Kids

The W Sisters and the Story of The Promised Pony

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When we talk to people about our move many of them ask how we told the girls? Or what do the girls think about the move? The answer is they are super excited. Why you might ask? Because to sweeten the deal on our international move we promised the girls we would get them a pony. We figured we could live on a nice British farm near a village and we could have a pony they could use on the weekends. Not really sure how we can figure that out logistically but we both agreed that the best way to convince them this move was good would be to promise them a pony.

So maybe some of that first paragraph isn’t true. I hope people realize that. That is either my version of click bait or I just thought it was pretty funny. Yeah, I just thought it was pretty funny. What is true about that paragraph is that people ask us those questions. They’re valid very good questions to ask.

I was probably pretty bad parent during this planning of the move in the early stages. I would talk openly to MC about things in front of the girls. They are old enough and they did understand a lot of it. We realize we needed to tell them what was going on when T got upset and thought we were giving away our apartment. We had to explain that we were selling it and that we would be getting a house when we got to London with a backyard. That was something that MC had wanted for years no matter where we lived. The girls were definitely excited to hear that. An added benefit of the house was that we would not need to continue to yell at them all the time when they ran around. Nowadays we do that since our neighbor downstairs does complain now and again if the girls do that.

We did promise the girls other stuff however. Just nothing as crazy as a pony. For almost what feels like two years the girls have been asking for bunkbeds. For most of that time however they’ve been crazy lunatics at bedtime. That means we did not want to get them any sort of vehicle to be able to jump off of when they’re in the room by themselves at night. Since the beginning of the summer I think they’ve been going to bed most nights without any problems so they’ve grown up enough that bunkbeds are a viable option for them. The added benefit of that is we can get a bunk bed and not bring the two top their beds that were once their cribs with us when we move. Both girls are extremely excited over that. The challenge they have is they both want to be on the top bunk. We agreed that they would rotate innate to be determined rotation schedule.

Other things the girls are excited about are the castles that we told them are all over England and Ireland. They are very curious about the princesses that may live in those castles and tried to explain to them that there probably aren’t any. That not change the fact that T will likely look for or ask for them when we go on trips.

For the girls this move is just an idea. When we first told them we said it was a long way away. We didn’t want them to get scared or apprehensive about it. We told him they have Christmas and Hanukkah and A’s birthday to go through before we move. I don’t think the reality is going to start setting in for them until either we start packing the apartment or we actually get to our new house in London.

The W Sisters and the Short Story Of Their Favorite Holidays

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At dinner Tonight T announced her favorite holidays were Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, and Halloween in that order. She declares that she loved them all since for all of them they got treats or presence. This just proves that the Jews are doing a terrible job of promoting Purim.

After T’s declaration Am confirmed she agreed with that top 4 list.

The W Sister’s And The Story of Why We Are So Excited About Explaining Stuff

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If you have kids you might be like us and explain stuff to them. I have done it since T was a baby and wasn’t possible for her to understand. On one hand I think it’s a good idea. It is is also something to pass the time when dealing with little kids.

As the girls get older both MC and I continue to do it and try to make it into a conversation with the girls. Sometimes it sparks their interest and others they could care less.

On a weekend in November we traveled to MC’s parents house for a visit. We were driving over the new Tappanzee bridge and MC was explaining that it was a suspension bridge. MC was trying to go into details about how it works so the girls would understand how it works. T instead blurred out “Mommy why are you so excited about this bridge?”

MC broke out hysterically laughing. It was pretty funny. T just wanted to know why MC was going on about this bridge. Hopefully comments like that aside T grows to appreciate engineering even if she doesn’t choose to study it.

A on the other hand was quiet during the encounter. I can’t remember if she was just sleeping but that is likely since we were driving.

The W Sisters and The Story of Scotch on the Rocks

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The girls love to pretend play. A lot of times I love pretending they’re taking our orders at a restaurant and then bringing us food. Other times they like to play school. They also just like to clean around the house which I highly encourage.

One day recently T came over to me and asked me what I wanted to order. I told her a Jack and Coke. Her reply was “Jack and coke tastes yucky pick something else.”

Next I asked her for a scotch on the rocks. Her reply was “Scotch on the rocks taste like rocks”. That’s when I just asked for a Diet Coke and she brought me one.

After I received my pretend Diet Coke I wanted to try again on the scotch so I asked for a scotch need. I was then told that I already had a drink. That conversation ended quickly.

The W Sisters and the Story of “American Food”

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For a few months now I have been trying one night every week to introduce some traditional American summer food to the girls routine.  They have had hot dogs a bunch of times prior to this but have generally been meh with them.  It has been very hit or miss.  I did try real hot dog buns vs just wrapping them in bread.  I enjoyed it but they didn’t take to it as I would have liked.  It is also work to de-skin sometimes and slice the long way the hot dog a bunch of times so they don’t choke on it.

Recently I have also tried hamburgers.  Surprisingly The girls have not really eaten them. Both of the girls have eaten hamburgers at least partly. The problem is I can’t get both of them to eat a full meal of it at the same time. T has fared better recently. The last time I made them cheeseburgers A picked the cheese off the burger and that’s all she ate. At the same sitting T at least ate 1/2 a hamburger.

With our upcoming move getting them to eat classic American fare has become a mission of mine. I guess I like to take on unnecessary and probably un-winable missions. They do eat the other traditional American children’s food the chicken nugget. I have heard people say  it is definitely harder to get a good hamburger in England then in the states. I’m not so sure if that’s true however I’m not taking my chances. I’m pretty sure a good American hotdog is going to be a challenge to get. I don’t keep kosher however I like and all beef hot dog. Sometimes that’s hard to get even in New York so confidence is low that I will be able to do that in London all that often. For me not a huge deal since I don’t eat hotdogs very much and although I love hamburgers I eat them for less than I used to. I do want the kids to appreciate good American comfort food.

While we are on the topic of good American comfort food I have to point out how baffled I am that T doesn’t eat grilled cheese. Well I’ll clarify that. The grilled cheese they used to give at school every week she did not eat. We would go out and she would sometimes eat it. I had to scratch my head at that one. She loves toast. She loves toast with butter. She loves cheese. All those things  put together makes you a grilled cheese. I did get her to articulate  once that her issue is she did not like the kind of cheese however I’m not really sure if that’s true. That would solve the mystery however like the doctor my kids lie. Not a bad way, in a standard little kid way that you can’t really trust everything they say.

Before we go I need to figure out what other American steeples should I introduce the girls to so they have an appreciation of it before we go.

The W Sisters and the story of Superman

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So funny story, this story was written back in the middle of September 2016.  I thought i published it however I published a draft.  I only recently noticed it was in my drafts folder on WordPress.  Now I am finally getting around to publish it.

I don’t deny that I’m a geek and into most things science fiction. Some of the most fun about having kids is introducing them to things I loved to do as a kid. One area that I felt I have been lacking at is introducing the kids to superheroes and other science fiction universes. When A was born and T was going to a play group every Friday I remember seeing kids at the time (about a year and a half old) having lots of different superhero action figures. Not the small ones like G.I. Joe’s that I had but bigger ones for toddlers. I felt I was not doing my job as a parent because I wasn’t exposing T yet to some cool stuff. I didn’t really think I need to act that quickly but apparently everyone else was. That was around the time that I asked for some of my old toys for my parents. I was then able to introduce her to Ironman, Superman, the A-Team for some reason. I also got Doctor Who action figures.

In the two years or so since then I’ve done an okay job of keeping them interested in superheroes and science-fiction. I bought the little golden books of Star Wars. Because of that the girls have read the abridged versions of all the Star Wars movies. They’ve also read several superhero books and have some superhero toys. I felt for a while that I had greater luck with exposing the girls to rockets and the space station and superheroes until recently.

A has had an Avengers book bag for over a year. Last year we went to pick out book bags that’s what she picked. T wanted something with frozen on it. Since I prefer Marvel over DC and Iron Man is probably one of my favorite superheroes I was pleased that she picked the avengers. I had absolutely no say in that decision. It’s after she had it for a while though she would constantly ask for it by saying she wants the Superman backpack. Apparently since Capt. America and Superman both are in blue costumes she associated the two and for some reason keeps thinking Capt. America is Superman. My super geeky side of me is torn since I’m not a Superman fan however I love that she loves Superman.

Last year A asked for a Superman watch. She always sees me changing my watch when I get home from work so she must know that I like them. biscuit roll factual and her have both had these little plastic watches they got at the dentist office toy been for almost a year. They love to wear them. I have wanted to get regular children’s watches for both of them however I couldn’t find something I really wanted to get them and was happy not to spend the money if they were okay with what they had. When A asked me for Superman watch I thought to myself challenge accepted. As I was shopping for watch and MC was putting the girls to bed A proceeds to announce that she also wants a Superman Dee Dee. What she meant was she wanted a Superman stuffed animal. She proceeds to turn to T and asks “ you want Elsa Dee Dee?”. Implying that T would want and also stuffed animal since she likes frozen. T already had to or more else the stuffed animals so she did not need any more however I added to my list of things to research a Superman stuffed animal.

I was able to find a kids Superman watch that helped tell time with the hour and minute hands labeled for kids to know what they are. Of course A would have to read in order for that to be helpful for however she love the watch regardless. The stuffed animal I found wasn’t the greatest. It had a hard plastic head and was kinda thin body. A did not seem to care. When I gave it to her she grabbed it and hugged it tightly. She was in her room getting ready for bed and took her Paddington bear which is her favorite stuffed toy and threw it down out of her crib as if she didn’t need it anymore. Don’t be worried that anything happened to Paddington bear she was all over him 20 minutes later. It was however pretty funny to see her throw him away so quickly when she got Superman.

Hello Old Friend

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T was up early Sunday morning with a stomach bug. That meant the family went into quarantine. We were going to visit my dad in the morning and then have some of M‘s cousins over for brunch in the afternoon. Everything got canceled. We just hoped T would feel better and that she didn’t pass it on to her sister.

Before T got sick M had prepared a French toast casserole for brunch. With no company coming over food that would go bad we decided to make it anyway. T wasn’t eating obviously however M myself and A had the delicious French toast casserole.

For her size A eats pretty well however in the grand scheme of things didn’t put a dent in this casserole. M did not have that much so that left me to accept the challenge to try to finish this thing as best as I could.

When I told M that she said no, no you don’t need to finish it. I cannot stress how specific she was on the fact that I did not have to try to eat as much of this casserole as I could. I ignored her and tried anyway. I had about three helpings before I had to stop. There’s more than enough for another meal that we will have one day this week possibly for dinner when T is better.

M’s French toast casserole is usually fantastic and this one did not disappoint. It wasn’t however the Paula Dean recipe with some ridiculous amount of butter and pralines in it. That is likely the only reason I am still breathing right now!