Mom v. Kevin

[pat]

A couple of days ago, Kevin mentioned he had an ingrown fingernail that had gotten infected. I said we could soak it in Epsom salts.

Kevin brought to my attention this morning, pointing out where it had broken open -- "all this green pus came out" -- during computer lab the day before. (+5 kids point for not being histrionic, -5 for waiting to tell me until three minutes before we have to leave for the bus).

I find out I have no bandaids ((-5 mom points for no bandaids, - 10 for not taking care of the finger earlier). So rather than having him take the bus, I took him to the store to get bandaids.

On the way over, I was talking to Kevin about music. "From a Distance" had come on, he had made the casual comment that "this song really speaks to me". I draw him out on what it means to him. (+5 mom points for noticing the comment and responding, +5 for saying something other than "that's nice dear").

A long- haired Chihuahua dashes out right in front of the car. He was not on a leash, and was going after the two labs that were being walked on the other side of the street. (The chihuahua was barking fiercely, the labs were wagging their tails at him.) I slam on the brakes, and for a moment was afraid I'd run over it. I stay put until I see him dart into the middle of the road, still barking furiously, then I pull over and get out of the car. The lady walking the dogs and I are trying to figure out where he belongs when he scrambles underneath a gate at a house next to us, where I can hear his owner calling "Come on Pepe, into the house." (If I had more time I might have been tempted to go up and tell them that their dog had just escaped being a furry pancake, although they might have known that: the brakes squealed pretty loudly when I stopped.)

I then get back in the car, and talk to Kevin about how important it was to take care of animals, and having him agree that yes, it was more important to see if the dog was all right than to be on time for school. (+5 mom points for making the incident into a teaching moment.) We then get the bandaids, clean his finger and put Neosporin and a bandaid on it, and drive him to school. (+5 kid points for not freaking out when Mom took the wrong exit -- that stupid Shoreline/85/101 interchange! --and got lost going to school.)

We then pull up and and Kevin discovers that he has not brought his homework (-5). He asks me to get it and bring it to school for him, and I say no (+5 for helping to instill responsibility and letting him take the consequences of his actions). He took it pretty gracefully, with no whining (+5).

Total:

Mom -- +5
Kevin -- +5

It's a wash. : )

Comments

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the epsom salts tip. :-D Sean's got a toenail similar to that - it's not as bad, but I'm trying to keep it from getting worse.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

The warm Epsom salts softens the nail, and reduces the swelling some. When I was growing up we did that -- often the nail would fix itself after a few days of soaking. We did that wiith Kevin last fall, and it helped, but the toenail was ingrown so badly we ended up having to have a matricetomy (I love that word) on it anyway. Which our insurance insisted was surgery -- even though it invlved only some Novacaine and fifteen minutes of the doctor's time.

[runeshower.livejournal.com]

I love it! Chihuahuas sure have chutzpah, going after those big Labradors. They were probably thinking "How cuuuuute!"

Your morning reminds me of my own recordkeeping when I was homeschooling the kids. Here's an example (from 1998) of how a board game can be full of useful lessons:

"Today we played a lengthy and mostly cooperative game of Sim City The
Card Game. We've spent considerable time over the past few days
compiling our play deck. Today we tested it out. It was very enjoyable
watching the layout grow from a little village (3 families with a
one-room schoolhouse, a good farm, and scenic river/lake/mountain
terrain around) into a thriving city. We learned the following:

7 power plants in a deck of 358 cards means a LONG wait before a power
plant comes up (probability);
police can't properly patrol high crime areas far away from the police
station (social studies);
it's very difficult for a small businessman to set up shop once the
area is full of superstores (economics);
but if he gets in early it's not THAT easy to dislodge him (economics,
social studies);
it's not a good idea to have all your open space on the edge of town
(city planning);
a village can manage without a lot of stores, but can't manage without
people (community development);
being the mayor has distinct financial advantages but puts you in
constant jeopardy of scandal and disasters (politics);
one good house added to a residential complex can be worth much more
than yet another video store in the commercial sector (math);
it's much more satisfying growing a beautiful, thriving village or
small town than managing a crime-ridden, polluted city (aesthetics,
ethics, morality);
and last but not least,
everything runs more smoothly if you find something to keep your little
sister happy while you play (child care)!