Wordless Wednesday

Metaphorically speaking

Damn that Leona Lewis who had to go and title one of her songs, "Bleeding in Love." The other day when I was driving Mason to school, that song came on. I wish I could say I was listening to NPR or something scholarly. I have to admit that I had the radio tuned to KDWB. Well, Hunter was along for the ride and heard the song and, utterly perplexed, asked me, "Mom, why is she bleeding? Did she get cut? Does she have an owie*?" I tried to explain that she felt so sad that she felt like she was bleeding but I really don't think that answer satisfied him. I teach high school English and I spend most of the year helping high school students understand non-literal, figurative language. Most of them don't even get it.

Another example- today I was listening to Vanilla Ice. I'm not going to try to explain myself- it's bad, I know. Hunter's response to the song: "What's this song about? Is the baby made of ice?" As I ummed and awed*, he came to a conclusion: "Oh, wait a minute Mom, I get it. The baby is blue. I got it." I thought that was a pretty good explanation because I realized that I don't even know what "Ice Ice Baby" is about.

*I realized in writing this entry that I don't know how to spell owie or awed (ahed). Add that to the list of words I cannot spell, which includes popsycle/popcycle/popsicle. Yes, I teach English. Even though it's a popular belief, we can't explain every grammatical rule and we can't spell every word in the English language. At least, I can't.

Our Kindergarten Graduate

It was soccer all along

Our first night of soccer was Thursday. I agonized a bit during the day, worrying that Hunter might refuse to play. You see, other activities I have ever signed him up for haven't gone the best. Case in point- Cherub choir (we dropped out), swimming lessons (haven't done it in about four years), karate (um.... it was stressful), vacation bible school, etc. I could run through all of the reasons why I think those activities didn't go very well but I don't have the energy.

What I do have the energy for- telling you about how much Hunter absolutely loved soccer! Hunter knew as we headed into the evening that two of his schoolmates were going to play on his team- the Patriots. He changed into his uniform all by himself. Compare that to changing into his karate gear. Like night and day. Anyway.... Mitch helped Hunter with his shin guards. They're tricky, especially for those of us not well versed in the art of soccer. We took a number of pictures before we left. And I even remembered to pack diapers and wipes for Mason and water and snacks for both boys. I'm typically not that on top of things :).

The soccer time was divided up into 30 minutes of practice/drills and 30 minutes of play/game. Our first opponent- the Buccaneers. They won. While they don't really keep score, the other team scored on us about five times in comparison to our one or two goals. Hunter worked so hard on the field and showed really good instincts regarding the goal. He had a number of really good kicks. He was hesitant to get in front of an opponent who was kicking downfield. On the sidelines, Hunter cheered with gusto. He and some other little guys were chanting, "Patriots. Patriots." When we got into the car after the game, Hunter said, "I want to play soccer again next week." My heart was bursting with joy. It was the perfect way to celebrate our ten-year anniversary. We went out for ice cream after the game.

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Hunter

My cellphone calendar alarm starting ringing at 3 a.m. this morning! "Happy Birthday Hunter" glowed from the screen and I remembered inputting that information sometime in the recent past. Hunter crawled into bed with us this morning at 6 a.m. and I was immediately reminded of the moment he entered our world! He is growing up so fast that his pants are too short and his t-shirts are too small. Mitch measured him against our doorframe this morning and he is about two inches taller than he was last year at this time. This morning at breakfast he quizzed me- "Mom, do you know what 100 plus 10 is?" "Mom, this is a hard one. Do you know what 50 plus 50 is?" He got himself ready for school this morning. He wore his brand new Yoda t-shirt, given to him yesterday. I'm going to eat lunch with him at his school today. I'm going to go buy him a cake for later tonight. We celebrated his birthday this past weekend with my family and some of our friends.

What I want to say about my son on his 6th birthday:
He has, by far, the best laugh of any little boy I know. When he laughs he glows!
He is crazy good at the monkey bars
In my world, he is a math whiz :)
He loves "The Princess Bride."
He cares if he hurts my feelings, as he kind of did yesterday when he said he didn't like the present I bough him. When he realized he hurt my feelings, he started saying things like, "Wow! This is great!" "Look mom, this is COOL!"

My heart is FOREVER tangled up with his!

I love you my son!