Toeing the Line

Before school this morning I asked Matthew why he didn’t like the pink rectangle. He told me that pink is not his favorite color. So I asked him if he could stand by the pink rectangle, not in it. That is something he could do so we talked it over with his teacher and he stands beside the pink rectangle, not in it. I watched him walk over and very carefully place his feet literally one inch from the pink, taking care to never touch it. Talk about an opinionated child.

After preschool he obediently walked to the pink rectangle, very carefully stood next to it and waited for Miss Lisa to tell him it was okay to come find me. Once he knew he didn't have to stand in the pink rectangle, he was perfectly willing to follow the pick-up procedure. So rather than shunning conformity, he is just expressing his serious dislike of pink.

In other news, I actually managed to get a picture of his face to commemorate his second day of school ever.

I’m Actually Not sure What His Favorite Color Is

Tonight Kev told Matthew that I will be the one to take him to preschool in the morning. “Why?” Matthew asked and Kev told him that he has to go to work. Matthew told Kev that he doesn’t want me to take him to preschool. When Kev asked why, Matthew responded with, “She makes me stand in the pink rectangle.” I laughed. Out loud. Big guffaws.

When asked what his favorite color is, his response was, “Not pink!”

He Talked All The Way Home

When Nathan is happy, he talks. And then he talks. And talks. And talks. And if we’re lucky he’ll even sing a little. Well, he talked all the way home from the eye doctor this morning.

“What if I could run so fast that I could just take off flying?”
“Wow. That is an uber big train.”
“I like that these patches are sparkly. Every time we go they have something new.”
“Sometimes I like to jump kick in the air.”
“If my ninja guy was standing up he would look like this . . . like he had chicken pox.”

Seriously, inside his head must just be a big bag of weird. But what all that chatter means is that we got good news at the eye doctor this morning. Nathan only has to wear his patch for two hours two days a week. That is a big step and he was very excited! Now we are really hoping that his next appointment brings the news that he is completely finished patching. From where we stand right now, it’s looking likely!

Pink Is Just Watered Down Red

Today was Matthew’s first day of preschool. He has been relatively nonchalant about it all summer, but after his open house last week his excitement factor has gone way up. He has started asking when he will go off-track like the big boys and was thrilled when we went to the Walmart to pick out his backpack. He was so excited last night that he had to get his backpack out before he could go to bed.

I had to take Nathan to an eye appointment this morning, so Kev was in charge of getting Matthew to preschool (As a side note, it’s so nice to have preschool four houses away!). Being a bloggin’ mama, I requested a picture to commemorate Matthew’s first day of school ever. True to his current ain’t-gonna-happen attitude towards photography, Matthew did not handle the request gracefully.


Our preschool teacher has a pink rectangle painted on her driveway and that is where the kids meet (having them stand in the pink rectangle keeps them from wandering off or running out into the street). Apparently Matthew has a problem with the pink rectangle. He did not want to stand in it. Apparently Miss Lisa (his teacher) took his hand and pulled him to the rectangle several times and he just popped right back out. Kev could not entice him to stand in the pink rectangle. He would stand on the grass, the driveway, the sidewalk . . . anywhere but the pink rectangle.

When I went to pick him up after school, I was blissfully unaware of the situation with the pink rectangle. So we he came out the door and came flying across the lawn I encouraged him to go stand in the pink rectangle before coming to meet me since that is the procedure for making sure that each child is safely sent home with the right grownup. He got awfully grumpy and after several attempts to just take the lawn route, he went and stood as close as he could to the pink rectangle without actually being in it, glaring at me the entire time. To add insult to injury, I made him hold my hand when we crossed the street walking home and he aired his grievances with me by refusing to tell me what he did at school. So when we got home he called Kev and told him, “I had fun at preschool you know.” And then told him about painting an apple, singing, reading stories and playing.

Perhaps I should discuss with Miss Lisa the possibility of having Matthew stand with his toes against the pink rectangle rather than making him stand in the middle of it because I have a feeling that is not going to happen. Either he has issues with conformity (face it, he has never been one to just blend into the crowd) or he really just hates the color pink.

The Infamous Pink Rectangle

My Poor, Poor, Sad Garden

This is what is left of my cucumbers after yesterday's hail storm:


The poor things almost got smooshed into oblivion. I don't know if they'll rally or not. The pumpkins are not nearly as pathetic as the cucumbers, but they are still pretty sad. Their tougher stems kept the plants from completely buckling under the assault.


This is all that is left of the lettuce, but it wasn't the hail that did this damage. There really wasn't much left for the hail to smash after the deer got to it.

The deer also ate all the leaves off the top of Matthew's beans. The dumb things are so resilient that they have taken advantage of their leafless stems and started twining together to keep climbing.


The deer also nipped off a couple of my tomato plants. This particular bush was 8-12 inches taller three days ago.


But at least the carrots have managed to survive the week unscathed. Hopefully the hail won't happen again soon and the motion detecting sprinkler we just got will keep the deer from using our garden as a wildlife smorgasbord. It is a bit hard to teach the boys about the benefits of a garden when they never get to harvest anything.

Another Shout Out To The Folks At Enjoy Life Foods

They have made another fine Matthew moment possible. We taught him about smores. Of course, he calls them swamps, but either way they are super tasty!

It's Been A Rainy Year . . .

. . .which has its benefits.

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say

"That's enough parseltongue at the table."