By The Way . . . .

Alan moved his backpack back how it was. I think he got tired of the straps falling off his shoulders.

What I Remember

As I was at the grocery store the other day I took time to peruse the Halloween candy. I'm torn between offering good candy to the kids and not going broke buying candy for the hundreds of trick or treaters. It was tempting to buy the candy right then but that would have been pure foolishness. Neither John or I have any self control when it comes to candy so there would have been little hope of the candy actually making it to Halloween. Seeing the Halloween candy made me think of a past Halloween.

In my house growing up the kids made it difficult for the candy to last until Halloween so the candy was kept under lock and key (literally, my mom had it padlocked in a metal box). I do remember one year however where my mom brought out the Halloween candy early. It was twenty years ago tonight. It was the the night of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. If your are not from the Bay Area you probably think of it as the San Francisco earthquake but the epicenter wasn't really close to San Francisco. But that is besides the point.

I remember that afternoon complaining to my mom in our backyard. What was I complaining about? Well I was nine, so of course I was complaining that I was bored. Moments later the earthquake struck. I was a Californian and this wasn't my first earthquake, but I knew that it was a big one. It only lasted 15 seconds, really a short quake, but it was a 6.9, and large enough to wreck havoc. My family was really blessed. Plenty of broken dishes and other small material things, and minimal damage to the house, but we were all safe.

My Dad and older sister were at work and of course the phone lines were wiped out so we couldn't get a hold of them. I was worried about them but my Mom was calm (or at least she pretended to be), so that eased my fears. Since the entire Bay Area was headed home at the same time their normal 30 minute commute stretched to hours but they arrived home safely. Out of the whole day though, one thing stands out, and that is what we did that evening.

We did what my family does best. We sat around and talked. My Mom got out the bag of candy she had bought for Halloween and we sat around the kitchen table talking and eating candy. I actually enjoyed the evening. I remember ward members who lived nearby coming to our house to check on us. As scary as the situation could have been, sitting around with my family listening to stories and eating candy, it was a great night. I really got to appreciate my family and what really matters that night.

It's funny how out of everything that went on that night, what is most clear is eating Halloween candy and talking with my family. I can still remember what the bag of candy looked like,and the bubble gum that was in it. I know my kids are going to go through scary situations in their life but I hope what they remember most is the time we spent together.

The Costume Box

Almost as exciting as Halloween night was the night we pulled out the costume box. Being the youngest of seven my mom had accumulated quite the collection of Halloween costumes. You could taste the excitement as we pulled out each costume remembering what we had done in years past and trying to figure out what to do in the future.

This last weekend the kids got to pull out our costume box and experience the same thing. It was so fun watching their excitement as the went through each of the costumes. I love how with no suggestions from us the each gravitate towards their own costume.

"I'm a Boy Witch"

I think someone is not sure what he wants to be.

The Motivator

Have you ever watched the show Wipe Out? Our kids love it. We love watching it with them. You know the "Motivator" that comes down to get people to attempt the big balls? I have found that using the "Motivator" at home has increased the speed at which our kids get moving and doing their chores or other tasks. It still means I'm going to spank you if you don't get moving but they start laughing and calling out to bring on the "Motivator". We don't "spank" our kids, we "Motivate" them.

All Expenses Paid* Vacation

We moved in two and a half months ago. We unpacked like crazy for a weekend so that we could survive in our house then we concentrate all our time on getting our old house ready to rent. By the time we were done with that we had lost our motivation and started to just live in a halfway unpacked house. That lasted a few weeks until we invited people over and then realized that we no longer had the excuse that we had just moved in to explain the boxes in the kitchen. We got to work and got everything unpacked. Things aren't perfect, there are still cosmetic changes we want to make, but we are all moved in. Except for well, er, um, this.

This is our, ahem, "guest room". Also known as the room we shove everything into when we don't know what to do with it. To be perfectly honest I am completely unmotivated to do any work in there. I think it's going to stay that way until I am forced to clean it.

So how about it? The weather's great! 80 degrees! I'll even cook you breakfast.

*By all expenses paid I mean you get a roof over your head and you can eat my food. Travel expenses are not included. Two little boys running wild in the house are.

Throwing Caution to the Wind

A few weeks ago, the local drive in theater was having a special deal. Free movies! They were showing UP, Night at the Museum, and Star Trek. Well we don't go to the movies all that often and we take the kids even less often so even though it was a school night we decided to throw caution to the wind and take the kids to the drive in. Yeah I'm a bad parent, whatever. Really I bet his teacher appreciated the lack of energy Alan had the next day. And no, we didn't take them to Star Trek. We kept to the kids movies.

Only, I think kids movies are getting to be too adult. I didn't even realize until later that UP was PG and not G. Oh, it's not like it has swearing, or blood and guts, but why can't kids movies be innocent anymore. In UP you deal with infertility, loss of a loved one, absentee parents as well as the bad guy trying to kill the main characters. I liked the movie. But really, it wasn't a great kids movie. Alan, our sensitive kid, halfway through didn't want to watch the movie anymore. It was too much for him. As it should be. These things should be foreign to kids. I know that reality is a lot harsher than the movie, but why should kids be exposed to these things before they have to? Can't childhood be innocent? Or should I be more worried that I'm taking my kids out on a school night?