Hamming it Up

As JED get older, they get a whole lot more self- conscious. They don't want to look or act stupid and they're conscious of people laughing at them. I wish they weren't.

Jordan still loves the limelight though even with that, she needs to rehearse it totally perfect before I video it.
Evan won't even do it if he had to do it solo.
Muffin will yelp and hide behind the someone who is holding the recording device.

So when they throw all caution to the wind and just ham it up, just for the sake of hamming it up, we video them. On top of that, they fight a lot more these days so any opportunity to record them getting along and enjoying each other's company, all the better.

And I'm keeping it here so on days when I feel I need a pick me, like today with massive Monday blues, I can just play it and chuckle like a idiot.





I also look at this and lament at how quick they are growing up. Including Muffin who doesn't look like a Muffin anymore.

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Repetitive Humour

Jordan came home from school one day with this joke.

"There were three people. Their names were "Ouch", "Somebody", "Nobody".
One day, Ouch got hurt and had to go to the doctor.
The doctor asks, "What's your name?"
He goes, "Ouch!"
The doctor replies, "I know it's painful. But what's your name?"
He goes "Ouch" again.
The doctor isn't getting anywhere with that and goes on. "Who hurt you?
Ouch goes "Somebody"
The doctor asks again, "What's his name?"
Ouch goes "Somebody."
The doctor gets fed up. "Was there anyone else with you?"
Ouch replies "Nobody was with me"
The doctor then asks "Then how can I help you, if you can't tell me who hurt you?"
Ouch is exasperated. "Somebody hurt me and Nobody was with me! Why won't you help me?"
The doctor retorts" You won't even tell me your name!"
Ouch roars "OUCH! It's OUCH!"

The story goes on.

It's very amusing.

Evan and Muffin get it and laugh till they're in stitches and they try to make up their own. Packrat decides to let them watch Abbott and Costello and they love it and watch it ad nauseum.

I know we stand the danger of raising children that might end up exasperating other children. But they'll have a sense of humour.

On a side note, Evan asked me if TV was indeed black and white when we were little. He was appalled when I told him that TV only started at 3 pm and there was only one English channel.

His response was at least the people on TV were funny even though they were black and white!

See, funny.

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Capturing Mischief

There is this cliche, about how boys are made out of 'snips and snails and puppy dog tails'. I'm not sure of its origins, but I can attest to it being true. Cliches have to come from some where. So, the stereotype that the boys are always up to some mischief? True. The fact that girls are supposed to be gentler and quieter? True, well, to a certain extent since mine does have two brothers to rile her up.

But anyway, I caught mischief in action today.

Muffin has a big container of hard rubber insects. It is amongst his most prized possessions. Today, he asked to sit in my work chair. Since I was busy doing something else, I said yes and didn't pay much attention to it. I caught snippets of conversation he was having with me.

"Where is Papa?"
"When is Papa coming home?"

To which I replied "Papa is at work. Papa will be home later today. Why?"
"I want Papa to sit in his chair."

Muffin is 3. I don't focus a lot on the logic behind his conversations because they take many tangential launches into irrelevant oblivion.

After the craziness and mad rush to get them onto the school bus, I returned home and started picking up the stuff they didn't clear up. And that was when the CSI Spidey-sense in me started to tingle.

1. There was the empty insect container on the floor and I hadn't seen the insects strewn any where in the house.
2. Packrat's towel on his chair looked suspiciously neat.
3. I suddenly recall Muffin sitting on the chair and pretending to vibrate as if electrocuted and then collapse into gales of laughter.
4. I suddenly recall Muffin asking me when Packrat was going to be home.
5. I suddenly recall Muffin asking me to sit in Packrat's chair only to be told by Evan that "Mommy only sits in Mommy's chair" (Evan is very much a by-the-book kind of boy)

So, I fling the towel off the chair and find his entire nest of insects on the seat under the towel.

The cheeky boy evidently thought that he could scare his father by making him sit on a nest of his insects. I think he was disappointed that he would have to wait till Packrat came home to 'jump out of his chair'. He would be further disappointed to know that I cleared the whole lot off the chair and dumped them back into the bottle. Or so I thought.

When I was leaving for work, I realised he had left me a small surprise in my hand bag too, strategically placed so that I would see it.

I dread the day he discovers how mortified I am of live lizards and stashes one in my bag to jump out at me.
But at the same time, I'm waiting to see what other harmless pranks he's going to come up thinking that it will scare us silly.

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Cheeky

If there is one quality that is bursting forth from Muffin, it is cheekiness.

He finds every opportunity to be cheeky and even when 'behaves' the way you want him to, it's all his eyes.

He just can't help it. It's as if he knows a joke or a secret that you don't. And you can't stop laughing.

 Technorati Tags: pre-schooler, cheekiness

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