April Fools

Today is April Fools Day and the kids were planning to try and trick each other. Ethan had his trick all planned out. Actually, I was quite impressed with his plan and was going to let him try it out on his sister. He was going to switch out the cereal packages in the boxes so she would pour the wrong cereal in her bowl in the morning. But before he could even try out his trick, his daddy got both of them pretty good. When it was time to get up this morning for school, Rob told the kids, "Hey kids!!!! Come quick! There is so much water in the back yard that there are ducks swimming around." You see, we had rain again last night and this morning and it was thundering outside. Both of the kids flew out of bed and came stumbling into the kitchen to look out the big window. Just as they got to it, their daddy yelled, "April Fools!" They both busted out laughing and told him what a good joke that was. And then Ethan suddenly remembered that he wanted to play that cereal joke on Emily and so Rob had to distract her while I helped him change out the cereal packages. We set the boxes back on the counter and I called her into the kitchen so she could eat breakfast. Ethan was standing back and was about ready to bust a gut because he could barely contain his laughter. When Emily went to pour her Cocoa Krispies and saw that it had Special K in it, she just laughed and looked at Ethan who was now on the floor by this point and told him what a good joke that was. And poor Emily is just too much like her mama and not witty enough to come up with a great joke to play on others. She tried to come up with something great, but the best she could do was to play like she was asleep in Ethan's bed this morning. It was totally not funny, but we all laughed anyway. :)

Yesterday evening as I was cleaning out Ethan's backpack, I pulled out this little blue card that was shoved at the very bottom. I had no idea what it was and was totally shocked and amazed as I read it. It said...Classroom Reader of the Month Award! And the award also serves as a free out of uniform pass for one day during the school year for any day the child chooses. I was so proud of Ethan! I called him into the room and asked him about it and he just said, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Are you kidding me, Ethan?!?! I asked him when he got it and he said that he didn't remember. And then he said that it was on some Friday. Again I have to say...Are you kidding me?!?! So I asked Emily about it. Well, I think she was just bitter that she didn't get it and so she wasn't talking. I did talk to their teacher today and in Ethan's defense, he just got it this past Friday. She told me that the Reading Fairy was coming in to hand out the award just as they were heading out, dressed in their costumes, about to do their big bug program. So, I guess I forgive Ethan for not telling me that he got Classroom Reader of the Month. :)

And the last thing that I have to talk about is something that Emily told me that really threw me for a loop. It started out by her asking me if I had any friends that didn't have children. I sat there for a while and tried to think of somebody I could name. The few people I named didn't count in her eyes because, as she pointed out to me, they weren't married. I was trying to really get to the bottom of what she was wanting to know, but without digging too deep, though. I finally just told her that not everybody has children. Some people choose to not have children and some people do. And then there are the people that can't have children and need help and some adopt. Of course she knows our own story and how special it is, but I still wasn't quite sure what was the point of all of the questions. We talked for a little while longer about babies and how they are born and then that is when Emily FINALLY got to her real concern. She told me that she didn't know if she ever wanted to have children because she was scared that she would have a preemie. My heart just dropped! I told her that most of the time children are born close to when they are supposed to be born and aren't born as early as she and Ethan. And then I realized something, of course she is scared about having a preemie or a baby with medical problems. Not only do she and her brother both have their own sets of issues, but several of my close friends here have had preemies. Emily knows that some of those preemies are now in heaven and others also have medical issues. Plus, we go to Family Camp where we are surrounded by other children with special needs, some of which were also preemies. I help grant wishes through Magic Moments and many of those children also have special needs. Basically, the kids are exposed to other special needs children on a regular basis. And while I think this is typically a good thing because it teaches compassion and consideration for others. Right now it is causing Emily a little bit of grief. I think it is just a tough thing for a six year old to understand and I hope that as she gets older she will be able to handle it a little better. She has always been a little wise beyond her years. It saddens me that she says she's scared to have children one day because she's afraid to have a preemie. A child shouldn't have to ever worry about that!!!!