Subtle Differences

If you read yesterday's post, you know that Domino lost his first tooth. By the end of the day, he was very excited about the process and couldn't wait for the tooth fairy to come. We read books about the tooth fairy and he listed off all the stuff the tooth fairy was going to bring - like the tooth fairy was Santa. I explained "The tooth fairy doesn't bring presents - the tooth fairy brings lucky coins."

After the kids were asleep the tooth fairy got to work. About a year ago, I purchased a new coin-jar style piggy bank for Domino, one that keeps track of how much money goes in, with the plan of the tooth fairy delivering it with some change inside. I opened the box last night and discovered the thing takes AAA batteries - of which I had none. I pillaged one of our lesser used remote controls and set it up.

Inside the piggy bank, I placed a typed up note from the tooth fairy. I used a super small font on a cut down long thin strip of paper which I curled around a pencil for a while so it was a neat spiral shape. As for the $ - I threw in one of my silver dollars.

I have been collecting silver dollars since I was a kid. If my foggy memory is correct, my grandfather used to give them to me for my birthday. I've had a collection of the same 40 or so silver dollars for about 30 years. I've added a handful of Susan B's over time as well. For many years I had them all hidden in an old red purse so that my brother wouldn't find them and steal them. After my brother moved out, the red purse just seemed like the natural place to store the coins and they remained there long after I moved out into my own apartment. Honestly, I think I had them saved away in that red purse when I met Tonester! I've saved those silver dollars for years and years - almost like my own little treasure. It would never enter my mind to spend them.

But I digress...

When I went in last night to do my fairy duties, Domino was asleep completely turned around on the bed - head at the feet - almost as far away from the pillow as possible. I had expected him to booby trap the bed on me and hide the tooth just to see what would happen, but instead it seemed like he didn't want to risk it with the tooth fairy and took the path of least resistance.

This morning when I went to wake him, he excitedly said "what the....?!" at the money jar. He was very happy and enjoyed the little note. Immediately, he ran to wake up Rascal.

"Rascal! Rascal! The tooth fairy came and brought me a whole dollar!!"

Rascal rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and then, to my horror, checked under his pillow for his dollar.

See, the thing is, I guess I failed to explain the subtle differences between the other big mythological present givers - Santa and the Easter Bunny who dole out the loot to all - and the tooth fairy who just visits one kid in the house.

Domino started listing all the stuff he's going to immediately buy with his dollar (all of which costs more than a dollar) and Rascal just sat there glumly. I did my best to cheer him up and explained that his teeth will start getting loose soon too and the tooth fairy will bring him a surprise when it happens.

Then he said "When the tooth fairy gives me special coin like that - I'm going to save it forever."

Amen.

Finally

Domino lost his first tooth today. Oh the drama!! It was loose for about 2 weeks with it really becoming dangly within the last 48 hours.

We went to the dentist today for our routine cleaning. The dentist was very gentle to Dom's feelings and mouth and said the tooth would come out on it's own.

Sure enough - went to lunch and out it came. Tears followed, the vow to never lose another tooth, a fear of the tooth fairy was revealed and the refusal to eat ever again. The waitress came over to see if everything was ok and Domino was sobbing uncontrollably.

He wasn't exactly eager to pose for a photo about a half hour later in the car.


I understand that the legend of the Tooth Fairy has potentially been spoiled by a classmate in kindergarten last year (what the hell?!) but we're hoping to have a good night tonight with stories of fairies and lucky coins.

He already looks like a different kid without that tooth. I can't imagine how different he'll look without the 2 top ones!

A Conversation I Never Thought I'd Have...

... But being married to Tonester for 10 years this week, I should have seen it coming.

"Okay, I'm going to lift the bike and you're going to jam the hooks into the wall."

"The wall?"

"Yes, stand on this." (a small step stool)

"Okay wait a sec. I thought you wanted to hang the bike from the ceiling."

"I do."

"Soooo... why am I jamming hooks into the wall?"

"Wall, ceiling, same thing."

"No, they're not. Totally different actually."

"Are you just going to give me a hard time or are you going to help me?"

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Exactly." (Lifts bike over head)

"Okay wait. Do you honestly believe I can stand on a small footstool and reach the ceiling of the garage?!"

"Can't you?"

"Are you serious?? Dude. I'm 5 foot 3. Do the math."

"What if I put the footstool on a box?"

"What if I fall and jam a large metal hook in your eye?"

"Oh - so you're gonna be like that?"

"This was your idea, not mine."

"Fine. I'll grab a chair." (Comes back) "Here." (Lifts bike over head)

"Don't you think we should park the car in here first?"

"No, it will be in the way."

"The car or the bike?"

"The car."

"Well, isn't that a big problem? The car being in the bike's way -- in the garage?? Shouldn't we know if we've got the bike in the right spot relative to where the car goes? At least bring the car in, hold the bike up, mark the space and then move the car back out."

"Shut up and help me."

"Are there even studs there?"

"What?"

"Studs."

"I don't know."

"You mean to tell me that you plan on jamming large metal hooks into sheet rock, hang a 50 pound bike from the ceiling - right over our car - and expect it to not end in disaster?"

"Ummm.... yes?"

"Let me know how that works out for you. I'll be inside with the yellow pages looking up body shops."

Bittersweet First

Domino started first grade yesterday.

I found myself full of angst all day yesterday. It was a stress I couldn't quite pinpoint to anything in particular, but rather a whole slew of silly things.

We started the day off full of questions - most importantly what teacher Domino would have. Our school doesn't post which class your student will be in until the Friday afternoon before school starts. Living a good 20 miles away, I wasn't about to make an extra trip over there just to find out info I couldn't do anything about.

Domino's wonderful teacher from K/1 last year is now teaching a full 1st grade class. I had really hoped (and quite honestly expected, given the glowing recommendation and parent evaluation I passed along at the end of last school year) that she would be Domino's teacher again this year. I was comfortable and confident with her teaching style and thrilled we had found the right course and level of reading for Domino. I was looking forward to having that history in place. Sadly, this was not the case.

The bulk of Domino's friends, especially Pretty Princess, are not in his class. There are 16 kids in his class, and 3 are the biggest disciplinary problems. One is a boy who Domino on more than one occasion last year called a bully - and I swear the kid has to be 8 years old. Another is the girl who took Domino's hat off and taunted him with it. The third is a girl who was in his class last year and has no self control whatsoever. One day when I was working in class I actually caught her breaking the tips of pencils off in the electrical outlets! She's a huge distraction for the class and I resent her robbing all the other kids of their learning. If the first 2 kids weren't enough to make me sick to my stomach, her name on the roster was enough to make my heart hurt.

When I saw all this info on the roster first thing in the morning, I just wanted to cry. Domino goes to a great school and I'm sure he's in good hands. I tried to not let my disappointment show and Domino seemed fine with it all. When I told him he would not have the same teacher as last year, he said "That's ok Mom. I already graduated from her class last year. I need a new teacher this year" and immediately starting dancing around doing his version of karate and Transformer moves. He made me smile.

He already handles life better than I do.

I don't want to make any early or hasty presumptions about his new teacher because I really don't have any first hand knowledge of her, but I heard another group of parents (those who got into last year's teacher's class) say how relieved they were because his new teacher "isn't good with boys". I didn't feel comfortable enough with the women to stick my head into a conversation I wasn't invited in to say "Excuse me?? Not good with boys?? What do you mean? I've got a boy and that troubles me!" So now, I'm left with a huge question mark about what to expect this year. I can only hope that he was specifically selected for that class to help keep it balanced and grounded.

I also had a high of highs yesterday, to be dealt the blow of blows this morning. Well really, in the grand scheme of things it's all trivial, but at the time (and still sorta now) it was big. I learned yesterday that there is a new girl in Domino's class WHO LIVES IN THE SAME CITY AS US. (That's such huge news that it deserved the all screaming CAPS.) Instantly visions of the perfect $ saving carpool danced in my head. After school playdates! A more normal neighborhood feel! This morning I learned there are 4 kids in her family, ranging from middle school to infant. Needless to say, her mom has her car and hands full and is not interested in a carpool. The grandma picks her up from kindergarten each day and Dad picks her up from Grandma's after work. Phooey.

I guess I need to take a cue from Domino and just dance around and realize it's all no big deal.

Save Me

As you know, I can lean towards the over-protective side of parenting. Especially around water. It wasn't long ago that I decided to stop giving the kids baths and let them run loose in the shower instead. Why? Because I got tired of hovering around the bathroom while they took their baths. Yes, I know - they are 6 and 4 and don't need to be supervised in the tub (really?). That's what a rational person understands. Me? Not so rational...

Recently we went to my niece's 7th birthday party. Kids put their swimsuits on and jumped in and out of the cold hot tub. I didn't realize that Domino had put his suit on and was out there unsupervised. When I discovered him out there (alive and happily playing in the tub) I just about threw up and peed my pants simultaneously. I then pulled up a chair and spent the better portion of the party in lifeguard mode.

So you can imagine my cardiac arrest yesterday at the boys swimming lesson...

This week wasn't a "swimming lesson" per say, but a lifesaving training week. Instead of the small groups of swimmers (there's 6 in their level 1 class) all of the kids from the different swim level classes were in class together.

At first I thought it was cute. "Oh look, they are showing the kids how to throw life saving devices into the pool to save the lifeguards". Domino gave his flotation device a mighty toss into the pool with a loud "GRAB ON! I'LL SAVE YOU!" and pulled his guard halfway in - then dropped the rope and walked away to the next lifesaving task. Rascal tried his best to get his flotation device to the lifeguard but just couldn't manage the size and distance.

All sounds fun, right? I'm laughing along the sidelines with Tonester watching the kids think they are actually rescuing these teenage lifeguards.

And then it took a turn to Scaryville.

They had ALL 30 KIDS IN INNERTUBES SWIMMING THE LENGTH OF THE POOL AND BACK. TWICE.

DID I MENTION THAT THEY WERE IN THE DEEP END OF THE POOL?!!

Rascal is a string bean. There was nothing about that inner tube that was safe for him. I think the inner tube weighs more than he does. They instructed him to lean forward in the tube and the backside kept flipping high up into the air with his face getting dunked. Domino on the other hand, fit the tube just fine but had a false sense of confidence that he could now swim. "Look at me! This is awesome! I know how to swim! Look! No hands!!" he was cheering from the water.

The lifeguards blew the whistle for the kids to start swimming. 28 other kids launched off and created a huge wake of waves that my 2 nonswimmers had to try to swim through. They were clearly struggling.

Tonester and I looked at each other and both had the same "holy sh*t" expression. In that split second we silently and telepathically communicated a rescue plan. He immediately went to one side of the pool while I went to the other. We had to give the kids pushes and pulls to and from the side of the wall. They were not strong enough swimmers to power through and get to the other side without help.

At one point I was THISCLOSE to jumping in. Not kidding. Tonester got the attention of one of the guards and they finally realized the 2 boys needed help and came to assist and moved them out of the deeper end of the pool (not that it helps that much when you can't swim) and then pushed them every 30 seconds or so.

The good news is the boys survived the experience.
The bad news is I don't think Tonester and I will ever fully recover...

I'd Like To Say We Do It For The Environment...

Tonester dug through a trash can today and fished out 4 plastic bottles for recycling. This was not OUR garbage but a garbage can in front of a store. "Hey! That's 20 cents!" he happily declared.

Tonester has always been fond of recycling for cash. We'd save our recycling at home and every few months turn it in for our "play money". But with money as tight as it is these days, he's taken it to a new dumpster diving level. Now Rascal is along for the ride. We can't go anywhere without Rascal finding some scuzzy bottle or can of something or other tossed in the bushes or gutter, which he proudly unearths, and I get the pleasure of carrying it home. Grandma Bzee even saves her cans and donates her collection to the cause.


Tonester and Rascal took a load to the recycling center this afternoon. Rascal now has $35.95 which he announced he wants to spend at Great America!

Forget the environment. We're in it for the cash.