The Army Men Dilemma

Yogi has been lobbying for army men. He played with them at a friend's house...well, okay...at OUR grown-up friend's house...and now he wants them badly. So he's pleaded with us to consider it. So we did.

After much discussion, as we were both very torn, we told him that he could have army men on 3 conditions:
1. He'd have to pay for them himself.
2. They can't be used as a precedent for bringing more toy guns into the house.
3. He has to study Ghandi and MLK and write a 1 page essay on non-violent conflict resolution.

His reply: "So...I just have to write like a hippie?"

As long as it's Dylan, son.

More Yogi Remarks

A few days ago..."Soup is good for your innards!"

And today we were having a discussion about the fact that we think some websites are inappropriate for kids because they're unmonitored and it's possible for kids to see disturbing images on them.

"Like what?" he asked. "Like a naked lady?"

"Things like that. Or worse," replied John.

Without missing a beat he asked, "What's worse than a naked lady?!"

Pretty funny, but only until you start thinking about the kinds of things kids get exposed to these days that we as parents have so little control over. Billboards, for example. I've seen the most disturbing billboards in LA. And so has my little boy.

And of course later I had to have another conversation about the fact that there's nothing wrong with naked people, but that sometimes how they're pictured is disturbing.

Parenting can be so complicated!

The kinds of questions Yogi is asking these days

"How can my ass be wise?"

"Why are all the dogs attacking me with their noses?" followed by a gleeful giggle.

New vocabulary

Last week Yogi told me his friend Xander was a "girl magnet" and that Asher and Keller had tried to cure Xander, which seemed to work for a while, but the effect wore off. So apparently Xander is still a "girl magnet" which is a potential problem when you're eight.

He is full of interesting and funny stuff like this these days.

Last night at Therese's birthday party we were teasing him about being nutty or something like that and he yelled, "I need my medical records!" (He knew I'd been working on getting his medical records transferred from his old pediatrician to Kaiser.)

He still loves speaking in accents, and last night he was working on mumbling in French, British and American southern accents.

He's also been getting really good about talking about his feelings about being teased at school (by his "friends" who are going through their own stuff and can be pretty mean as a result.)

Today we talked about Santa Claus. He's in this murky place where I think he knows Santa isn't real, but is trying to figure out the implications of coming right out and saying that. Last Easter when he got his first big hit of the possibility that Santa isn't a physical being he told John he'd lost that "warm feeling" about the holidays and was sad about that. Geeze! I think I remember those kinds of feelings as a kid, but I never talked about them.

Nothing brings me as much joy as how fun, funny, unexpected and thoughtful Yogi is.

Trip for President

Yogi and Trip are talking on the phone right now about Trip being President when he grows up.

"Trip!" said Yogi. "You can't make all the rules! I know more about Congress than you do!"

But will he learn to wipe?

Yogi and I were sitting on the couch this morning watching Mythbusters. I glanced up at him and he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and got that I-wasn't-doing-anything-I-shoudn't-be-doing look on his face.

"Yogi!" I said. "Are you playing with your spit?" (Playing with spit bubbles is a gross thing he's been doing for a couple months now, and he knows I think it's disgusting.)

He broke out in a smile, and I said with a laugh, "You're so weird and gross!"

He cracked another tiny smile and then said, "I'm a kid."

A pause, and then he concluded, still smiling, "I think I'll grow out of it."