Bicker, bicker, bicker.
"I'm getting the cd out of your drawer."
"No, you're not!"
"Stop it!"
"No, you stop it!"
[hitting and wrestling ensue]
"J, go to your room! A go to time-out, THERE!"
"Why do you always go after me when HE'S the one being a jerk?!"
"You're both being punished!"
"Mommy," M says, "he's calling me a loser!" [Who the hell knows who "he" is?]
That's our household today despite taking the kids out to breakfast and then watching Monster House. They're all irritable. Criminy, it's hot. We got into our Chevy Suburban after the film and literally could not touch the windows, they were THAT hot. When driving home from the film on the 210 Freeway, the temperature gauge on the truck read 116.
The movie. Gotta say, the trailers didn't tell just how scary the movie is for the little ones. There are scary faces in the frame screaming how "you're" going to die, kids calling for their mommy as they're being sucked into a green funnel of doom, there's of course the creepy house that literally turns into a very scary monster with teeth and claws and eats everything and everyone that dares cross its threshold, sad tales of abused carnival freaks, shadows and scary hands and trees that pluck children as they're running for their lives...really, it's a twisted, cartoon version of Poltergeist.
Several parents left with their children clinging to them. We didn't leave (oh hell no, not after spending $40 for online tickets) but M made her way to my lap and her cousin, TH, made his way to his mom's lap. J loved it...it was right up his alley, having puberty mentions, absentee parents, a kiss of a girl on the lips, and violent, wrenching scenes of people getting eaten alive. Yummy!
There was lots of humor, too, don't get me wrong - lots of jokey, cute dialogue. The characters were drawn well and the story was a classic story of releasing grief (perfect for the kids!). Overall, Monster House is an excellent movie - just be warned that it might be too frightening for more sensitive kids and children under 7.
So yeah...there's our day.
What else...oh yes, D and I saw Michael McDonald and Steely Dan in concert at Verizon Ampitheater in Irvine this past week. We really had a wonderful time (the kids stayed home with the babysitter which is always good). The music was wonderful, the night was gorgeous. Perfect, really.
Well...I'm off to have lunch. I'll check in later on this very, very hot day.
***
(Update 1) Ahhh...the heat continues. So our oldest and dearest wants to go to a friend's house to spend the night. D and I are wary because he's been very grouchy, grouchy to the point where we think maybe he's been skipping medication for his mood swings. Anyway, he wants to go to church with a friend, but he also wants to spend the night. D says fine, "But wear your black pants, not the torn-up ones." J doesn't want to wear the black pants, "They're too baggy."
They're not too baggy. They're not peg-legged, but they're not baggy.
"What about my gym shorts?"
"Wear nice pants - you're going to church."
The battle escalates. A half hour later, J demands to know why we became teachers and not something else that pays more so we can buy his Krew pants that he likes.
"Why are we so goddamned poor?! Why can't I wear normal pants?! I'm going to kill myself!!"
Needless to say, J is staying home tonight because he might kill himself due to the fact that we won't buy him sixty-dollar jeans. I don't care how much he wants to find Jesus, he's NOT going anywhere. So, dinner is all messed up. M is eating ice cream covered in Trader Joe's Midnight Moo (pretend chocolate syrup) and A is eating left-over ribs. I'm eating Sunchips because they're better than regular chips. D is sulking in his room. I love summer! Be back later to update.
(Epilogue) The house is calm. J is on the computer, M and A are playing quietly in front of the television, D is watching the Tour de France. I'm posting. There was one final request to spend the night out by J, but I quashed that with a smile. The night will be here soon. The day will be done.
Then...well, you know the rest, sun rising and all that.
6 comments:
And the beat goes on :-)
Yeah, this heat is a bit much. Even up here, over 100.
Lots of crankiness.
But Steely Dan, anyway! That sounds like it was great.
My parents not being able to buy me the clothes that I wanted was always an issue growing up, especially in the 60’s. Going to church however wasn’t. Somehow I don’t think that sun chips, no matter how “better” they are for you than regular chips, offer you enough sustenance to be able to maintain and deal with the stress that this overheated family day necessitated – go for the protein, you’ll last longer.
Ah, just for the record I now wear Kill City Jeans: black, skin tight, peg legged – though not to church. Although at $72.80 a pair I might just have to do some praying that I don’t go broke buying them.
Thanks, as always, for letting me hang out with you and the family tonight. So complete was your portrayal that I feel like I was stuck inside, no breeze, the TV’s on and outside there’s a neighbor’s sprinkler noisily watering the lawn.
Dale, Steely Dan was awesome! I keep hearing something about the earth's surface temperature being the hottest like...ever. LOL
Patrick, you're so sweet - it's always my pleasure to have you hang around us. :) As a note, I did dump the sun chips for a turkey sandwich.
Thanks bud...now I don't feel so alone...after having to put my kid in time out god-knows-how-many times today for various, typically toddlery offenses.
And it's damned nasty hot here too.
Sounds like my girl. She has some incredible moments in which she comes out with clunkers like "Why couldn't you be rich like all my friends? Teaching is so stupid!" and I look at her with my mouth gaping open. Where did this girl come from? She wants to be a fashion designer if her dream of becoming a very rich actor doesn't come true. But between those moments in which I begin thinking I should disown her, she's great. I'm sure J will come around when he gets past these most difficult of years.
Hey Lori, you know I'm right beside you with the mania of raising "wilful" toddlers. ;)
Danny, J really did raise a rather "modern" question dating back to the 60's when consumerism became a right rather than a privilege. I, too, am very concerned about what's happening to our earth. I vascillate though between Gore's view and George Carlin's view (where he says earth will shake us and our plastic bags off like a bad case of fleas). Your night sounds like a good one!
Tarakuanyin, you said it, we heard our son's comments with our mouths open in shock. Like you, I feel pretty certain he'll come around. But I'm not 100% certain because he's being raised in a new world - I have no idea what the impact will be on him of his current environment and the personal issues. On some level, I watch him as I would watch a new flower grow in my garden.
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