Communal Property

Alex is having a hard time understanding what belongs to him versus what belongs to other people and the social constructs surrounding such thoughts. Or maybe it's not that he doesn't understand, but rather he just doesn't care.

Most recent example. Both kids were given cups of water this morning. Each child was shown which cup was theirs and told to only drink out of their own cup. A few minutes ago Alex starts screaming about Zoe drinking water out of a cup. I go over and Alex shows me Kairi's cup and goes "I dink Kai-wee wata and now Zoe dink it! Tell no! Tella Kai-wee wata!" I shooed Zoe away and made sure her water bowl was full (which it was), and then turned back to the cup. Alex was still in tears. I asked why he wasn't drinking his own water and he told me because he was saving it. Of course ... he saves his own water by drinking Kairi's; makes perfect sense. I told him that he needs to drink his own water from now on, not Kairi's. Kairi finally takes notice of the entire situation and starts to freak out that both Alex and Zoe drank out of her cup. I'm on my way to replace the cup, but that's not what she wants, she wants HER cup. See, Kairi has been clear on what belongs to her versus other people since before she was two -- she does not understand why Alex doesn't respect this rule. To Alex, all things belong to all people, even if they have someone else's name attached to them. Unless it's his Cars book or his blanket, then if you touch it you might die a death of burst brains because of his shrill scream. I offer Kairi Alex's cup, since obviously he hasn't touched it and she somehow sees the justification in this. He isn't happy that she's drinking the water he saved, but he also knows better than to scream at her about it -- that never ends well. He walks off muttering about needing water. I finally replaced the water cup that both he and Zoe drank out of and made him promise not to touch Kairi's new cup and to not put it down when Zoe's in the room. And now he's calling both cups Kairi's cups. At this moment I have no idea which cup belongs to which child. I'm going to assume that the one that Kairi shrieks about every time Alex walks near it is Alex's old and therefore Kairi's new cup. But to be honest, I'm not sure as I think that Alex managed to trade off cups while Kairi was going potty.

Hilarious or Infuriating? Or Both?

I thought I'd give you an update on how homeschooling is going w/ the kids, but instead of giving details about how fast Alex is catching on to things, or how well Kairi is doing tracing, or how much fun they're both having, let me share a moment or two that happened today. Every single thing we learn has this same battle with the Girl, while the Boy is willing to agree that I know what I'm talking about every time.


We were reading Part One of the Flip-Flap Body Book which discusses food, digestion, teeth, etc. Kairi interrupted me to inform me:

"Mommy, food does NOT come out my bottom. Germs come outta there. Food goes down into my toes. I know cause I see my candy hearts from yesterday when I look at my toes. See? It's right DERE. Mommy, stop being wrong. I know dese things."


Later, when we were looking at capital and lowercase letters, she tried to convince me that b and d are the same letter. When I promised her that they're not, and tried to show how they go in different directions, she told me that she was smarter than me and knew that it was just an accident.


Lord help us when she's a teenager if this keeps up.

When they arrest me, this is my insanity defense....

6 Brand New Bottles of Finger Paint


What a "pretty" mess. It's even on the wood of the table. Of the $1200 dining room table.

The culprit tried to use a towel to clean up.

Obviously, the towel didn't work.


The bottles are empty....

Meet the culprit, trying to look innocent.

Add a caption

Yeah, she's nothing if not thorough.

Didn't she do a fabulous job on her arms and legs?

I bet that those shirt stains come right out ..... yeah.

It splattered on the walls.


Oh yay ... It's on my carpet too.


Yup ... on the carpet and walls.


This would be a beautiful handprint, had it been on CONSTRUCTION PAPER.


Yeah, she's nothing if not thorough.





This does not include the dining room chair, couch, wool coat, or front door.


All I wanted was 10 minutes to finish blow-drying my hair while she watched tv. This is what it got me.