Things that make you go hmmm...

Alex can read on a 5th or 6th grade level and could probably perform algebra if I asked her to, but request that she brush her hair? You'd think I was ordering her to yank it out by the roots. Hmmm...well, enough said.

Alex is my most organized child. She makes lists, enters appointments on calendars, corrects people's grammar (ah...how I love the little Mini-Me!), but her room looks like a department store threw up. Hmmm...I think there are psychology books about this first child thing. And I think there's a reference by any First Child Blurb that says See also: only child. Plus, I seem to remember a certain only child who was a slob growing up and who is now a neat freak. So there is hope. But let's hope I don't rub off on her TOO much because the anal retentiveness of this neat freakiness can sometimes be a little debilitating.

Michael can build a whole detailed city or Star Wars Galaxy or elaborate robotic world full of fire-shooting creatures which he has created in his imagination, but you'd think I was shooting him with one of his fire bombs when I ask him to sit down for a little school. Hmmm...here's hoping he grows ever fonder of academics even as his obsession for Legos wanes.

Michael used to be able to tie his shoes. I discovered last night when he asked me to put on his soccer cleats that he has forgotten. Hmmm...can anyone say Get rid of the velcro shoes!?

Jacob is my loudest, craziest, wall-climber here at home, but when he's out, he doesn't utter a word. Hmmm...well, we're working on this and just accepting it as his sweet little personality.

Jacob is our most athletic child, but we can't get him to venture out on to a soccer field or basketball court. Hmmm...see the last point.

The Princess can properly identify George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Ben Franklin; she can tell you who the first president of the United States was; she can tell you the capital of Delaware. But she still can't identify all the letters of the alphabet. And it's not because we aren't working toward that end. The other facts she picks up just by sitting in with her older siblings. Hmmm...perhaps I should reteach the 3 of them the alphabet, and she'd soak it up that way.

The moment the Princess has finished her business, she inquires, "I have boppypop?" Hmmm...can anyone say conditioning?