And soon enough, it will be school dances, with fights outside the girls' bathroom

When I picked Will up from school yesterday, I asked him, like I do every day, how his day went.
"Great!" He exclaimed happily. Then he paused. "Well, except recess."
"What happened at recess, baby?"
"I had to have a serious conversation," he says grimly.
I go into slight mommy panic mode. "Were you in trouble?" I ask nonchalantly.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
(HUGE sigh from backseat.)
"It was Madison and Jala."
Madison and Jala, incidentally, are two girls in his class who seem to fancy Will...sometimes quite possessively so. We've had some trouble before with Madison telling Will she didn't want him playing with other girls, and Jala has been sending home affectionate notes since school started. It would appear we are in the midst of a Kindergarten love triangle.
"What happened?" I ask him.
Another big sigh.
"Well, Madison didn't want me to be friends with Jala anymore, and Jala didn't want me to be friends with Madison. They were trying to make me choose!"
Drama.
"Well, honey, did you tell them you wanted to be both their friends?"
"YES!" he says, exasperated. "But they wouldn't say okay."
"Well, why didn't you just go play somewhere else?"
"Mommy, they were crying about it."
"Crying?"
"Yes. And they wouldn't let me go play until I chose."
Wow.
"So what did you do?"
"I wouldn't choose! And I didn't get to play at ALL at recess. They made me stay there with them and they cried about me not choosing."
Have I said WOW yet?
So we talked about what he could do about it, and I have to tell you, this was one very sincerely frustrated 5 1/2 year old boy. He didn't want either of them to be sad, but he REALLY wanted to just go play at recess. Eventually recess ended, and after his daddy got home last night, it seems they had a man-to-man talk about the situation. Will told me daddy gave him some ideas about how to handle it, and really, I think that's good. Because I'm a girl. And let's be honest -- all girls have had those moments where you keep a boy suspended in mid-air, waiting to find out what his fate will be, knowing that even though you're the one crying, you're also the one in control. But who knew advanced male manipulation was an elective in Kindergarten? Nah...he probably just gravitates toward the drama engenues. After all, the boy does love his mama.

Monkey see, monkey do...

 

just beautiful.

 

Will's Get Well card for my mom and social commentary

My mom had her gallbladder taken out this week, and Will was very worried about his "Ma." So after he talked to her today, he decided he would make her a Get Well card. He ran to his room to create, and when he emerged (with bravado suiting the occassion) to show it to me, it did require a bit of explanation. So go with me here. According to Will, "I couldn't write what I wanted to say, so I had to draw it."

PHOTO #1: The "X" marks the spot here. This is the "sad about surgery" scene, I suppose. I don't know if it's from photos of me and my c-section with Adelaide that he's seen or what, but he does seem to have a grasp of the operating room. I like the wheeled bed. And do note the doctor, while a stick figure is smiling. A couple of other details I feel compelled to point out: a.) She is wearing a surgical cap. b.) she has some IVs, apparently (although they do seem to be hooked into the table rather than a freestanding unit...but hey, he's 5!) c.) Is that the huge surgical light above her?

PHOTO #2: The funniest. This is the "Yes! You're better!" photo. And what does being better mean to Will? Apparently that Mom gets to be upstairs in the game room watching TV. Funny things...a.) Their entertainment center is apparently modeled on ours here at home, along with the ginormous television. b.) Love the detail with the buttons on the remote. c.) Wow, does Mom look happy or what? d.) Please note the backwards check mark, denoting "Yes!" in Will's kindergarten grade mentality. Well, his teachers don't do it backwards. But the X for no on the top and the check for yes on the bottom are important symbolism in this art!

AND...

d.) Do you see what's on the television? My conversation with Will re: television programming in this picture:
ME: Oh, and look! She's watching TV and she's happy.
WILL: Yep. She's watching American Idol!
ME: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
WILL: (huge, HUGE grin)
ME: She's (gasp for breath) watching Amer - (gasp for breath) ican Idol?
WILL: Yep. (Big grin stays)

The big kicker? We don't watch American Idol. At all. We don't oppose it, we just don't watch it. How completely part of our cultural identity has a show become when a five-year-old who doesn't relaly watch that much TV is capable of drawing what I assume is a fair portrait of AI on the TV? Love the microphone, too.
*sigh*
But it is still an AWESOME card.

Cutest pigtails ev-ah

Okay, she moves fast. The photo is a little blurry. But you can't deny that mouthful of toofers, the humongo grin, or the most awesomest piggie tails in baby hair history. LOVE. IT. SO. MUCH.

Happy girl.

:)

"Annie" at Runnels Theatre

Tonight was the final show of Annie at Runnels theatre. This was Will's first stage show, and he had a great time (even if he was on stage a grand total of like twenty seconds.) One picture shows him in his "boy orphan" duds, and the other photo shows him with a couple of his Kindergarten Cuties, Anna (brown hair) and Auldyn (blonde hair). They were "NYC kids," not orphans, btw, if you're wondering about the fur. Anyway, it was so fun to watch him on stage. He did a great job!

kids

 

kids

 

kids