A Kinder Birthday Tradition

When Erik turned six he had the boys from his class over for a party.  We always coach the kids before gift opening on how to be a gracious recipient, but who knows what a little kid is really going to do when they see a gift!  It turned out two kids gave him the same Capt. America shield.  When he opened the second one he looked up and said, "I can give this one to Adin!"  We were so proud.

Fast forward two years.  Today we had a bowling party and each of them invited three friends.  When Adin opened his gifts, he received two stomp rockets.  He suggested he could give one to Erik.  Proud again, especially since both boys spent a fair amount of today somewhat grumpy and squabbling over everything they could think of. 

After the bowling party, we took all the new outdoor equipment to the park and tried it out.  It was very fun.  It was pretty windy, so when Erik threw the boomerang one time it got stuck really high in a tree.  We threw balls at it to try to get it down (without the balls hitting the car parked under the tree).  An older boy was playing basketball by himself, and he came over to help.  After he got the boomerang down, he played with us.  It was really fun!

Life's Little Victories

Joe and I enjoy reading to the kids at bedtime, and as they've gotten older the books have gotten more complex and interesting.  There are many series available at the library, which are often good, but sometimes more enjoyed by the kids than by us.  The superhero books can be difficult for me to stomach, not because of the storylines but because of the trite writing.  So when I'm at the library, I keep an eye out for new books, especially series, that will be interesting to the kids and better written than the superhero books.  It's a very low bar, let me tell you.  Last time I was there I picked up a book called, "The Templeton Twins Have an Idea".  I liked the cover art and I have a friend from Madison whose last name is Templeton.  The art that catches my eye, however, does not catch the eyes of my children, so they never picked up the book at bedtime and requested it.  Erik even put it in the pile of books to return to the library Friday, but I pulled it out.  Joe finished reading "Treasure Island" to them yesterday and I pulled out the Templeton Twins tonight. 

They love it.

The first few pages are pretty silly.  There's a lot of tearing down the fourth wall so the narrator addresses the reader directly, interrupting himself, asking rhetorical questions, etc.  At the end of each chapter is discussion questions, which tend to be silly, too.  The kids couldn't stop giggling at all this silliness, and I was mildly relieved that the author eventually did start the plot line. It's gratifying to have my book instincts confirmed.