A Secret S.P.Y. Note in the BackPack

An exerpt from a note found in Mason's backpack (Mason / his friend Darius) :
She really is a Dramaqueen
tell her that
No! She will tell that we are doing this!!
let's do it
Why?
we are a spy
Telling her doesn't have anything to do with S.P.Y.!
So!
SO!
She would tell and we wouldn't be able to S.P.Y.
She won't no
I think she said she will the next time we are S.P.Y.i.n.g.!
Why
She hates when we S.P.Y. on her
She won't no
Shouldn't we stop talking about her and start talking about McKennsy?
We are going to spy on McKennsy outside
We are not going outside, so I will teach you a code.
Not this day

The World is our Classroom

For Christmas, Mason received a kit with materials for kids to write and send away for a bound "published" book. This morning we were playing with ideas for his book:

We talked about writing a funny story, an adventure to find treasure. I suggested maybe a book for other kids...

Mason suggested, "maybe about what it is like to break your arm? like I did last summer...or maybe about kids with parents in different houses..." and then he was quiet for a moment and then said

"OR...we could write about Global Warming...so kids will know not to throw trash on the ground."
Surprised, I asked, "how do you know about global warming?"
Mason: "Geez Mom, I've known about global warming since I was 5!"

Pause Button for Life...I want one

Our kids are exposed to so many electronic gizmos these days ...the TV, the DVD player, their video games. It is no wonder that they try to apply these controls to the world...

• During Levi's most recent video game session (he had been granted "10 minutes" of video game time from mom) I see him come flying out of the game room towards the bathroom and then stops, sees me, comes running up and says "Pause it...k, mom?" I say, "Pause what?" He says, "Pause my time, I've got to pee!"
• At bedtime, we're reading a story and he jumps up, smacks his hand on the book, looks at me and says, "Pause it, I'll be right back!"

And so today, I plan to try it at work...when the phones are ringing and the emails are flooding my inbox and everything gets to be too much...I'm gonna say, "Pause it! I need a break!"

It Takes More Than Karma

The other day we were watching the movie, "Pursuit of Happyness"...the movie where the father struggles to overcome his circumstances to land a job as a stockbroker, all the while taking care of his young son. I thought I'd have to provide some parental guidance during the movie, but Mason always seems to guide me. At one point of the movie I said "so what do you think about this movie?" Mason replies, "This guys doesn't have a whole lot of karma in this movie...he does these good things and bad thing keep happening. That kid is really good and he still loses his Captain America doll." I said, "yeah, that's true...guess you got to have more than good karma to make it in the world." He says, "yeah, you gotta know how to solve the rubik's cube, too!"