Random stuff

1) Last night, Graham was supposed to practice his typing on easytech.com.

I recall taking typing as a senior in high school ... a bit late, yes, but definitely not an elementary school skill in the olden days. "F, f, f, f. J, j, j, j."

Things have changed, and for Graham, typing is especially important since he struggles with handwriting and letter shaping to begin with. When I initially balked at his logging on to easytech.com, thinking it was some kind of game, he said, "Mom, do you want me to do really bad in high school and college? Cause if I can't type, I will do so bad!" His grammar aside, I was like, Yikes! Tone it down a notch, Mister.

Sometimes he gets really frustrated by the shift key, and last night, he quit the typing practice early. It was giving him fits.

I peeked in on his progress and no longer saw Kandy the Kangaroo hopping around the screen.
"Whatcha doing?" I asked him.
"Oh, just reading blogs," he said.

Say what? That's how I pass the time.

Sure enough, Graham was looking at the pictures and posts on a friend's blog, enjoying the photos of the kids he knows.
Can I just say, www.kidstoday.com?

2) During our early dinner/late lunch (meaning a hefty afterschool snack that really counts as a meal), the conversation turned to relationships. No, not mine. Annie's!
"Caleb is my boyfriend," she told me.

Oh no, I thought. Already??? I will note that Caleb is a darling sweetheart of a boy, but still.

Annie continued, "I didn't want him to feel worried about it though, so I laughed and said, 'Of course you're not my boyfriend, Caleb' - ha ha ha ha - and then I crossed the monkey bars."

Graham chimes in, "I thought your boyfriend was Owen."

Owen is a kid from preschool. We haven't seen him for a year. My maternal head was spinning.

"I broke up with Owen," said Annie. "Did you know his name starts with O, Mom?"

Great! The Boyfriend ABC book, coming soon.

3) Sunday was ward conference. I really wanted Graham to be reverent in Primary. I *think* he does okay in his class, but he's been known to wander/talk incessantly/collapse during sharing time.

I made him a deal - if he could be good for sharing time (with the stake visitors watching), I would let him play a VeggieTales game on the computer. On a Sunday. (This is not our usual M.O. but desperate times call for desperate measures.) The terms of the deal were accepted, meaning that I told Graham I would ask Brother Trousdale or Sister Power how Graham did.

Well, I didn't get a chance to follow up with either of those people after church, so I went straight to Graham.
"How did you do today?" I asked him.
"I did a good job, Mom. Now can I play the game?"
"You have earned it," I replied.

"Wait," he said. "How did you know I was telling the truth?"
"Well," I said. "You're usually honest about how you've done. You've told me when you fell out of your chair or kept talking or ran around the room, so I believed you."
(This is true. Graham is pretty honest in his self-assessments.)

Annie, who had been listening in the van during our exchange, added her two cents: "Yes Graham, you were good today! For the first time, I think," she said, pleasantly.

Later I asked Graham what made this Sunday different. He said, "I wanted to play that game, Mom. Also, I decided not to sit by [kid A] because I knew I would want to make him laugh."

Hallelujah!!!! This was pretty amazing ... for him. I was happy that the promise of the Larry-Boy game held strong as a carrot. I was also thrilled that Graham was able to make a choice to avoid a temptation, the temptation to amuse others. Sadly, it's a temptation he succumbs to many times. He loves it when people are laughing at his jokes and antics.

Even later I asked Graham how he was able to decide to sit in a different seat.
"Watching Larry-Boy and the Bad Apple". You have to resist temptation, Mom."

I've never been too impressed with the aesthetics of Veggie Tales. Also, there are some inconsistencies in the concept (they have their own town yet they appear on someone's kitchen counter ????) However, I felt a renewed appreciation for their Sunday Morning Values. Saturday Morning Fun. mission!