Mae's Musings

My neighbor put a "No Soliciting" sign on her front door due to several people coming by trying to sell "stuff" lately. Mae and I went over the other day. As we stood at the door step waiting for a reply to our doorbell ring, she inquired about the sign. I explained to her what it meant. Simple as that, she seemed satisfied. A few days later at dinner time the phone rang. Rusty got up to answer. As he stood silently listening with phone in hand, Mae asked who it was on the line. I told her it was probably a telemarketer. "What's that?" she asked. "A person trying to sell something," I told her. "They're soliciting!" Mae replied.

I thought I was going to spit my water across the room.

When Rusty finally got off the phone he asked what all the fuss was about. I told him what Mae had just said, and he says, " Oh yea! She asked me the other day what that sign meant on the neighbors door."

Mae then quipped, " Yeah, well....Mama already told me what it meant. I was just checking to see if you knew."


She is so funny, that girl. And smart!!

Early Morning Discussions

Some mornings our way to school turns into deep discussions involving many questions. This is usually by Mae, of course. This morning the discussion somehow turned to going to college. Mae has asked me about this before. She became absolutely horrified that she would have to go off and live by herself, even after my explanations that she wouldn't feel that way at the time.
This mornings discussion went something like this:

Mae: Mama, will I be able to drive when I go to college?
Me: Yes...you will be able to drive before that when you are in high school. (My stomach knotting at the thought)
Mae: Mama, where will I go to college? Will I go there? (As we pass the high school)
Me: No...that's the high school. They do have colleges here, but you can go wherever you want. There are colleges everywhere. (Silently sending up a bullet prayer for a scholarship)
Mae: Will I live at home?
Me: No. You will live in a dorm. It's so much fun.
Mae: Mama, what's a dorm.
Me: Kinda like an apartment, but it's only one room. You'll have a roommate, too. It's really a lot of fun. (Thinking...how did I have so much fun in ONE stinking room with another person)
Mae: Oh..... Mama, will my friends at school go with me.
Me: Maybe.
Mae: I think my friend, Catherine, will live with me.
Me: Maybe, so. It's fun to go to college. You can play sports and be in clubs.
Mae: Do you have to do work.
Me: Yes, you have to go to school, but you'll like it.
Mae: Mama, can me and John Russel go together?
Me: Of course you can.
Mae and John Russel: YESSSSS!

Isn't this just the cutest thing ever. I pray that they will go to college together and stay close forever.

100

Have you ever wondered what 100 of something looks like?

The 100th day of school is coming up. The kids are so excited. They have brought home activities and are planning parties for the big day! Thrilling!!!

One of John Russel's activities is to count and glue 100 "somethings" onto a piece of paper. These "somethings" have to be small enough to fit onto a regular 8 and 1/2 by 11 piece of paper. HMMMM.....what shall we do....I'll have to think on that one.

Mae, on the other hand, who was not assigned such an endeavour from her Kindergarten teacher, couldn't resist the temptation to count out 100 things and take them to school. After much conversation and deliberation and argumation (ok...not a word...but fits perfectly) we decided to count out 100 of her favorite "things" on the face of the earth, take a picture, and she could take ONE of these "things" to school with her. (Even though she was NOT assigned to do so)

Soooo....Off we go to count. I help her as we break these "things" into groups of 10. "We need 10 groups of 10." I tell her as we count. I wasn't really sure she had 100 of these "things", but I really shouldn't have doubted. She not only had 100, she had like 115 or so. AND...I'm sure there were a few more of these "things" hiding under some one's bed or in the car or in the closet. She and I then arranged these "things" lovingly and aesthetically on her bed. She then squeezed herself into the picture and I got it!

What did we get 100 of? I know you're dying to know....

Well, 100 stuffed animals of course!

Isn't that pathetic!

Bloody Murder

*Look at sweet Mae on her Birthday with her friends...Imagine the opposite for this post*

Today the two older kids had their yearly check-ups with the pediatrician. We made our long way to the doctor's office after school. During our trip I explained to the kids why they were going to the doctor. Mae quickly asked, "Do I have to get a shot?" I told her that she shouldn't because she was caught up, but that she could ask the doctor when we got there. I'm not sure if she didn't hear me or if she just wasn't satisfied with the answer I supplied because she asked me about five more times as we traveled through town. When we got to the doctor's office all was well. They each weighed, had their hearing and vision checked and loved showing off how smart they are and how well they could behave. When the appointment was drawing to a close just after the doctor gave me all of the height and weight percentages the doctor dropped the bomb. "You know....your kids are missing some shots." She proceeded to tell me that the doctor's office in Memphis probably didn't send the correct information because we had gotten into school with a shot record from the Memphis office. During our discussion the doctor and I came to the conclusion that it would be best to go ahead and get the hepatitis A shot today and if they really were missing their second chicken pox vaccine then I could come back and get it later. It wouldn't hurt to give them another hep A vaccine if they had already gotten it.

So....... I said, "Well, guys. It looks like ya'll are going to have to have a shot after all."

Oh My Lord. That's all I can say for the reaction that Mae had. That girl started screaming at the top of her lungs as she clawed at the paper on the examination table trying to climb into the wall behind it. All I could do was stare. I have NEVER seen such! I'm telling ya'll it was B-A-D. She gave to meaning to the term screaming bloody murder.

Finally after much sweet talking, threatening, and promises of ice cream was I able to calm her down. The nurse was very sweet and calm. We let John Russel go first. Don't you just know that after his shot went in and out without incident he started to cry. He, the child who has gotten an allergy shot a week for the past 2 years of his life, started to CRY, ya'll! I don't know, maybe it burned or something....who knows. All I do know is that this did NOT help matters with Miss Mae Mae Workman! This set off a new set of hysterics.

Here we went again. Promises, threats and sweet talking. I held her in my arms and made her look the other way while she screamed in my ear. (My ear is still ringing by the way) The shot went in and out and after she cried a little bit longer.Then finally it was over.

Can you believe it? I can't. I have NEVER seen such in my life.

On the way home I called Rusty to tell him about it, and I couldn't resist to call Mother and tell her. Mae told me to quit talking about her and making up stories. Oh Girl.....Making up stories....I'm sorry, I know that one day you'll probably talk about me in therapy. Better yet you'll sit around your dorm room with your friends and talk about how horrible your mother was to you. You'll even have the evidence to prove it.... The Workman Five Family Blog.....

Jingle Bells....Desert Style!!!

Here's a new Christmas song for ya'll! Mae is having a Christmas program at school tomorrow night. She was singing the songs that the kindergartners will be performing for me tonight. This one in particular is so cute I want to share it with ya'll!

Jingle bells!

Lizard tails!

Hot and sunny days!

Santa's here in desert town,

But he cannot stay

Hey!

Jingle bells!

Lizard tails!

Hot and sunny days!

Santa's here in desert town,

But he cannot stay.

Hey!

Most towns have white snow

But here we have hot sand

That won't stop old Santa Clause

Four Wheeling is his plan!

Hey!

Jingle bells!

Lizard tails!

Hot and sunny days!

Santa's here in desert town,

But he cannot stay.

Hey!

Don't you love it! I can't wait to see the entire program.