Just some new Dex stuff

Sorry I've been off the grid...my uncle passed away so it's been a rough past few days.

Dexter keeps us smiling no matter what, though.  just some new funny things about the little guy...

*I had the tv on while we were playing legos.  It was muted because a commercial was on for a bunch of cereals.  He noticed the Cheerios box and went running to the tv pointing at it saying "Oooooo's"

*Dex loves to wear sunglasses.  LOooooves it.  He has one pair, but of course, prefers to wear adult sunglasses because they are so big on him.  He calls them "Ades" (shades)  He puts them on and won't take them off until one of us says "cool dude!:

*Dex has recently learned how to give "knuckles."  We tell him to blow it up.  He runs to one of us and does it, points like he's asking permission to go to the other and runs to do it.  Not only that, but he'll come like running from across the room to give you knuckles.  Hilarious!

*The other day, I asked Dex who he loved the most.  He said, "Pap Pap."

Thoughts..

We live in a society today, where every child gets a trophy.  We play baseball.  At the end of the season, we have a dinner and each child gets a trophy.  Or in football.  Soccer.  Basketball.  Blah, blah, blah.

Then the kids get to an actual competitive team where there can only be one winner.  Or a classroom game where no one feeds you the right answers.  What happens?  Meltdown.  Screaming at the adult, "you should only give me questions I know the answers to!"

What are we doing?  Are we creating a society of children who don't know how to lose?  Are we teaching that it doesn't matter how hard you try, as long as you show up, you should be rewarded?  How will that look in the workplace in 20 years?  Oh sorry that your brakes just didn't work.  I don't actually test them out before selling the cars, we just assume that whatever, it's good enough.  It's not my fault you overdosed on the correct dosage of medicine.  Someone else should have made sure it was right. 

What are we teaching by rewarding attendance instead of hard work?  Yes, we want our kids to feel good about themselves, but when I played sports as a child, we didn't all get trophies, yet we still felt good when we worked all season and wow, look how far I can hit/throw the ball now!

I don't know the answer.  I just wonder, am I the only one that sees a problem with this?  Give me your thoughts....

Once upon a snow day....

One of the perks of being a teacher, is an occasional snow day.  I don't want a million snow days, but one or two during the school year is pretty nice.  I mean, it's not like I'm getting paid not to work....we make those days up!  But, this year it was especially nice because Dexter is old enough that we can take him outside to play.  We went out pretty early, literally around 8:30, but it wasn't actively snowing then. 

He really enjoyed himself, but the poor kid had a rough time walking, considering the snow was up to his thighs!  He kept pushing through though and had a blast!  We probably could have stayed out longer, but on one of his trips in the snow, his glove slid down and some snow slipped inside.  Well, then his hands were cold, and the tears started.  Poor little guy!  So in we went to warm up. 

But you tell me he didn't have an awesome time!

I"m full thank you!

Dear Winter Crud,

Our household is tired of being sick.  We appreciate that you have shared yourself with us.  We are now truly thankful when you are not here.  Please give us a reprieve.  We are positive you will visit again, but 20 days later, you have long overstayed your welcome.

Thank you and please, don't come again anytime soon!
All of us over here!

We should be getting paid for this entertainment!

I have been loving being home with Dexter for the past week.  I truly wish I stayed home with him everyday, but that's just not the plan right now.  Every time I spend more than 2 days at home with him, I realize just how funny he is.  Like when he burps on purpose to make us laugh (though we have to hide our faces and instead say, "Say excuse me!"  Or when he finds a shirt that has a big neck hole so he can pull it over the back of his head.  Or when he can't see you dead on and peeks left, right, and oh yes, stands on tiptoes and peaks above whatever is blocking you.  Or when he takes his pants off, stands and scratches his bum. 

Seriously, I think we could make big bucks if someone followed us around all day with a video camera!

Enjoy 30 minutes of my life...