Thursday, September 22, 2011

Eternal Droning of the Endless Whine

Tonight we had a somewhat rough bedtime. It got started a little late, I was already tired, and the boys weren't listening super well. When I asked Gabe what song he wanted, he asked for, "Down By the Bay", which wasn't surprising since that has been his pick for, no joke, the last three months. Are you familiar with it? It goes,

 Down by the bay 
Where the watermelons grow 
Back to my home 
I dare not go 
For if I do 
My mamma will say 
"Have you ever seen a whale with a polka dot tale?" 
Down by the bay!

 And so on, inserting various silly rhymes for the last part. After we sang a few verses of that, I asked Tommy what bedtime song he wanted. He asked for the dragon song. This also happens to be, "Down by the Bay" but with modified lyrics by Ontario, as follows:

 Down by Dragon bay 
Where the dragons grow 
Back to my home
I dare not go 
For if I do 
Mamma dragon will say 
"Have you ever seen a cat, wearing a hat?" 
Down by dragon bay! 

So I sang a few verses of that. Then the endless whining started. Gabe was so upset that I sang him "Down by the Bay" when what he really wanted was, "Down by Dragon Bay". The conversation went something like this:

 G: "Mom, you just did something that wasn't very nice"
M: "I did? What was that?"
G: "You sang Down by the Bay, but I wanted Down by DRAGON bay"
M: "Well, I just sang that"
G: "But you just sang that first and you missed your chance to be nice and sing the song I wanted!"
M: "Gabe, you asked for Down by the Bay, and then I sang both of them, so you got to hear it"
G: "I just asked for Down by the Bay as a joke! But then you SANG it!"
M: "Well, you didn't tell me it was a joke, you just asked for it"
G: "But if you don't do what I say and be nice and make me happy, then I will just say that I hate you!" M: "I will be sad if you say you hate me, but it's still time for bed."
G: grumble grumble *endless whining* mumble dragon bay mumble I just didn't WANT that grumble mumble you just shouldn't have DONE it mumble mumble....

Only, make this whole conversation continue for another 20 minutes. This was also after our conversation earlier today when I told him we were going to do a fun activity after lunch and he came slumping into the kitchen saying, "Just whoever cares what you say!" Yeah, I don't have a four year old. I have a teenager.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Bethesda...

I just came across this talk in my personal study, and I was really touched by it. I have a lot of friends and family members that can relate to this in many different ways. I love the clear doctrine that he teaches, and the reminder of the work we are doing when we are serving the handicapped. I would really encourage you to read this talk, it's awesome. The Moving of the Waters by Elder Boyd K. Pcker.