Gimme a G

Tonight on our way home from camp I hear, "Gimme a G! What? That's what cheerleaders say?!?" I could practically hear John's eyes rolling. Gillian said "Gimme a G! Gimme an I! Gimme a L L! Gimme a I. Gimme a..." John said "A." Gillian said "Yeah, A. Gimme a N! What's that spell?" John said in the driest, most bored voice "Gillian." She turns to him and says "You're supposed to say GILLIAN!" And put her arms up in a V over her head. 

Smarter

Today we picked up Gillian's new glasses. She is very excited and very proud of them. On the way home, she looked at John and said "Do they make me look smarter?" He said "Let's test them! What is Pi?" Gillian took a moment and then said "Pie is something you eat. It's in the grain family." He said "Mom, tell her what Pi is!" I explained "Pi is a number it starts 3.14 and goes on forever." Gillian was a little disappointed. But John said "But you did talk about the health stuff. That's good. Don't think it comes from the glasses."

The computer

In the the car tonight, Gillian asked "Can I have my own computer?" I laughed and said "What are you going to do on the computer?" She said "Reading Eggs. I do Reading Eggs in technology. I want a computer to do it at home." I said "You can use my laptop. Just like Johnny does for his homework." "Can I do it tonight?"  I can't say no to that. So I agreed if she had time after homework and bath she could use my laptop. Well it turns out that she had a hard time using the mouse on the laptop so we went downstairs to use Daddy's computer. 

She sat and played Reading Eggs (it's an online program for kids learning to read)  for twenty minutes before bed. We will make sure she has some time tomorrow to play too. 

The calculator

Tonight I picked up Gillian from Time Plus then we went to pick up John. Gillian immediately ran over to one of John's Time Plus teachers (she always gives Gillian coloring sheets or projects to do at home). While Gillian was distracted John ran past me to get his backpack. I noticed he was holding a calculator in his hand. Once John had his coat on we headed to the car. Gillian asked "Where did you get that phone, John? John, why do you have a phone?" John said "It's not a phone Gill. It's a calculator! I got it in class today." I said "John were you supposed to take it home?" He said "Yeah, we had a game and if we beat Mrs. Cuttler then we got to pick a prize. I picked a calculator. There were only three!" Gillian said "So the calculator was the best prize?!" John said "I think so!" Gillian wanted to see it in the car. But we talked about how it is John's and he would show her after dinner. He did show her how to use it. "Gill, this is how you turn it on. And then you push this button to clear it all. And Gill, do you know about dividing? Cause that's the button you use to divide." He was very sweet and showed Gillian how to use the calculator. 

Earrings

In the car tonight, I told Gillian "Guess what? Soon we will be able to put different earrings in." She said "When I can wear new earrings? Like tomorrow?" I said "No. We have a week to go. And then we get to put in different earrings." She smiled and said "I want diamond earrings." I giggled and said "Really? Do you know what a diamond is?" She said "No. Not really."

Pinnies

In the car tonight, John told me about this week's elective, Capture the Flag. He said "Well, we don't have flags. We use frisbees." I laughed and said "So it's really capture the frisbee?" He said "Yea. We play pinnies and no pinnies. I like no pinnies. Cause when you play pinnies you gotta wear a pinnie. And I got really hot. So I had to take a break." 

A Million

In the car tonight, Gillian told me "Did you know I can count to a million?" Now I'm intrigued and say "No! Please count for me." She says "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eighth, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, one hundred, one million!" And I laughed. Gillian said "Sometimes it gets out of hand!" 

The Lizard Guys

Gillian's school had the Lizard Guys come visit today. Gillian told me about their visit in the car tonight. She said "Silly Billy came today. What? That's his name! He brought a lizard. The lizard was so fast! He ran all over the carpet! And there was a frog. He was slimy and bumpy!" I asked "Was he a tree frog?" Gillian said "No! But he was hopping everywhere. And he said 'I'm outa here!'" I said "Really?" Gillian said "What? I can talk frog!" She also told me about the snake. "The snake's name was Jack-Jack. He was a boy!" Then she told me about the turtle. "And there was John's favorite animal! His name was Tickle. He was slow. Not like the lizard." It sounded like Gillian had an awesome time.  

The Story

Everyday Gillian comes home with a stack of pictures that she made at school.  Today was no different.  She folded all the pictures together to make a book and then she "read" John and I the story.  She created the story in the car, but after bath time I asked her to tell me one more time.  Here is a video of her story.

 



How was your day?

Every night at dinner we ask the kids about their days. This has taught them to ask others how their day is and listen to other people stories. Basically we are teaching them how to hold a conversation. In the long run it will be very beneficial for them, but now it sometimes seems too routine for the kids. 

Whenever I pick up Gillian from school we have the following conversation:

G: How was your day?

M: Good. How was your day?

G: Good. How was your day?

M: Good. How was your day?

G: Good. How was your day?

And we will continue this round robin until one of us gives up. Today we did it a little bit different. 

G: How was your day?

M: Good. How was your day?

G: Good. How was your day?

M: Awesome. How was your day?

G: Good. How was your day?

M: Fabulous. How was your day?

G: Fabulous! How was your day?

M: Amazing! How was your day?

G: Awesomesauce! How was your day?

We continued with different adjectives until Gillian had enough. She loved it. Let's see if she remembers them tomorrow. 

Car ride

Daddy called me on his way home tonight. We were discussing dinner plans when I heard "Hi Mommy!" I said "Hi Beansy!" I then heard her mumble something. And then Daddy said "Well I love Mommy too!" They are so sweet. 

Daddy told me the rest of the way home they played a little game. It's just like the "duck" that sometimes visits in my car, but it was a dog in Daddy's car. Gillian was wearing a knit hat that looks like a dog today. So she started barking in the backseat and Daddy asked "Gillian, is there a dog back there?" Gillian thought this was hilarious. 

The duck part 2

Tonight, I picked up Gillian from school. In the car I asked "How was your day?" She didn't answer me. I asked again "Gillian, how was your day?" She said "I don't want to talk about it now." Ugh. I hate that. So we sat in silence for awhile until she heard something on the radio. "Mama, can you make it louder?" It was a commercial for the new Imagine Dragons song. She said "I want to hear it. Mama where did it go." Unfortunately it was just a commercial, and we didn't get to hear the whole song. So again we sat in silence. Then she said "Can we play the duck game?" About a month ago I blogged about how she was quacking in the backseat and I kept asking her about the duck. Well that's what she wanted to do. So she quacked and I asked "Gillian, did you hear that?" And she laughed. Then she quacked again and again. I played along and questioned if she saw the duck. She thought it was hilarious. Finally she said "It was me! I am the duck!" Love her. 

What I really wanted

I brought John to work with me the past couple of days. Sharon asked him on Monday, "Did Santa bring you everything you wanted?" He said "No. And I'm not going to tell you what I wanted." Sharon laughed about it when she recounted the story to me later. 

That night when I had both kids in the car, I asked them "Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?" Gillian said "No! I wanted a big Minnie Mouse like my Mickey Mouse!" I said "Sorry, I didn't know that you wanted a new Minnie. You already have a Princess Minnie." She said "Yea, but she's little. I want a big one like my Mickey!" I asked "John, did you get everything you wanted?" He said "Yes." I said "Really? Then why did you tell Miss Sharon that you didn't?" He said "Oh yea. Well I didn't." I pressed and said "What did you want?" He wasn't budging. So I said "Did you tell Santa when we saw him the other day?" He said "No. But I did write him a friendly letter at school telling him about it. But I'm not sure if it got mailed." I said "Ok, well it's hard to get you something if he doesn't know. Can you tell me about it?" He said "I'll give you a hint. It's something you can do with a toy." Well that's vague. I asked "A table? You know so you can do your Legos on it?" He thought this was a crazy suggestion. I guessed a few more random things and then it dawned on me. I said "Did you want to give someone a toy?" He said "Yes, I wanted to do a giving tree. I wanted to give a toy to someone." He just melts my heart. I said "Johnny, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I promise next year we will do a giving tree and you will help pick out the toy." My sweet little boy didn't want something else for himself, he wanted to help someone in need. What a wonderful little man!

Pez

Daddy picked up Gillian from school today. In the car, she was playing with a Santa Pez dispenser she got for Christmas this year. She asked Daddy "Is my Elsa up there? Can I have her?" Daddy handed her the Elsa Pez dispenser (she also got for Christmas). And Gillian began to play with the two of them. Gillian had Santa and Elsa talk to each other. Santa said "Ho Ho Ho!" Elsa said "Let it go!" And then Santa and Elsa had a little discussion. At dinner tonight, we asked Gillian about what happened in the car. She said "Santa and Elsa had a fight."

Car conversations

I love talking to the kids in the car. There is something about a car that gives kids the convidence to tell you all kinds of things. Maybe it's because you aren't looking directly at them. I don't know. 

So today, Gillian and I ran some errands (just the girls). On our way home, Gillian asked "Are you going to die?" I tried to laugh it off and say "I wasn't planning on it." She didn't get my joke. So I said "No. Why do you ask?" She said "Cause parents die." Perhaps she has watched too many Disney movies. I said "Sometimes, but Mommy isn't going anywhere." She said "So you will be around to drive me places?" I said "Of course, until you are able to drive me." She said "But I don't know how to drive." I laughed and said "Don't worry, I will teach you." She said "OK, good cause I don't know how to drive." And that was it. She changed the subject. 

Penguin visit

Today the penguins from Jenkinson's Aquarium visited Gillian's school.  They visit every year.  Check out some of my previous posts about the penguin visit:  1) 2011 Penguins & Toothbrushes, 2) 2011 Yoshi & Checkers and 3) 2013 Penguins. 

I picked up Gillian from school today. In her cubby was an adorable picture of a penguin. When I saw her I said "I love your penguin! He's so cute!" She said "It's a girl. And a real penguin came to school today! He didn't like his cage. And and....and..." And her teacher interrupted, and said "He was new. He doesn't like his cage and he followed the trainer around the room. He was so cute." 

In the car on our way to get John, Gillian told me more. "They use their beaks when their hair gets crazy! But they don't gots no hair!" I asked "Did you get to pet him?" She said "No! Cause he would bite me!" I asked "So what else to penguins eat besides little girls?" She laughed at me and said "He doesn't eat people! Thems eat fish. And some other stuff. But the boy only likes fish! And him's didn't like his cage. He would put his wings up when he had to go in!" 

When we got home, she posed with her penguin. She decided "Hers a girl. And her name is Sparkle!"

The duck

I picked up Gillian from school today. In the car on our way to get John, Gillian wanted to play I Spy again. But I didn't want to play. I guess she got frustrated with me, so she started to quack. Instead of calling her out on making the noise, every time she would quack I said "Gillian did you hear that?" And she would laugh and then do it again. I asked "Gillian, is there a duck back there?" She laughed and said "No!" She laughed some more at me and then quacked again. I said "Gillian, there it is again? Did you hear it?" She said "No!" It didn't stop her. She continued to quack. I lowered the volume on the radio and said "Listen, can you hear it now?" She giggled and said "I don't hear it." And then she quacked again. "Gilly, did you hear that? I think there's a duck in here!" She laughed and laughed. We got all the way to John's school by giggling at the silly duck stuck in our car. 

I spy

I picked up the kids from school today and as Gillian and I walked out of school, she asked "Can we play I spy?" I said "Of course." As we drove to get John, we played "I Spy." Gillian is not very good. So we stick to simple ideas. I started and said "I spy with my little eye, something that is pink." She thought about it for a few seconds then said "My jacket!" And she was right. She said, "Ok, my turn. I spy something that is green." I laughed and tried to not solve it right away, "Is it the trees? How about that bush? I know, it's the grass." She giggled and said "The grass!" We went back and forth for awhile. It's really hard to come up with something simple for Gillian to guess and that will travel with us while driving. Gillian had a hard time too. But she loves to give hints. So she says "I spy something that is pink!" I guessed "Your backpack or your jacket." She said "No. I give you a hint. It's Clover (her bunny) his ears. But the inside." Well that's not a hint, that's the answer. So I say "Clover's ears." She laughed and said "No. Here's a hint. It's the INSIDE of his ears." Awesome hint. I say "The inside of Clover's ears!" "Yup, your turn!" She cracks me up. We continued to pay after we got John, but it didn't last long because John got frustrated with her. Oh well. I enjoyed it. 

Never eat soggy waffles

John has a quiz tomorrow on maps, directions and state facts. I our way home tonight, I reminded him about his quiz. He said "Do I have to study? Cause I know it all. Remember I got all the questions right last night." I quizzed him anyway. I asked "What is the state animal?" He said "Horse. But I wish it was a lion. Actually I wish it was a cobra!" I asked "What's the state insect?" He said "Honey bee." I asked "What are the four directions?" He was very quiet. So I said "You know, on a map." He very slowly said "North, east, south and west." I laughed and said "Very good."  He said "Wanna know how I remember? Never Eat Soggy Waffles. What? It works. Never eat soggy waffles. North, east, south, west!" 

Suburban

In the car this morning, we got stuck waiting for a train to pass. John looked out his window and said "I think I see an animal." I saw it too. I told him, "I think that's a groundhog." He said "I don't know. I've never seen one. We should look at my animal book. First we know it's a suburban animal. And it eats leaves." I questioned "Suburban?" He said "We live in a suburban community. Rural is the biggest. But we live in a suburban community. We need to look for him in my animal book."