay with the evil babysitter! I'm so sorry you guys got scared. And I'm also sorry Daddy and I weren't that successful in stifling our laughter as we were comforting all of you. We were not expecting that scene to affect you so much and we were so bewildered when all of you were crying at the same time!
Love,
Mom
It began innocently enough. We have "Movie Night Fridays" in our house and the movie this week was Boss Baby. We had seen the commercials when it was in theaters way back in March and it looked really funny, so we were excited to finally be able to rent it on Netflix. During the first half of the movie, you, MuiMui and DiDi laughed and giggled and seemed to be enjoying the movie. Fast forward to the climactic chase scene near the end--I kid you not, all THREE of you started bawling, one after the other. First, you started screaming and crying. MuiMui was already whimpering in fear and when you started crying, that pushed her over the edge and she started wailing. The movie didn't upset DiDi but seeing the two of you crying did, so he took his cues from you guys and began sobbing. What. In. The. Holy. WORLD?!?!?
We have watched plenty of kids' movies that had scary parts (the wolves chasing Anna and Kristoff in Frozen, the Beast kidnapping Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast, etc.) but the particular scene that we were watching in Boss Baby when the three of you lost it didn't seem like it would trigger any nightmares. The movie centers around a little boy and his baby brother and during the big scene, their parents are at the airport and about to leave for a business trip. The parents had left the boys under the care of a babysitter who turned out to be mean, so the boys had run to the airport to catch their parents. The boys didn't get there in time, though, so they watched from afar as their parents boarded the plane and the crew shut the door. And it was at that exact point that you started crying, thus setting off the sibling chain reaction.
Of course, in retrospect, Daddy and I now see why that scene would be so frightening for three little kids. Their parents left them! They have to stay with the evil babysitter! I'm so sorry you guys got scared. And I'm also sorry Daddy and I weren't that successful in stifling our laughter as we were comforting all of you. We were not expecting that scene to affect you so much and we were so bewildered when all of you were crying at the same time!
Love,
Mom
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Halloween Treat
Dear Connor,
While getting bucketfuls of free candy was undoubtedly the highlight of your--and every kids'--Halloween, my favorite part about yesterday was seeing how thoughtful you are.
You love your sweets (your favorites are Snickers, Tootsie Rolls and butterscotch Dum-Dums) and--again, like every kid--set out yesterday to collect as much Halloween loot as possible. We began trick-or-treating shortly after you and MuiMui got out of school, but our friend Brian and his daughter JoJo couldn't start until later on. They joined us around 4:30pm and when you saw JoJo's empty trick-or-treat bucket, you immediately threw a big handful of your candy into it without anyone even asking you to. I was so touched and am so proud of you for being so kind.
We trick-or-treated for two hours and when we got home, you wanted to share more of your candy, so you and MuiMui sat on our front steps and paid it forward by giving away your candy to trick-or-treaters. Since it was later on in the evening, many of the trick-or-treaters were older kids in middle school, so it was kind of funny to see a second grader giving his Halloween candy to eighth graders. You and MuiMui had a lot of fun passing out candy but that part of the evening wasn't completely altruistic--whereas you gave JoJo candy you do like (I saw you toss her some Snickers and Mott's fruit snacks), you told me in between trick-or-treaters, "I'm giving them the candy I don't like so it won't go to waste." Smart!
Love,
Mom
While getting bucketfuls of free candy was undoubtedly the highlight of your--and every kids'--Halloween, my favorite part about yesterday was seeing how thoughtful you are.
You love your sweets (your favorites are Snickers, Tootsie Rolls and butterscotch Dum-Dums) and--again, like every kid--set out yesterday to collect as much Halloween loot as possible. We began trick-or-treating shortly after you and MuiMui got out of school, but our friend Brian and his daughter JoJo couldn't start until later on. They joined us around 4:30pm and when you saw JoJo's empty trick-or-treat bucket, you immediately threw a big handful of your candy into it without anyone even asking you to. I was so touched and am so proud of you for being so kind.
We trick-or-treated for two hours and when we got home, you wanted to share more of your candy, so you and MuiMui sat on our front steps and paid it forward by giving away your candy to trick-or-treaters. Since it was later on in the evening, many of the trick-or-treaters were older kids in middle school, so it was kind of funny to see a second grader giving his Halloween candy to eighth graders. You and MuiMui had a lot of fun passing out candy but that part of the evening wasn't completely altruistic--whereas you gave JoJo candy you do like (I saw you toss her some Snickers and Mott's fruit snacks), you told me in between trick-or-treaters, "I'm giving them the candy I don't like so it won't go to waste." Smart!
 |
| Sorting your loot at the end of the night |
Love,
Mom
Monday, October 23, 2017
Not For Sale
Dear Connor,
We were at a restaurant yesterday waiting for our takeout order when you suddenly turned to me and said, "Mama, I'm glad you're not poor so you don't have to sell your kids." Um . . . me, too?
It turns out that you had read a biography about a girl in Afghanistan whose parents didn't have a lot of money and tried to sell her. Hence your comment!
Love,
Mom
P.S. I was almost going to title this post "Kids for Sale" but then thought about what kind of trouble that would get me in!
We were at a restaurant yesterday waiting for our takeout order when you suddenly turned to me and said, "Mama, I'm glad you're not poor so you don't have to sell your kids." Um . . . me, too?
It turns out that you had read a biography about a girl in Afghanistan whose parents didn't have a lot of money and tried to sell her. Hence your comment!
Love,
Mom
P.S. I was almost going to title this post "Kids for Sale" but then thought about what kind of trouble that would get me in!
Monday, October 2, 2017
Massive Appetite
Dear Connor,
GongGong was helping you with your homework today and one of your vocab words was the word "massive." I told you that massive means really big and to use the word in a sentence. You quickly came up with, "My grandfather eats a massive amount of chicken."
Hahahaha! It's funny because it's true!
Love,
Mom
GongGong was helping you with your homework today and one of your vocab words was the word "massive." I told you that massive means really big and to use the word in a sentence. You quickly came up with, "My grandfather eats a massive amount of chicken."
Hahahaha! It's funny because it's true!
Love,
Mom
Thursday, September 7, 2017
You're Seven Years Old!
Dear Connor,
Here is an example of the type of conversation you and I have on a regular basis:
You: Can I have a snack?
Me: No, I'm cooking dinner.
You: Can I have a cereal bar?
Me: I said no. You can see that I'm cooking right now. If you eat now, you'll be too full for dinner.
You: But I'm starving! [Even though you had a smoothie and bowl of pretzels 30 minutes earlier.] Can I have a peanut butter sandwich?
Me: NO.
You: Can I just have a spoon of peanut butter then?
Me: CONNOR, I SAID NO!!!
*sigh*
You are the most persistent person I have ever had to deal with, hands down. When you want something--be it a snack, screen time or to be allowed to stay up past your bedtime--you do not like to take no for an answer and sometimes/many times do what you want even after Daddy and I tell you that you can't. And therefore, the #1 thing that Daddy and I scold you for is not listening. When you look back on your childhood as an adult, you will probably vividly remember the countless times Daddy and I said to you in exasperated tones, "You have to listen when we tell you to do something! Why can't you listen better? You got in trouble at school for not listening again?!" (Or maybe you will have blocked all that out. Time will tell.)
There are dozens of articles about the challenges of parenting the "strong-willed child." You are definitely strong-willed and parenting you is definitely a challenge. You have an idea of the way things should be and when what we want doesn't overlap with what you want, you protest, argue, beg, whine . . . everything but say, "Sure, Mama, I'll do everything you just told me to do right away." :-P
I'm not going to lie. Being your mom can be frustrating and exhausting. Some days, it feels as if all we do is argue about what you want to do versus what I need you to do. But no matter how annoyed or angry I get at you, I want you to know that I am also proud of you. You don't just blindly follow rules for the sake of following rules; you consider and question them if they don't seem right to you. This obviously gets you into trouble at home and at school but I am proud of you for seeing things your own way. I am proud of you for always speaking your mind. I am proud of you for knowing what you want and not being afraid to fight for it. I am proud of your perseverance.
Those qualities may test my patience on a daily basis when I have told you to start your homework (for the tenth time!) but those same qualities will take you so very far in life. I can't wait to see where you go.
Happy 7th birthday to my smart, sweet and incredibly strong boy! I love you so much!
Love,
Mom
Here is an example of the type of conversation you and I have on a regular basis:
You: Can I have a snack?
Me: No, I'm cooking dinner.
You: Can I have a cereal bar?
Me: I said no. You can see that I'm cooking right now. If you eat now, you'll be too full for dinner.
You: But I'm starving! [Even though you had a smoothie and bowl of pretzels 30 minutes earlier.] Can I have a peanut butter sandwich?
Me: NO.
You: Can I just have a spoon of peanut butter then?
Me: CONNOR, I SAID NO!!!
*sigh*
You are the most persistent person I have ever had to deal with, hands down. When you want something--be it a snack, screen time or to be allowed to stay up past your bedtime--you do not like to take no for an answer and sometimes/many times do what you want even after Daddy and I tell you that you can't. And therefore, the #1 thing that Daddy and I scold you for is not listening. When you look back on your childhood as an adult, you will probably vividly remember the countless times Daddy and I said to you in exasperated tones, "You have to listen when we tell you to do something! Why can't you listen better? You got in trouble at school for not listening again?!" (Or maybe you will have blocked all that out. Time will tell.)
There are dozens of articles about the challenges of parenting the "strong-willed child." You are definitely strong-willed and parenting you is definitely a challenge. You have an idea of the way things should be and when what we want doesn't overlap with what you want, you protest, argue, beg, whine . . . everything but say, "Sure, Mama, I'll do everything you just told me to do right away." :-P
I'm not going to lie. Being your mom can be frustrating and exhausting. Some days, it feels as if all we do is argue about what you want to do versus what I need you to do. But no matter how annoyed or angry I get at you, I want you to know that I am also proud of you. You don't just blindly follow rules for the sake of following rules; you consider and question them if they don't seem right to you. This obviously gets you into trouble at home and at school but I am proud of you for seeing things your own way. I am proud of you for always speaking your mind. I am proud of you for knowing what you want and not being afraid to fight for it. I am proud of your perseverance.
Those qualities may test my patience on a daily basis when I have told you to start your homework (for the tenth time!) but those same qualities will take you so very far in life. I can't wait to see where you go.
Happy 7th birthday to my smart, sweet and incredibly strong boy! I love you so much!
Love,
Mom
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