We’re RICH?!

Last night I came home from a long day of Christmas shopping (which was made more frantic by the impending snowstorm), and when I pulled into the driveway I saw that our Christmas lights were finally up.  I had them on my mental to-do list for yesterday since it would be much easier to put them up with no snow, so seeing them already up meant that I didn’t have to spend any time in the cold or convince Ben that putting up Christmas lights at night was a good idea.

I came in the house and hugged Ben, who was sitting at the table with Adlani and Norah.  Adlani looked at me with a big excited smile on his face and yelled, “We’re RICH?!”

I guess it was a fair question, since I would probably hug Ben if we won the lottery too, but I was curious about how a 5-year-old would make that connection.  When I asked him why he thought we were rich, he said that one time Aliya said that we won a million dollars and I said, “WOOHOO!”

So Unexpected Riches = Mommy Excited and Happy.

I guess that’s pretty accurate.

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(Click cartoon to enlarge.)

Drunk 4 Year Old Steals Christmas Presents

If Adlani drank my beer and then left the house at 2 a.m., stole gifts from the neighbors’ houses, put on the brown dress that was in one of the packages, and had to have his stomach pumped, I don’t think I would be accepting media requests, but you can see the news report about this story here:  http://www.newschannel9.com/news/year-987196-old-christmas.html

It’s heartbreaking that the kid’s motive was to try to get in trouble so he would be taken to jail and be able to see his dad.  🙁

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WTVC-TV) – A 4-year-old boy, beer in hand, is accused of stealing Christmas presents from his neighbors. It’s a strange story, but also a sad one. 
April Wright is 21 years old and is going through a divorce with her husband who is in jail.  She says she is not sure how her 4-year-old managed to get out of the house, open a beer, and steal the neighbors presents from under their tree.  Now she’s just glad he’s okay and says she won’t let it happen again.
The child, Hayden Wright, was found around 1:45 am Tuesday, wandering the streets of his neighborhood.  In a police reports, officers said he was wearing a little girl’s dress and drinking a beer. The police report says the child had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for alcohol consumption.
April Wright said, “Biggest concern was him being out there, getting kidnapped, getting run over, the alcohol, having to have his stomach pumped.”
Wright says she woke up that night at 1:45 am and panicked when she found Hayden was gone.  She says she put safety devices on all the doors so her kids couldn’t get out, but Hayden was able to break the safety device off the doorknob and get outside.
Once out, Wright says her four year old followed his father’s footsteps and was found on Blue Spruce Road, drinking. 
“He runs away trying to find his father,” she said. “He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that’s where his daddy is.”
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office report says Hayden rang the doorbell a few houses down and the neighbor answered, finding the child holding a partially consumeed 12-ounce beer. 
Wright said, “He got it out of my father’s cooler in the back and how he got it open I don’t understand because it was one of those tab beers.”
But it doesn’t stop there. The report said Hayden then snuck into a neighbor’s house through an unlocked front door, and stole five wrapped Christmas gifts.  One was a girl’s brown dress which Hayden was wearing when police found him. 
“Going to the neighbor’s house and taking their presents, very embarrassing,” said April.
She admits she was not just embarrassed, but scared, and rushed to the hospital that night with Hayden. She said she tries to be a good mother and loves her son, but now feels like a failure. 
“Kids do things like this and it’s out of your control, you can do the best you can as a mother, everyone makes mistakes, it was an honest mistake,” she said.
Wright did meet with child protective services today who told her she will get to keep custody of Hayden.

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Team Effort

I apologize for the lack of posts this week, but I’ve been madly organizing the mountain of gifts and stocking stuffers that arrived at my house last Sunday.  For the 5th straight year, my coworkers, family, and friends have supplied gifts for the local family shelter – 48 kids and their parents this year!  We had so many sponsors we were able to buy gifts for the kids who currently live at the shelter, AND all the kids who have moved to permanent housing within the last year.  We also provided some new household items for the shelter’s rewards program.
To everyone who participated this year, THANK YOU!!!  I hope you’ll join me again next year! 
Believe it or not, I’m going to bed at only 12:14 a.m.  I don’t know how the elves do it.  I’m exhausted!!
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Funny Man

The problem with Adlani is that one of the things that makes him so cute and lovable – his sense of humor, gets him in big trouble in school.  I’m assuming that at some point he’ll figure out when it’s the right time to be funny and when to shut up, but right now he has no clue.  I feel like by laughing at his shenanigans we’re setting him up to spend time in the principal’s office but what else can we do?  I mean, it’s his personality!  How can we tell him not to be funny?

In situations like this I think about what if someone told me that I had to change my personality.  For example, if I wish Ben would be more emotional, what if he told me to “Stop being so emotional!”  Or if I wanted him to socialize more and be more comfortable with people he doesn’t know well, what if he asked me to “Stop socializing!  No more talking to people!”  Impossible!  So if I want Adlani to stop being such a comedian, that would be just as hard for him as if I ordered a shy and somber kid to “Be funnier!  Be more outgoing!”  Do you see what I’m saying?

So today, Adlani got in trouble in school (again).  He has been saying “poop” and “butt” a lot, this morning he waved his boots around on his hands, apparently in a classmate’s face, and when a kid insulted him and wouldn’t stop (“You’re the worst kid in the whole school!”), Adlani grabbed him by the throat.  Oops.  I was really upset about it, so I sat him down to discuss it, and then I told him he couldn’t go to the holiday party at the YMCA tonight.  Ben tried to get me to change my mind, and even questioned why the teacher hadn’t waited until Monday to tell me so it wouldn’t ruin Adlani’s weekend (???), but I held my ground.

Ben took Norah to the party and I took Aliya to the Funseca’s for Vic’s birthday party.  Adlani had to stay in the car when I dropped Aliya off rather than going inside to see his friend Shane.  Then for the ultimate punishment, I took him Christmas shopping at Kohl’s.  I told him that I was looking for pajamas for Grammy (my mother), and while I was looking at various options, I heard him say, with enthusiasm, “This would be perfect for Grammy!”  I glanced over and almost peed my pants.  The “pajamas” (I use the term loosely) that he selected for Grammy are pictured below.  He LOVED them!  He was obsessed with the sculpted cups and kept zooming in on my phone for a closer look after I took the picture.

Amusing?  Or inappropriate?  Maybe I’m the problem.

Happy Holidays!

We’re not going to send out traditional holiday cards this year…one of my attempts at de-stressing the holiday season is to send “Happy 2010” greetings instead.  But I thought it would be fun to see the past holiday photos, and one of the photos from this year’s trip to hell the portrait studio.

2001

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2002

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2003

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2004

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2005

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2006

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2007 (first photo attempt aborted)

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2007 (second attempt successful)

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2008 (breaking the red tradition)

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2009