Captain Eo

Last week was Spring Break and, being the good parents that we are, we took the kids to Disneyland.  It was really for Calvin's Golden Birthday (I'll explain that later).

Oh...yeah about that last post...I accidentally highlighted a few sentences and then was unable to un-highlight them.  So I brilliantly decided to change the color of the highlight to white.  Perfect solution, right?   Not so perfect.  Sorry.  I'm new.

Back to Disneyland.  While we were there we took in the Captain Eo show which is, you know, Captain Eo.  Nobody really said much about it until later that day when I said to Calvin and Mr Smarty Pants, "Let me tell you a secret about dad.  Twenty years ago, he was Captain Eo." 

I don't  know why I told them that.  We were waiting for Captain Eo Dad and my daughter Darla to return from getting fast passes for something and it was getting boring.  Well, Calvin who is 10 immediately shot me a gimme a break kind of look.  His brother, Mr Smarty Pants could just as easily be Mr I'll Believe Anything You Say As Long As  It's Unbelievable Pants, however.  He looked at me with those big blue eyes filled with amazement.  "Really?  Dad is Captain Eo?  Oh man, I can't believe it!"  He believed it.  Calivn kindly looked away.

Several times throughout the day he made reference to Dad and Captain Eo.  Now Mr Smarty Pants really is a smart kid, but he will believe ANYTHING!   Occassionally I feel guilty about teasing him like this because one day he'll be really embarrassed by it and then I'll be in trouble.  But not yet.  I hope.

So the next day Mr Smarty Pants and I were again waiting for Dad and Darla to get fast passes.  This time Calvin went with them.  Thing 1 and Thing 2 were there, too, in their strollers eating smarties or sleeping.  We just happened to be outside Space Mountain, which is right next to the Captain Eo theater.  MSP noticed a poster advertising the show and read that it starred Michael Jackson.  "Mom!"  Oh no, here it comes.  "This says....is... is dad Michael Jackson?"  

Have you ever noticed how hard it is not to laugh when every fiber of your being is screaming for laughter?  I did not laugh.  I felt nothing but remorse for teasing my poor little boy who believes everything I tell him.  Who else can he believe, if not his mother?  Certainly not his father, he's worse than I am!  But, I felt like I had let him down.  So I told him very gently, "No.  Dad's not Michael Jackson."  "But that sign says Michael Jackson is Captain Eo.  Were you just kidding?" "Yeah, I was just kidding."  "Oh, mom!"  but his cute happy smile was there the whole time.  Whew!

And then to top it all off he hatched a plan of his own.  "Let's not tell Darla and Calvin that Dad's not really Captain Eo!"  so excited to be pulling the wool over someone else's eyes for a change. 

What a sweet Smarty Pants!

THING 1: A Boy Obsessed

So my little Thing 1 is by far my most outgoing child.  He'll strike up a conversation with a brick wall. 

He gets the I'll-talk-to-anyone-I-think-might-be-listening gene from Grandma.  He has no concept of strangers.  Or boundaries.  Or just being quiet for a minute so I can think straight.

And his favorite topic of conversation?  Any guesses?

The Wii.  More specifically, Wii games, or game.  The boy eats, sleeps and breathes Super Mario Galaxy II.  And he talks about it obsessively.  I should state, for the record, that perhaps the reason he is so vocal about his love for SMGII all day long is that he's not allowed to actually play it all day long. 

 AAHHH!  That family rule is the bane of his young existance.

So he makes the best of it and just talks everybodies' ears off at every opportunity. Like, at church, "Teacher did you know that I have SMGII?"  Or at the store, "Well, Mom/Dad I got to the 10,000th level of SMGII."  Or during everyone else's conversations, "Did you know....Hey did you know...Hey...HeyIhaveSuperMarioGalaxyIIfortheWii!" and he gasps for breath after quickly managing to get that all out. 

Now, I'm not complaining, mind you.  He is, after all, only 4. I think it's kind of a hoot.  I'm actually glad to see that he can stick with something longer than 3 seconds. 

One time at church, during the sacrament he yelled whispered to me that Jesus died on the cross, and in the same breath belted out the theme song to Dinosaur Train. 

 It went a little something like this, "Deesus died on da twoss DIYASAA TWAI-----N! DIYASSA TWAI--------N!"

So he can be serious.  Like earlier this evening we had the following conversation:

T1: Mom, will you marry me?
Me: (not sure I heard him right, clear in the other room)Oh,   Thing 1, do you want to marry me?
T1: Mom, you're already married!  To Dad.
Me: Yeah, that's true, I am.
Silence
Me: You know, Thing 1, in a few years you'll meet someone else...
T1: When I'm eight?  will I be married then?
Me: Well, like in 20 years, you'll like someone even more than me and that's who you'll want to marry.
T1:  Who is it?
Me:  We'll just have to wait and see.
T1:  Is it Grandma?
Me:  Well, Grandma is already married, too.
T1:  She is?
Me:  Yeah.  To Grandpa.

He looked absolutely stunned.  And for once, he was speechless.

Hello? Is this Thing On?

                                  This is a little test to see if this thing really works. 
                                 My whole blog is a work in progress, as is my life. 
               You know, I try to figure things out a little here, muddle through a little there,
                                             and all the while hope for the best. 
                                              Usually it works out pretty well. 
                              Now, if only I could figure out how to add chocolate