'We'll see' means 'NO'

Sometimes I think we don't give kids enough credit.

We were having lunch out today. We didn't have a lot of time since 6YO would be getting out of school soon. We had to finish eating and run one more errand before we headed to the school. From the window of the restaurant, 3YO could see some of those rides that you put a quarter (or two) in. She wanted to ride one so badly.

She asked me repeatedly and I finally said that we had a lot of things to do and were running out of time, but 'we'll see.' She turned to my mom, who was sitting next to her, and said, "We'll see' means 'NO."

She was right. I think we use that term so easily because, if circumstances are ideal, we'll be able to given into something. Being a parent and having been around a few years, we pretty much know that the odds of any given situation being 'ideal' are usually slim-to-none.

But we didn't say 'NO,' right?

*giggle*

I think I've stumbled upon something worthwhile. Since I have three kids and getting them to practices and birthday parties and dentist appointments and basically keeping them alive is pretty much my job, I am in a constant search for the PERFECT CALENDAR. Who isn't, right? Well, I happened to hear someone on televsion talking about being organized. Yes, I was paying attention at that point because I'm the least organized person I know. The lady in the glowing box said something about an online calendar. There are a bazillion online calendars out there, this I know. I logged onto the site she mentioned and waited for the catch.

So far, there isn't one. If you want to try it out yourself, go to HERE and sign up. It seems easy enough to navigate and even sends messages, calendars and lists that you select to your cell phone in the form of a text message. You can set it up pretty much however you want and only you can see it...for now. I guess they're working on making networks of people that can view each other's calendar, if that's what you're going for. For this family, we just need a better way of keeping our crap straight.

I'm sure no one else has this problem, right?

Anyhow, give Cozi.com a try and let me know what you think! I've really taken a liking to their 'Live Simply' section. I'm sure there's something there for everyone. Yesterday, I had the site send a text message to 13YO for a list of things to do when she got home...while she was on the bus coming home from school! Now, she has the whole list on her phone, which is really good because if I lose one more scrap of paper with an important list on it....

Morning People vs. People Who Aren't

6YO took this picture of herself. I just found it. I never know WHAT I'm going to find on my camera when I go to use it!

As happy and sweet as this child might look in this picture, she is NOT A MORNING PERSON. In fact, some mornings her head spins and everything! I've walked into her room to wake her up in the morning and heard this demonic, gravelly voice booming, "GO AWAY!" Seriously. And it doesn't matter if she gets to bed early enough or any of that. What matters most is that she has something look forward to in the short term. As in, something she really wants THAT MORNING. For instance, the first morning she was going to be able to ride the bus (beause we do, in fact, have a new bus driver. YIPEE!!!) she popped up on her own at 6:30 and had herself dressed and ready to go in a matter of minutes. As a matter of fact, she even asked if she could make her own lunch that day! She did a pretty good job, too. I guess she's hired!

It's really hard tough to come up with something every single day that will quiet the demonic voice inside of this otherwise sweet kid. She shouldn't need something to look forward to (Okay...BRIBERY!) just to be nice to people. She should just learn to be nice on her own. Because she should.

Then, there's 13YO. She IS a morning person. She has bounced out of bed happily almost every morning for years. (Yes, the rest of us don't always like her!) She is perky and happy and bright and...she can push every single one of her 6YO sister's buttons without even trying. Needless to say, the conversations around the breakfast table can often be hateful but are almost always entertaining.

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"STOP LOOKING AT ME!"

(That's one of my personal favorites!)

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13YO-"Are you excited to go to school today?" (She knows her sister is not a morning person and she still insists on asking her this question almost every morning.)

The response from 6YO is always the same: "NO! STOP TALKING TO ME!!!"
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I know that 6YO should be nicer to us, but I also know her usual response to things. So does 13YO, so I can't help but be irritated by her most of the time when she insists on asking the same questions KNOWING what the response will be.

Then again, what are siblings if they aren't someone to fight with?

I don't necessarily like mornings either. In fact, most mornings every cell of my being is telling me NOT to get out of bed. But, I have grumpy children to wake, cereal to pour and lunches to make. And it's much easier to get through all of that when given enough time.

It's gonna be a looooong school year, isn't it?