Rael Today

Today I got a call from Rael's principal because he stabbed another child with his pencil. He's apparently been acting out a lot these first three weeks of school. He had behavioral issues in Head Start and we were able to determine some commonalities between "good" days and "bad" (good days were when I dropped him off and reminded him of behavioral rules, bad days were when Denise dropped him off and paid no attention to such reminders). I worry that his current drop-off schedule is too chaotic for him to adjust at school properly.

We started him in professional counseling. He starts Wednesday.

Ongoing Conversation Between Me and Rael

This started two weeks ago.

Rael: Daddy, don't be sad, but Santa isn't real.
Me: What? You don't think Santa's real?
Rael: No, he's rubber. Santa's not real, he's fake. He's rubber daddy.
Me: Does this mean you don't want Santa then beca--
Rael: Nope.
Me: Uhm. . .

Rael: Santa IS real, daddy.
Me: Oh, he's real now?
Rael: Yeah, so now he can come.
Me: Ok.

and so on, repeat, etc. And then today:

Rael: I love you, daddy. Santa's not real, daddy.
Me: Ok. So no Santa then?
Rael: No, Santa's coming.
Me: How can Santa come if he's not real?
Rael: He's fake!
Me: Right, so if he's fake, how's he going to come?
Rael: I think I have enough stuff I can make us a robot Santa and he can come.
Me: OK.

Kidding

This post will be less of a whiny "State of the Evan Union" post than the last one was. But I do want to give a quick thank you to Alex and Kayla for deciding to drop by Wally World in order to cheer me up after reading my last post.

I haven't talked much about the kids in a while, so for those family and friends with an interest in such things, some updating:

I'm going to start off with Aeia and completely buck the idea of any conventional ordering. The last month saw Aeia making a concerted push at getting me to re-implement the concept of allowances. Ironically enough, my decision to capitulate to this request has resulted in her deciding to be the one who least does their chores and therefore earns the least allowance. Over the Autumn Break (aka Thanksgiving Week) she had a family tree homework assignment. The parameters for this only required focus on her family tree through her grandparents, my and Denise's parents but Aeia was so interested in exploring as much of her geneology as she could that she pursued filling the tree out back through the generations out to my Great-grandmother. It was fun helping with this and it was fun listening to some of her reactions and revelations. She is very concerned with the large number of unwed pregnancies and multiple marriages in both my mother's and grandmother's generations. Aeia's also taken an interest in choir and I look forward to eventually, hopefully, getting to see her perform.

Lash is struggling with the same things he's been struggling with for some time now: friends and grades (he isn't making/keeping any ((and I think the situation in my previous post is negatively impacting his one close friendship)) and his grades are poorer than ever before. Le sigh.) while at home he's really begun to rise up to improving how helpful he can be with the other kids and with his chores. Far from perfect, but improving. I'd like to get him involved with some sport again.

Tasmia and Rael are both very frequently pretending to be dinosaurs, running around and growling at everyone else. Rael has begun playing the Lego Rock Band game with me on occasion--he only has the attention span for 2 and a half songs--and he does surprisingly well for his age, even if only on "super easy" mode for guitar. He's definitely interested in performance as he really adds some rocking out to his rocking out.

Tasmia is freaking scary intelligent. None of the others were as loquacious at two, none as communicative of their canniness (though all have proven to be pretty darn canny and loquacious). I think Tasmia's going to end up ruling the world--sometime after she learns to be less messy when she eats.

The Shining

Sometimes I'm really thrown by Rael and his seeming uncanny prescience. Sometimes it's even a little scary. There have been more than a few occasions where I've picked Rael up from school and in the middle of getting him buckled in his car chair and all of the "how did you like school today"s he'll turn to me and interrupt with a "Daddy, are you mad at so-and-so?" Almost every single time he's done this has been a time where I was unhappy with 'so-and-so' but was never in the moment with that where it would indicate to him he should even be in the same neighborhood of knowing.

But even that isn't what really throws me. What throws me is the relationship he has with "grampa"--my grandfather. Rael often has a story for me of the fun things they do together--especially all of their fishing trips and the big fish they catch. Or of grampa's pet dog and cats. Or the stories of how grampas sad because gramma died, and she died in their house. Rael, at three years old, met my grandfather for the first and only time and only for maybe the inside of twenty minutes on the day I met them to drop off Lash and Aeia for their visit with them. He's never been fishing, much less with grampa (and yet grampa IS a very serious fisherman) or interacted with their pets. Nor has he ever been told the circumstances of my grandma's passing.

These are the situations where Rael throws me, scares me, a little. Do I chalk it up to an imaginary friend (relative) even when all of his details in this friendship are spot-on for a real person?

I'm going to just leave it at "Rael is a very special child"--as are all of them.

Petting Zoo

Four of my last five posts were about television. I promise I actually have a life--it just isn't always all that exciting. Snippets of now and the future:

We've begun the slow process of packing. Anyone who has a lengthy relationship and has kids I'm sure can sympathize with just how monumentally more difficult it is to change living situation. For us, our current lease ends this summer and we've decided that, for the money we pay we would prefer a home that isn't surrounded by screaming college kids most nights of the week. Hopefully something with more yard for the kids. At any rate, packing takes forever, and we've only just begun. Hopefully we'll find something that meets our needs and our desires as much as possible.

This week Rael's preschool decided to surprise all the kids with the gift of a goldfish. A word of advice--if you plan to enter the teaching field, or to work with kids, do not give a child a pet, no matter how low-maintenance (ha! Shel can attest to how not low-maintenance fish actually are), without first making sure it's ok with the child's parent. Rael was ecstatic at his new fish and had it named and loved before he even left the classroom (he named it Goldy). I, on the other hand, not so happy that my kid now has a life to care for, and an extremely fragile life at that. I think it requires a certain level of audacity I just can't quite fathom, like cutting someone else's kid's hair without making sure the kid's parent is cool with it. Sadly, Goldy survived a bare 24 hours and Rael had to experience his first, and for a long time last, Funeral For A Fish.

M*A*S*H*

Let's see. . .

Denise was very nice to me and got me my birthday gift from her early--Rock Band for the Xbox 360. I am now so very completely breaking up with Guitar Hero. I'm not even going to return her calls. I'm sure we'll still have make-up music together, though. At least until Rock Band gets some Primus and Modest Mouse up in there to go with all the far superior music selection it has. I spent Friday night with Lash and Aeia rocking it out. Spent most of Saturday with John, Josh and Brian also rocking it out, with some duet action with me and Denise on Saturday and today. Great fun. I got a little 'tude earlier today, apologized for it and thought everything was fine, but apparently not. . . anyhow, super super super fun game. Thanks, Denise.

Tuesday Lash left for Whiskeytown Environmental camp and won't be back 'til Friday. I know that Rael, Aeia and I are all missing him (I imagine Denise does too, but she hasn't mentioned anything to me. . .).

Today (the 28th) was Rael's third birthday--we're waiting 'til Lash gets back so we can celebrate as a unit on Saturday.

Unfortunately, while I was at work Rael started having seizures and a skyrocketing fever. Denise ambulanced him to the hospital, and Chrissy was wonderful enough to come over and care for the other kids. Burger Hades didn't think it was enough of a family emergency to let me have a different manager come in and work a double shift so I could leave and be with my son. I feel a little postal (Dev--don't bring this up at work, please). I seriously need a new direction.

And I continue to wait, wait, wait for a sign on my writing pitch. Keep those good vibes continually flowing. At least no news isn't necessarily bad news.

Back from that intermission--the docs ran tests on Rael and couldn't find any definitive thing wrong with him, so diagnosed him with a "virus" and let him come home. I want to have confidence in the doctors (you know how I really feel). I want the doctors to be right. Fuck that, I just want Rael to be all right.

Ranting is done for now. My throat hurts; my head hurts; my heart hurts; my eyes hurt; my finger hurts; my feet hurt; it's beddy-bye for me.

EDIT: Today Rael is, while a small bit warm, running around, playing, jabber-jawing, digging on old Transformers season one cartoons. . .being his usual self again. Glee.

Short Circuit

Number five is alive, baby.

Seriously though, I don't have any reason for not blogging lately. My output's been absolutely pitiful the last few months--sorry folks. What can I say? I will endeavor to rededicate my efforts here in order to be a little more entertaining for you. I have, however, been a busy beaver.

I've been working on a writing project that I'm still in the superstitious "too much talk will jinx me" stage, so without giving more information than that, bear with me, and wish me well. When I get out of the jinxy superstitious stage I'll surely be much more talkative about it.

My work at Burgeropolis moves along as it always does. Though I'm happily no longer twice-weekly exiled to the satellite store at Burgerburb. There's a high chance of me going to further burger classes next month too, which will line me up for better pay, benefits, etc. while I continue trying to improve my life beyond Burgeropolis.

Personally, I'm almost entirely a happy guy. There is one, one point in my life where this is quite not the case, and hasn't been for a while, but Denise and I continue to work at that and that is all I can really ask or hope for. Read-between-the-liners can note this is me making it clear that above all things I'm putting life and marriage first here and things are getting better.

The kids are great. Tasmia is a lot more mobile, which is of course nerve-wracking as you have to become hyper-aware of your entire surroundings now, especially when you also have a toddler who actively throws small choke hazards on the floor.

Rael is a lot more communicative, which we know was once a worry of mine. For whatever reason he just decided to take a really long time developing his linguistic abilities. Now he won't shut up. But he's adorable.

Aeia sang at a school talent show last week. Work kept me from attending, but I'm told she did well singing some Kelly Clarkson song. When I let them have Xbox360 time she is also still the clear superior of the two when she and Lash play Guitar Hero II and III. Though Lash is still more entertaining to watch play and acts like he gets more out of it.

Lash is still little-leaguing. His team wins most of their games and he's having a wonderful time. He still isn't fantastically skilled, but I like to think there's some improvement going on. He even stole a base last week. Season ends soon, unless their record decrees they go on to play-offs. I think their record will be making that decree too. We'll see.

Denise has a written exam coming for a new job she's applied for. Not a career-forward move, but better pay, etc. so we'll be finger crossing on that when we're done finger crossing for me. :)

Nerdgaming is nerdgaming and keeps on keeping on. We added a new member to our nerdgaming entourage. Now our chi is a little more in balance.

To Denise and all the other mothers out there, and as years go on I know more and more of you and will now avoid listing names for fear of leaving any out, I hope you have a fabulous Mother's Day. Sure, it's yet another holiday invention for the sake of selling greeting cards, but of them all, I think celebrating motherhood is one of the more honorable and righteous Hallmarkidays.

What else? Movies:
Iron Man: Loved it. Continue to feel RDJ was the perfect casting choice (yeah, yeah Jason, whatever), and am very pleased to announce that The Wooden Girl outright doubled her facial emotive range in this film from one to two. Part of me is afraid, though that maybe Iron Man wasn't really all that fabulous, just that the last 5 or so superhero movies in recent memory have been so displeasing that this one was only good but seemed great. In other words, I fear watching it a second time and feeling as if the origin story drags too long, Paltrow isn't refreshingly new, Howard is more squeekily annoying as Rhodey, etc.

Teeth: I wasn't going to watch this; I was quite clear on this. But I watched it anyway. Somewhat nightmarish. A bit more gruesome (did it also have to spit the bitten parts back out? Really. Ugh). Dug the ending.

I've been watching season 2 of Penn & Teller Bullshit and am now wholly behind the idea of ceasing recycling, other than for aluminum cans, and for after-use restaurant grease as alternative fuel sources. It's (the recycling episode) actually the first episode I went into ready to disagree with and went out of a transformed man. Heh.

You can guarantee that my absolute love for Speed Racer, coupled with my viewing of its various trailers, will most definitely be keeping me out of the movie theatre on that one. Go Speed Go. It looks like it's really just a longish plot-less eyegasm.

Total number of new words Evan's added to the universe's English-language lexicon today: two--Hallmarkiday and eyegasm.

I've come to realize I have a growing resentment for people who offer "help" but never offer babysitting.

lunch is ready and I am hungry, so this is all folks.

Happy Birthday

So messy. . . :)