Ups and Downs and Veiled Threats

Last week was a busy one for us. My kindergartener graduated on Friday. It was such a cute ceremony...and thankfully quick as it was HOT in there! Each of the five classes sang a different song and then received their "diploma". The finale was the entire grade singing "First Grade, First Grade" to the tune of "New York, New York". For some reason that song just killed me. I was fighting tears through the entire number. My precious little guy, the one my doctor told me I might as well abort because "the fetus isn't viable" is growing up into a big person! He brought his report card home and Justin and I were both amazed at how well he did his first year in school and how far he had come. (And as for that doctor- I'll tell you that story another day.)

The same day as the graduation was the first night of Alex's dance recital. I worked back stage on Friday so I didn't get to see much, but I had a really good time being back there. Saturday the whole family came to watch and I think they were all really impressed. The entire production was just so interesting and thoughtfully planned and really executed well. I'm so happy to have found this dance school...but I'm sure my friends feel differently. It's all I talk about! How much I love the teacher, how nice the studio is, how much fun it was to help out, yada yada yada. I signed Alex up for a summer course there and Hudson wants to go as well in the fall. That should be interesting!

Ethan has had his ups and downs. Up: Today he went into the bathroom, pulled down his pants and successfully peed into the toilet by himself! Down: Yesterday he threw a big rock at his brother's playmate and made the kid cry. Up: He sat through his sister's entire dance recital being a very good boy, clapping and saying "More dancing!" Down: He peed his pants in the dance instructor's very modern, clean, white carpeted living room Up: He played nicely with his little friend Meredith at Alex's soccer game last night Down: He bit a child on Alex's soccer team. Up: He has taken to calling me "Momma"- never has he done that before. Let's leave it on an UP!

Ethan is a challenging and delightful child and he loves to push Mommy's buttons. I told the kids I would take them out for ice cream before Alex's soccer game to celebrate the last day of school (which was yesterday). The only condition, they had to eat their dinner. Now, this I barely even have to tell the big kids, because they know that ice cream is a treat and in order to get a treat you have to finish your dinner. It has been ingrained in them. We are still working on that with Ethan. He refused to eat his dinner. In fact he put his ravioli in his cup of milk! Ok, I told him, you will not get ice cream. So off to Gullace's we go and I order 2 kiddie cones and one rootbeer float. I pass the cones out to Alex and Hudson, and Ethan is standing right at my leg. The girl behind the counter looks at Ethan and then back at me and I just shake my head. She must think I am the meanest Mom around- but if you don't follow through, what is the point of making a threat? We eat our treats and although Ethan's asks me a few times for ice cream, he never cries or throws a fit about not getting any. Then we are off to soccer, and Ethan decides that it will be fun to be CRAZY. He's jumping all over my friend Sue and running out into the playing field and just being obnoxious. I pull him to my lap and say, "Settle down or I am going to put you in the van." A Dad next to me hears this and says, "Well that's a veiled threat." You don't know who you are dealing with buddy...I don't make veiled threats.