Time to brag

Monday I chaperoned the 1st & 5th graders to the zoo. All year, they've been paired up as "book buddies" where the 5th graders help the 1st graders in the library, work on reading, etc.

DS1 has this adorable crazy-haired girl named Sydney for his book buddy, and she is just the cutest thing. At the zoo, I had to remind most of the 5th graders several times (I had 4 pairs of kids) to keep their buddies close. I'm fairly sure DS1 held Sydney's hand the entire time.

He is a walking encyclopedia, and became her own personal tour guide. "Sydney, do you see the Capybara? See his nostrils on top of his head? They help him swim away from predators & hide in the plants." Then he'd pick her up to show her all the exhibits she couldn't see.

I told him at some point that he didn't have to hold her hand the whole time. He looked at me and said, "She's a little girl and sometimes people look for little girls to steal. I have to keep her safe." (I had to swallow the lump in my throat)

Sydney gave him a t-shirt as a gift for end of the year with "Tough Guy" on it. Her mom said Sydney always talks about DS1 and how much he looks after her at school. I am truly proud I have such a caring, compassionate young man.

Shaggy pics

I agreed to let the XH cut the boys' hair this time since he was unhappy with the lady I took them to a last time. (Hey, who knew that someone at Great Clips could screw up a boy cut?)

Well, he didn't get their hair cut before picture day, so I can now introduce my shaggy boys. 5th grade, 3rd grade, 1st grade.

Um, WHAT?!?

Last week I spent some time with DS1 & DS2 in the garden. By spending time, I really mean that I forced them to do work with me clearing the patch of weeds, rocks, and landscape fabric.

(It was "Take your child to work" day and I forgot to sign them up for events on campus, so we "worked from home" all day. I showed them that while their mom has a "real" job, she also takes care of the garden/plants, organizes clothes for donations, etc.)

So, I get out all of the garden tools and tell the boys to grab a rake or ho so we can get to the weeds. DS1 laughs and grabs one saying, "I want the dirty hoe!" Did I mention the mischievous grin? I pretended not to hear him, of course.

Later, as we attack the weeds the mischievous grin returns as he says "I won't have a 'ho' until I'm 16." WHAT?!?! Apparently the expression on my face silenced him and he amended, "I mean DATE, not, uh...."

I don't think I could speak for at least 5 minutes, and then I got to (gently) tell him that he should not date a "ho" and find out if he really knew what that meant.

Tell me again why I can't just keep them little and innocent?