Right now, there's a lot of growing up that's happening on the farm.
Each of us are taking away new life lessons.
For Jonathan and me, the lessons tend to revolve around 'balancing work & home', 'how to keep your sanity when your oldest dumps a gallon of car washing soap on the car and starts washing it with a dry diaper when you are feeding your youngest', or 'how to graciously accept blame for something that you know you did not do but your wife insists you did until she realizes that she was wrong and she did it herself but you are smart and do not correct her after her realization'.
John Paul's lessons? 'Focusing on how to eat constantly through growth spurts' and 'survive as the tackling dummy of his older brother'.
Lessons like that.
This brings us to the Wee Ski 1.0. The original Wee Ski, if you will, provided you don't count that Jonathan was Wee at one time.
John Paul's peacefulness and calmness (unless he is hungry, wet or tired) is in stark contrast to Thomas. But it reminds us of how fast Thomas is growing up, and to savor every moment.
I watch him flip through Jonathan's iPhone faster than I can. He can pop in a movie and pull up a chair without missing a beat. If he wants water, he pulls a chair over to the fridge, gets a cup, ice and water. He is toting my little Canon around, turning it on and snapping pics without any help.
And it's in this growing independence that we've had to lay down a few lessons in the past few weeks. Among them:
- Chickens don't drink out of dog dishes, so stop climbing into the run to put them in there.
- A good farmer doesn't take the fresh eggs from the chicken run and take them directly for composting. He cooks the egg first and only takes the shells to the compost, unless he wants the wrath of Mommy.
- Sprouffskes don't turn the dog pink with chalk.
- Sprouffskes do not scratch their balls with their fork.
- They do not then comb their hair with said fork.
- Good boys do not run over the dog with their firetruck.
- Sprouffskes do not need swords to use the potty.
- The diaper sprayer is not a squirt gun and you are not allowed to spray down the bathroom to 'clean it'. That is not helpful. In fact, it is the opposite of helpful.
- Sprouffskes do not squat over bushes and "poop" like the dog does. (I suppose this only applies to the two-legged Skis.)
Especially on any lessons that involve forks at dinnertime.
And then you double check to make sure you're using your OWN utensils.
1 comment:
Shelley I loved your lessons - even though my kiddos are now teenagers it took me right back! Amusingly many of those same lessons continued to be learned until 6 years old. They will keep you in stitches!
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