More Firsts...

As the boys were infants, it seemed that we were endlessly watching for their firsts. When would they first sleep through the night, smile, roll over, sit up and the list goes on. Well once we enrolled Michael in Kindergarten, I figured our "firsts" milestones would end even though common sense tells me they never end! Many people focus so much on the first events of a child's first year that the rest seem forgotten.  Well last night we had a momentous first... the first girl calling the house! 

Michael pulled a kleenex out of his pocket with a phone number barely written on it. He said it was Miss A's number (name changed to protect her identity).  Now this was nothing new. Michael has brought home countless pieces of scratch paper and napkins with messages from his friends on them so this kleenex did not strike me as odd. As Michael was completing his homework, the phone rings. I answer it to hear a young girl's voice mention something about Judy. Judy? I ask if she has the wrong number to which she replies," I will call back from a quieter place." Okay, problem diverted. Joe asked what the caller ID said to which I read it aloud and Michael yells, "That's A's last name!" Joe and I immediately run upstairs and pull out the yearbook to look up Miss A to see if we have seen her before. What a cutie!! Michael definitely has good taste in the girls he picks out!

Well about 15 minutes later, the phone rings. I look at the caller ID to see that Miss A has called again. This time it is quieter and she politely states who she is and asks if Michael is home. I say that he is and hand off the phone.  Now the boys have not had extensive experience on the phone, the occasional call to their grandparents or the birthday phone calls from the family is about it. Michael anxiously takes the phone and says,"What do you want?" to which I am flabbergasted and loudly whisper "Michael, you don't talk to girls that way or anyone for that matter!" He and A talk for a bit trying to figure out when she can come over and play.  He tells her that he hasn't talked to me yet and will talk to her later. He hangs up and begins the hounding, "When can she come over? Can she ride the bus home? etc. I explain that he doesn't even ride the bus home,  so no she cannot ride the bus here. I ask where she lives. His reply, "Genoa City". I should have seen that one coming! Of course she lives in Genoa City!!UGH So we get out the school directory to look up her address and start trying to make plans the best we can without talking to her parents. I am in the process of explaining to Michael that I need to speak to her parents to finalize plans and the phone rings again. Miss A is very persistent. This time I give Michael the phone and tell him who is calling. He answers the phone better this time,"Hi A". I explain after the call that he should just say "Hi" in case it was her parents calling to talk to us. Anyway, Michael is then following me around the house with the phone constantly asking me about days and times that she can come over. He tells A to "hold on, don't go anywhere" as we keep walking about trying to organize this Wii play date while making lunches, cleaning up dinner, etc.  Finally I ask if she is going to the Kid's Night Out function at school thinking that if she is, then great, they can just meet up there and play together. No such luck. I suggest then December 10 before the Kid's Night Out function, Michael suggests, A accepts and we have a date. They hang up. I ask what time is she being dropped off. "I don't know." Great. So now we have a play date penciled in and are taking baby steps in order to have a social life. I begin to write a letter to Miss A's parents regarding the plans trying to finalize times, etc.

Fortunately, Jacob is a wise observer and wants to now call his friend C. I ask if he knows C's phone number and Jacob responds, "Yes, 527849653" or some random combination of numbers. I try to contain my laugh and suggest that he write a letter instead to C. So he does and inserts a dum dum sucker in the envelope for his dear friend. I am not so sure about this C kid. I think he and Jacob would be VERY troublesome! Joe and I have always said that Jacob will be our "trouble maker" in school and we will get calls from his teacher for his behavior.  Well since September, I have had the pleasure of his pre school teachers and director stopping me 2 times for his behavior! The first time was a rebel Jacob refusing to sit quietly on his cot and it took 4 teachers to work with him to calm down. I put a cabosh on that and told the teachers to call me if that happened again. Now the threat of a call to mom is all it takes!  The second incident was Jacob calling his friends "Assholes".  We asked him where he heard this and at first he said C but then he said that he heard it at home from daddy, which is very likely.  Evidently though C taught Jacob another word for his penis, "dick" because when Jacob got in the car last week he called Michael a "dick" for not moving over quick enough.  This is not a phrase daddy uses so I really think it is coming from C. I asked Jacob's teachers if he calls his teachers those bad word and they said no so that is a step in the right direction!

These are great memories and if this is the worst our kids do, Joe and I are doing a fabulous job of being parents!  To my brother and sister who have our beautiful nieces and nephew, celebrate those first rolling over and first teeth moments and buckle up for a wild ride!