January 9, 2012 · 2:38 pm

Word Problems

If you ask Dylan what he likes better – letters or numbers – he’ll say numbers. In honor of Dylan’s blossoming love of math, here are some Runaway Mama word problems.

If Dylan has two race tracks and then receives three new race tracks for his birthday and one new race track for Christmas, and then Mommy hides three of the race tracks in a closet (and fantasizes about setting the closet full of race tracks on fire), how many racetracks does Dylan have to play with?

(Three.  Until Mommy hides another one while Dylan is sleeping.)

If Mommy buys five containers of Play-Doh and Riley opens all of them and refuses to let Mommy put them away and then Mommy realizes the next morning that the Play-Doh was left out all night, how many containers of dry, useless Play-Doh does Mommy have?

(Five. Mommy hates Play-Doh.)

If Mommy buys one box of Dora & Diego paper cups that contains 40 cups and Riley uses 10 paper cups every time he attempts to brush his teeth, how many times will Riley brush his teeth before he runs out of paper cups and Mommy realizes that buying Dora & Diego paper cups for tooth-brushing was a bad idea?

(Four. No paper cups for Riley until he’s five.)

If Mommy sings three songs to Riley at bedtime and then Riley cries and Mommy sings one more song and then Riley cries and Daddy sings one more song and then Dylan asks why no one is singing a song to him and then Riley cries and Mommy sings one more song to each kid, how many total songs do Mommy and Daddy sing while their Chinese food take-out gets cold.

(Seven. Bedtime is a bitch.)

At 6:30am, Dylan decides to build a Lego truck that has 449 pieces and promises to follow the 37 step directions all by himself.   Riley “helps” by putting three rubber tires in his mouth and throwing four teeny, tiny Lego pieces on the floor where they roll under the oven.  Then Riley stinks up the kitchen with a poop while Mommy is on her hands and knees with a flashlight looking at a lot of crumbs but no teeny, tiny Lego pieces under the oven.  Mommy stops looking for the missing Legos to change Riley’s diaper (and to escape Dylan’s whining about the lost Legos), and when she returns to the kitchen, she discovers that Dylan has skipped steps 3-9 in the directions and can’t figure out why the first 18 pieces of the truck don’t fit properly.  At 6:47am, he asks Mommy to take the truck apart so he can start all over again (all by himself) and she chips a nail in the process (Lego nails).  How many cups of coffee does Mommy need to drink to keep her head from exploding?

(At least three.  And if Dylan wants to build Legos after school, with “help” from his brother, coffee will be replaced by Pino Grigio at 5pm).

Math sure can be fun.

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Filed under bedtime, Legos, math

January 7, 2012 · 1:14 pm

My Favorite Part of the Day

I started a family dinner ritual a little while ago in the hope of getting the boys to eat new food.  We haven’t had much any success yet, but we’ve developed a nice habit of talking about our day when we sit together.  The questions are always the same: What was your favorite part of the day?  What was your least favorite part of the day?

In the beginning, Dylan didn’t understand what “least favorite” meant.  He would say his favorite part of the day was playing with his friends and then he would say his least favorite part of the day was the same thing.  Riley didn’t get what any of it meant and would either repeat what Dylan said or smile and say, “Poopy pants.”

Eventually, Dylan understood that “least favorite” was different than “favorite.”  Then his answer would be something like: “My favorite part of the day was eating popsicles at school.  My least favorite part of the day was nothing.”  Nothing?  I guess life is good when you’re five.

Earlier this week, we had to runan errand in the afternoon that kept us in the car for a while, so that’s when we took turns talking about our day. Riley responded with his usual gobbledegook.  Dylan said his favorite part of the day was playing with his friends at school.  No surprise there.  Then, he said his least favorite part of the day was leaving school early.  It was the first time he expressed what “least favorite” really meant.

I haven’t written much about Dylan’ssensory processing issues lately.  For a while, it consumed me in a “least favorite” kind ofway.  Writing about it helped me and, I think, a few other readers out there, but I’m not sure it did much for Dylan.  This blog is an honest look at my life, but I want to make sure my kids’ privacy doesn’t become collateral damage (now or later) because of my desire to write about motherhood.  In the end, I decided to try to focus mywriting on other topics (there are so many!), like owls, holidays and peeing on trees.

But back to leaving school early…

Twice a week, I pick up Dylan from school an hour early to go to occupational therapy (OT) to work on his sensory issues.    There’s a waiting list for the coveted after school appointments, so until a later time slot opens up, I have to pull him from school.  Although he loves OT – it’s like having private playtime with the coolest toys on the planet – he doesn’t like leaving school. I don’t like having to do it either, but when I think about the positive changes we’ve seen in such a short period of time, I know we’re doing the right thing.

His listening skills have improved dramatically (except when he’s playing Lego Star Wars on the Xbox).  He’s more adventurous.  You should see him climb to the top of playground equipment and slide down (previously scary) tunnel slides with abandon.  He’s more confident and independent – “I can cross the street myself because I’m five!”  And here’s my favorite… He wears pants, long-sleeved shirts (with“Cars” or “Star Wars” graphics) and, if necessary, a jacket when it’s cold.  Look at what he wore to school one day this week…with a smile on his face!

We still have work to do (Operation Chicken 2012!) and I wish Dylan’s least favorite part of the day could always be “nothing,” but each time I witness him conquer a fear or try something new, I know exactly what I’m going to say at family dinner when it’s my turn to talk about my favorite part of the day.

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Filed under family dinner, Proud Mama, sensory processing disorder