Principals office......again.

I knew that something was up when I asked the boys how their day at school went and my eldest quickly replied, "I need to tell you something......in private." Making a mental note to check on Cade who was brooding under his jacket with hood pulled up, I followed Aric to his bedroom. Once in the room he looked at me with these big eyes and quickly stated he had good news and not so good news. Not saying a word I simply cocked my head and raised my eyebrows and he continued. He started off by explaining he was in the principals office today but was quick to point out he didn't get in trouble and it wasn't his fault. Now, I love my son dearly but I know him all to well and at this admission am beginning to question his claim of "innocence". Starting from the beginning I learned there were some words expressed by a friend of his at lunch that Aric felt were inappropriate and should not be said at school. Aric asked his friend to stop and when he didn't he just decided to leave and go to recess. (At this point I was thinking WOW he actually used good judgement - maybe, just maybe, some things might be sinking into that head of his. Now I'm wondering where exactly does the principal part come into play?) Once outside and involved in a game the same friend asked to join in and Aric remained silent. Ahhh....the good ol' silent treatment will fix the problem. Apparently the silence just escalated the anger and that's when his friend just slapped him "for no reason at all". Now I'm quickly grasping the whole picture. When I asked, "Did you tell him why you wouldn't let him play?" he just squirmed and said, "no." We hashed out the need for him to explain the reasoning to his friend as opposed to completely shutting him out and ignoring him. Overall I'm pleased that he showed good judgement, didn't engage in a fight, and was honest with me about the incident. We obviously still need a little work with the communication portion of his problem solving.

Boys being boys, there are no hard feelings and as far as they're concerned the entire event is ancient history. My hope is that he won't see the inside of the principals office again but then again this is Aric that we're talking about.

Wanted: Black Pug Puppy

He has said no for a very long time but I finally see a crack in his armor. While on a date the other day the topic of wanting a dog came up........ again. I began my argument this time by expressing that we should get a dog now while I am still at home with the kids and can spend time with it. At first I thought it was pointless but then out of the blue Jess says, " Find a black pug puppy for $200 and we can talk." I couldn't believe my ears! Of course I only heard the first part of that sentence and so my search for a pug began! It hasn't been that easy though, and not because there is a lack of pugs for sale on the web because there are PLENTY. I just have to find the right price. Jess actually came across some that are a year old, litter boxed trained and have all their shots (I might have to follow up on those.) I think there names were Samson or Molly or Uther I can't remember, they are all running together in my mind. I quickly got excited and felt as though we would have a puppy soon until Jess reminded me of the last part of that sentence. The part that said, "then we'll talk." I hate that part. I'm going to be working on my "sweet talk" soon so pray that his armor will crack. P.S. our kids know nothing about this dog search as they would not be able to contain themselves and would be devastated if dad said NO......again.

My New Obsession

FACEBOOK! Long story short I recently rejoined facebook and am completely hooked just like my poor husband thought I would be. I tried to tell him it wouldn't happen but he knows me too well! It's amazing how you can connect with all these different people that are or have been a part of your life. Right now I'm having fun with it but hopefully it's newness will fade......for Jess' sake at least. :-)

Captain Cool C.J. and The Aricanator 2000

One day the boys decided to create their own comic so I thought I would post it since it has been one of the only times that they worked for days without arguing about it!