Is it just my kids, or is this normal?

There were a couple of goldfish crackers on the kitchen floor. I asked the boys who was eating goldfish, and was told Calfgrit7 was. I asked him to come pick up the crackers and put them in the garbage. (Yes, I could have picked them up, but they need to clean up their own messes, even minor ones.) So CG7 starts walking towards me to pick up the crackers off the floor. Satisfied that he was going to do what I told him, I walked away.

A few minutes later, I walked through the kitchen and noticed the crackers are still on the floor. What the hell? When I left, CG7 was three feet from them and closing on the crackers. But somehow he missed and didn’t follow through. I had to call him back and stand over him to make sure he actually picked them up and put them in the trash can.

Later, the kitchen table was covered in plates and bowls. I asked who put all the stuff on the table. Calfgrit7 again. I told the little guy to please clear the table of his mess. So he walked over, picked up a plate, took it and put it on the counter, then ran off to play again. I called him back, “CG7, that was just one thing. Clear all your dishes, please.”

“Oh,” he said. He picked up one bowl and put it away. Then he ran off to play again. There were still  two more bowls, a spoon and a butter knife on the table. (What he had been doing with it all, I have no idea.)

“CG7!” I said, “clear everything away.”

He threw his hands up, “I didn’t know that’s what you meant!”

We both got into a frustrated argument over what “clear the table” means.

Calfgrit11 is also blind to stuff like that. We can put a laundry basket of clean clothes in the middle of his room floor, and he’ll play around it all day. When we ask him if he’s put away his clean clothes, he says, “What clean clothes?”

I have even put the basket in his doorway so he can’t go into his room without moving it. He pushes it to the side, and still, later he asks, “What clean clothes?”

If either boy is missing a tiny piece of a toy, on the patterned den carpet, they can find it in a few moments. But a non-toy or a chore sitting right out blatantly in front of them, it’s invisible. Is this normal?

Bullgrit

Tom Angleberger visited a local bookstore last week, and I took Calfgrit11 out to see him. CG11 is joining the book club, (called “Guys Read”), at his new middle school, and this author’s tour was to be his first introduction to the group.

We got there at 6:30, (half an hour before the author was to get there), and immediately found Angleberger’s latest book: Secret of the Fortune Wookie on front display. There was already a sizable crowd of kids and parents, at the book store, (mostly boys and moms), so I directed CG11 to grab us some seats while I continued looking around to find a new book for me to read.

I haven’t had the time to read much in the last few years, what with family life, work responsibilities, my exercise regimen, and maintaining this site taking up all my time. I used to read a lot, but I’ve been somewhat saddened by my lack of the activity recently. I see how much CG11 reads, and I’ve thought that he’s probably already read as many books by 6th grade as I have at 45 years old. But then as I browsed the science fiction and fantasy section of the book store I was reminded of just how much I really have read through the years. At just about every classic author’s section, I found that I’d already read all or most of their books. It kind of got a bit comical that I couldn’t find something I hadn’t already read.

Sure, there were many newer books by newer authors, but I wasn’t sure of their quality, so I couldn’t bring myself to buy one. Eventually I came to Terry Pratchett’s section. This is one of very few classic well-known authors whose work I haven’t chewed through years ago. I’ve actually only read one of his books, (Going Postal), but I liked it a great deal, so I grabbed another one, (Monstrous Regiment), and bought it. I then joined Calfgrit11 in the seats to wait for Tom Anglerberger to arrive.

Angleberger arrived on time, and the kids loved his show. He talked about his books, how he writes them, how he comes up with his characters, and he drew some. Then the book store took him to the signing table and everyone lined up to get their book(s) signed. Calfgrit11 and I found the book club teacher at this time and we ended up talking a bit while the line formed, so we ended up at the penultimate place in the line. That meant it was almost 9:00 by the time we got to the author’s table and got CG11’s books signed. (CG11 brought two Angleberger books from home to get signed with the latest one we bought that day.)

At the author’s table, while signing the books, Angleberger asked CG11 who his favorite Star Wars character is. “Boba Fett,” my son answered. I swelled with geeky pride and patted him on the back, “That’s my boy,” I said.

We got home well after 9:00, and we were both pretty tired. CG11’s bed time is usually 8:00, (and we have to wake him in the mornings after 7:00 to get ready for school), and large crowds just wear me out. (I could never do brogrit’s job :-)

All in all, meeting the author was cool. Tom Angleberger seems like a nice guy, and he’s pretty funny in person as well as in his writing.

Bullgrit

Calfgrit11 discovered Minecraft a couple of months ago. I knew of Minecraft, had heard of it, for many months, myself, but I hadn’t investigated it. I had seen some screenshots, and watched some videos, but it didn’t look particularly interesting to me. Plus, I was already busy and just didn’t have time to take up a new game.

CG11 got so enamored with it when he saw it at a friend’s house that he actually started saving up money to purchase it for himself. That’s a real sign of strong interest. When he downloaded it to his mother’s computer, it became an obsession. He showed me the things he was doing and building, but still I wasn’t enticed. Calfgrit7 also became interested in it, and played some on his brother’s account. After a few weeks, I decided to study up on it a bit. I learned that I could set up a server and we could play together. So I eventually bought and downloaded my own copy, as well as the server files.

I had the server working a few days before I told anyone about it. I wanted to build something impressive to surprise the boys with when they logged in. I built a castle floating in the sky, above the clouds. When I announced the existence of the server world, both boys were excited. And they were blown away by my castle construction. I was declared a master builder.

Now, I’ve seen screenshots and videos of some amazing structures, so I know my own castle is not anything near a master design. But I still basked in the admiration from my young sons. I left the server running so they could play on it as they were allowed to use “electronics time” during the week, (mostly on weekends). I told them they could do, destroy, and build anything and anywhere they wanted on the server so long as they left my castle alone. They could visit my castle, see what I’ve built, (and I kept on adding to my design), and if they asked permission first, they might even be allowed to add some stuff, (like beds and chests).

Then one night while Wifegrit and I were at Calfgrit11’s school to meet his teachers, we got a call from home. (Wifegrit’s mother was sitting the boys.) Calfgrit11 called to let me know something terrible had happened. He and Calfgrit7 were distraught. Calfgrit7 had been “griefing” his brother, (something I said was not allowed on my server), and things got out of hand. Lava had been spilled on my castle! Yes, lava had been spilled on my castle.

When the “accident” happened, both boys immediately tried to stop the lava with pouring water on it and with piling stone on the flow. But damage had been done, and there was now a long fall of both lava and water pouring from my castle. Plus, stones had been piled and added to my structure. Both boys were very upset, even crying. I explained over the phone, while standing in the school hallway, that we’d fix everything when I got home.

This is what I came home to on my server:

The lava flow had started on the top, glass, area of the castle, and the boys had managed to push it off and repair most of the damage by the time I got home. But there was still a tower of stone, water, and lava running down the side. The grassy land below the castle was a pile of destruction, and flooded with water on one side and burning with lava on the other. I was both amazed and dumbfounded. How the heck had they managed that mess?

Well, it took a few hours over the next few days to get the mess cleared up. I put out the lava. I incorporated the water fall into my castle’s design. But the ground remained an area of devastation, so I just used that devastation as an excuse to create a cavernous hole in the ground all the way down to the void.

I used this situation to teach the boys a lesson about dealing with mistakes. I calmly explained how to take a problem and think about 1- how to solve it, and 2- consider if it can be turned into something good. I want them to, instead of panic and get upset over mistakes and problems, to pause, think, and figure out how to handle it.

But, even with the lesson, the rule now is that neither of them can even go on/in my castle without my permission right then. I’ve considerably expanded my structure since that day, and I really don’t want to have to spend anymore time repairing anything. Now I’ve become completely addicted to this game.

Bullgrit

My boys have taken an obsessive like of the Maroon 5 song Payphone. They heard it on the radio sometime when I wasn’t around, (I rarely listen to the radio anymore), and then asked me to buy it for my iPhone so we can play it in my truck when we’re out driving.

At the time I bought the song, I didn’t know there were two versions — radio edit and explicit. Fortunately I downloaded the radio edit version, so I haven’t had to explain what “shit” means.

Anyway, Calfgrit7 asked me what a payphone is. Neither of them have ever lived in a world without ubiquitous cell phones, so the concept of a payphone is nonsense to them. But I happen to know there is such an artifact near our home, so I took them around to it. It’s a phone box in the parking lot of a gas station (in the parking lot of a grocery store).

I explained the concept of how a payphone works, and how before they were born, people didn’t have cell phones. If we were away from home, and needed to call someone, we used a payphone. Put a quarter in the slot, punch in the number, and talk while standing right there.

They’ve also never seen a phone book, like that one hanging underneath the payphone. So I had to explain the concept of having every person’s and every business’s phone number listed in a large book. Both boys seemed to understand what I was telling them, but their expressions seemed to show they thought this thing was some archeological find. I mean, there’s even a cord on the phone, what’s that for?

You know, the 21st century is really different than I expected it to be when I was 7 and 11 years old. I never imagined cell phones, and things I did imagine, (the cliché flying cars), are still complete fantasies.

Bullgrit