To Pierce his ears or not to Pierce...

The child has been up my ass for the past couple of months to let him get his ears pierced. I don't really care either way. My only rule is that he is not allowed to gauge his ear (or anything else) while living in my house. I HATE that. He also asks when he is allowed to get a tattoo, which the answer is 18. I am not opposed to them, I have 2 and counting, but I will not sign off on one for him bc if he changes his mind he is stuck with it forever and I want that decision to be all his.

Well I didn't even consider talking to his father about this. Tonight we were sitting at the place to get the piercing and his dad calls. Well my child lies about where we are and I tell him not to lie. So now his father is livid that I didn't "consult him" bc "he is still the father." I was trying not to laugh directly at him and to not cause a scene at the place so I didn't really say anything back and then the ex hung up on me. I couldn't believe he did that so I called him back and asked if he really hung up on me. He did and pointed out that I would have been pissed if my child came home from his place with a major change. This is true and he has a point.

However the more I think about it the more pissed I get. Why should I consult with him? Where has he been the last 6 almost 7 years? Our custody agreement states that I get final say in all decisions so again I ask why should I consult with him? I really don't think ears pierced is all that big of a deal. If the kid doesn' t like it he can take the earrings out and the holes can close and the childs hair covers his ears most of the time so it wouldn't even be visible. Why does it matter?

Did the ex consider his son when he moved in with his mistress and didn't take any of the childs stuff to his apartment, didn't create a room for him at his no place, then when he decided it would be better to not see his son? Did he consider his son when he met a woman 4 states away online and moved there to be with her and three kids? Did he think of his son when that marriage imploded and he moved across country to live with his father? So why should I consider his feelings/opinions when he hasn't shown interest before?

I am sure I have not heard the last of this. It will be an interesting weekend. The ex is pissed and now the child is pissed bc his dad is upset and he doesn't have his ears pierced since I don't look old enough to be his mother I have to supply the place his birth certificate and my id.

Arguing and the age of technolgy

Last Thursday the monster was out of school and stayed home. In the course of 2 hours we had an argument that went from phone conversation, FB chat, email, and finally texts???? Really that was just insane! It was all over homework that he failed to tell me about when I asked him the night before.

I also learned through our lovely argument that I need to teach the child some basic computer skills because trying to walk him through how to open an attachment and how to compose and email was amusing.

What he needs to learn:

How to open an attachment and who he is allowed to open attachments from.

How to compose an email and where the "compose email" button is.

How to save a document and where to save it.

I know he is taking a class in school that is supposed to teach him how to type but I am not sure how much else he is going to learn? At back to school night the teacher didn't really go over that and there was NO time for questions.

All and all a fun Thursday.

The Birthday from HELL!!

The monsters birthday was yesterday, this is normally a cause for celebration but this year it has been nothing but frustration.

A little back story: Up until last year I used to throw a BBQ for the monster for his birthday, the location changed a couple of times but it was always a good, large, and pretty expensive party. Last year for his 10th I decided it would be his last big party, it was just getting to be too much, so we would do cake and ice cream with each family instead. When I told him this last year he decided to forgo the party bc he wanted a long board that cost about $200 and I wasn't going to buy that and throw the party. Last year he made out like a bandit with celebrations rather than one large party he had a cake and ice cream 4 times!!! plus he got the long board.

This year things are grossly different. Still no big party but we were going to go to Hershey Park and I agreed to take a friend of his with us. Well guess what ... Hershey Park flooded. Unfortunately my child does not seem to understand that this was an act of God and could not be helped. He is so distraught over not being able to go, he is being unreasonable. I have offered a ton of other possibilities but none of them are good enough for him. He keeps screaming that he wants to do something and should be able to since its his birthday weekend but everything I suggest he shoots down. So I say what would you like to do and he cannot come up with anything himself.

Not sure how I am supposed to make him happy at this point in time especially when he is being so hardheaded. All I want to do is lock him in his room for the day! He even said he wants to go back to NM with his father since I am a horrible mom. Yep that's right run to your father where there is no bed for you let alone your own room. This has been a very frustrating birthday and the weekend is far from over. I am sure he is going to throw another fit tonight and I still have to make it through tomorrow. I think I need a drink.

Conversations with the Monster this morning.

9:15AM--Kid walks into my room

Kid-taking the pillow off my face "it's time to wake up"

Me-"can you please feed the cats" putting the pillow back over my face

Kid-"that is not getting up" walks out of my room.

10:15AM I am getting ready to go to the bank.

Me-"Do you want to go the stat fair this weekend?"

Kid-"Isn't there a concert you want to see?"

Me-"No that is the county fair"

Kid- "Who is it?"

Me-"Rodney Atkins"

Kid-"What does he sing?"

Me-"You know the one about being like your dad, I stopped short and his nuggets went flying and my four year old said a four letter word"

Kid-"It started with 's' and I was concerned."

Me-"really???"

Kid-"yes I know it"

This is comical bc the kid has been screaming that he HATES country music. I took him to see Toby Keith this summer and he complained about it the whole time!! So for him to bust out a line from a song its so funny.

At that point I just walked out of the house and told him I loved him.

We are an Elem School Graduate....

Sorry this is a month late but we are now so much closer to middle school then I really want to be.

This is him getting a boast from my dad after they let the kids go. He received a couple of awards and was able to play his bells one more time. It was such a nice ceremony and he had a pretty decent sized cheering section that decided to do the wave for him when he walked across the stage.

Afterwards the family all came back to our house for a BBQ.

It was a nice day and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I know I did. My one regret is not getting pictures of he and I together after the ceremony. Well I will get another try at the 8th grade graduation.

A night of interesting comments...

A little background for this post. A few years ago a friend and I were hanging out so much she joked that the monster was going to start referring to us as his two moms. Unbeknown to us he was listening to this conversation and asked if she was going to be his step mom. I thought he had forgotten about it but I guess I was wrong since he keeps bringing it up at odd times.

Tonight this friend and I decide to go shopping, she gets here before he gets back from his friends house. I call him to let him know he needs to get home quickly since we need to leave when he asks to speak to "his other mom" when I ask why he says just to put her on. So I put it on speaker phone. He asks her if he can get his lip pierced????? Are you kidding me? She tells him no, he has to wait until he is at least 16.

After we go to the mall we decide to go out to eat. At dinner they are working on a mad libs type puzzle to pass the time while we wait for our food. Here is a small portion of the conversation:

Friend: name a body part

Monster: uuuhhhh,,,,

Friend: ear, finger, tooth, eye ball, arm....

Monster: haha you said balls

Friend: hahaha

Monster: use balls

Friend: (finishing the mad libs story about going to the beach) bring a towel because your balls might get wet.

And we all collapsed into laughter.

This about sums up the start of my weekend.

College @ 10 years old, what???

A couple of weeks ago the monster tells me that he has a field trip permission slip he needs me to sign to go on a college trip. What he doesn't tell me is that he has been chosen to go. Only three kids in his school to attend. Now mind you its a small school with only two 5th grade classes so maybe 40 students but still I am proud.

His agenda for today is:

10:30-11--tour of campus

11-11:20--PE/GYM/Pool

11:30-11:50--chemistry class, he gets to sit in on an actual college class! :)

12-12:30--Lunch/bookstore

12:40-1:20--Campus Life student pannel.

I think this is a great experience for him and I so wish I was there to watch him. See if this sparks more interest in college in him, watch his expressions as he sees the GYM and gets to sit in on a class, and hear if he has any insights for the student pannel. I am also curious if there are going to be any skateboarders around and if so what his reaction to them will be as he's one as well. I have this notion of him like Rory Gilmore (of the show Gilmore Girls) visiting Harvard, sitting in on a class and debating with college students. I know this is unrealistic but that is my vision of him.

I am also a little sad that this is his first college visit and I am not there with him. I know its silly since its not a real campus visit but its still something I look forward to doing with him.

Now I promised not to post the picture on FB so instead I am posting it here. Its not a great picture, bad lightening and all but I still have one of him in his shirt.

The kid is a genius!

Ever since the monster was younger he has loved chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for dessert. He goes through fazes when he must have ice cream every day and then he will go months without it. He likes ice cream so much that my mom bought me special ice cream cone shaped bowls. Right now we are in a dessert type of mood. So last week the store was out of the cookie dough so I bought cookies and cream. Well the kid had the brilliant notion to make his own McFlurry by adding Christmas M&M's to the bowl. I am in love with this and just had to share. Too bad he didn't think about it sooner.

Happy New Year...

The monster decided this year he wanted hats and cups and noise makers to celebrate the new year with his dads family. I am not going to mention that I had to bend his arm to stay with me last year and I wanted to do it up big but he wanted nothing to do with it. But ooohhhh to hang with his dad's family he wanted to go all out so I took him to party city so we could stock up on goodies and he had fun.

Which brings me to this lovely picture of him testing his noise maker. He decided on the pose for this all himself. So here is a great big happy new year wish for all you from him...