Lesson Learned

May 26, 2007 | Boy Wonder

So, the boy and I played hooky from school yesterday. It’s the end of term and we have so many projects to finish, it probably seems a bit unwise to do so. However, sometimes when you’ve been working hard you just need a break. IZ had treated us to the late night showing (mercifully not the LATE LATE night showing) of the new Pirates movie the night before. Friday dawned late for us and we just couldn’t face doing anything else. As we are blessed with a day off on Monday, we have time on our side. Besides, procrastination is an art form and every serious student will tell you, a necessary part of the process.

What, you don’t write your best work under pressure? I thought so! So, stop your judging! 😀

Anyhow, the boy and I decided to hit a few garage sales. We spent the better part of the afternoon hunting for treasure. I desperately need more stock for Thrifty Goodness. He, well, he needed a few lessons on the fine art of garage sales. I call it, “Take your child to work day.”

By the end of the day (what, you thought I’d pass on secrets to the internet. My, you people are optimistic!) he was a seasoned pro. At his last purchase the seller commented, “Wow! You’re really good at this!” as he’d managed to haggle the price of his item down to include 4 extra Star Wars figurines for only .50c more. He beamed. So proud to have figured out what he now calls the “code”. He played it cool and said,  “I learned it all from my mom.”

It was his day, yesterday. He came home with an arm full— some of which people just gave to him because he was so cute. Uh, how come that doesn’t work for me? Anyhow, I  only managed to take one photo yesterday. But it probably sums up the day quite well. This is Boy Wonder and his vintage Underwood. That he got for a mere $10 (they were asking $20).

Me? Well, I struck out. Usually, I come home with at least something to account for the hours, but yesterday was nearly a bust. Some days you score and some days you don’t. But, treasure comes in many forms—a day spent with a great kid being one of them.  Another lesson learned, I’d say.

Nepotism is a Good Thing

May 22, 2007 | Boy Wonder

Sometimes, when you’re starting a new venture you need a little helping hand. You know, someone who will post about your work and tell the whole world how great your new store, or project, or piece of art really is! Someone to tell the masses about the worthiness of your venture. Self promotion can be difficult for anyone starting out but especially tricky if you’re 10 and your mom won’t let you go door-to-door selling your wares!

Of course, it helps if your mom has a blog and an online store of her own—surely she’d help a 10 year old out, right? Yes, indeed, nepotism reigns supreme in these parts. What kind of mother would I be if it didnt?

So, without further ado: I present Boy Wonder Bazaar. This is the only pair in his wee store at the moment, but there will be more in the future. This is art, I’ve been told; clearly you don’t want to rush it!

I can vouch for these little lovelies—as I was a recipient of not just one pair, but two for Mother’s day. Each unique and completely handcrafted by the boy. I’m not sure what impresses me more: that he does this stuff on his own, or his attention to detail. Either way, you can imagine I was blown over. Now you can be too!

Who said nepotism was a bad thing?

Pondering

Apr 28, 2007 | Boy Wonder

Me: “Hey kiddo, what’s wrong? You seem a little sad.”

Boy Wonder: “Oh, no, I’m just thinking.”

Me: “Whatcha thinking about?”

Boy Wonder: “Oh, I’m thinking about physiology.”

Me: “You have some questions you need to ask me?”

Boy Wonder: “No, I’m just pondering the blood stream.”

And then he launched into a 10 minute explanation of his theories about the way blood moves through our bodies. Using all kinds of words that I have have to admit I don’t really understand. I guess he should have asked me if I had a few questions for him.

“. . .And that’s probably the reason our bodies don’t have touch sensors on the inside,” he concluded. Someday, I’m going to learn not to interrupt his pondering.

Good Neighbors

Mar 29, 2007 | Boy Wonder

Incentive or Bribe? Call it what you like, but my mama didn’t raise a fool. At least not in this department. Boy Wonder has a writing sample that must be mailed off to school by the end of the month and he was having such a hard time facing his final draft. In typical form, he had all the work done long before yesterday with the exception to that neat and clean final copy. Shocking, right? Yeah, not so much. He’s definitely his mother’s child in this regard: he’d rather keep his options open. A finished copy of work means, well, you’re done. We’d rather not start than choose to finish. It’s a gift, really.

He’s been pestering me to bake. Oh, not ME to bake, but to let HIM bake. On his own. “With very little meddling from you” kind of baking. He’s a smart kid, he knows that if he hits me at just the right moment, I’ll say yes. . . and if he doesn’t he’s a big fan of drip marketing. Drip, drip, drip: Oh, ok, you can bake cookies! Evidently, his mother didn’t raise a fool either!

As to not completely give in, I bargained a compromise: “You write your final draft by 3 and I’ll let you bake cookies.” He’s been taking lessons from his father because he countered, “For the neighbors, too?” S i g h. Right, like I’m going to say, “NO! You can only bake for us.” Ha! So, we made a deal. And darn if the kid didn’t get his end of the bargain done well in advance. Uh, huh… now who’s the smarty-pants?

He chose his recipe, Peanut Butter, and I had him read the directions through twice. He determined in order to have enough left over he would need to double the recipe, so we worked in a little math with fractions. Note to self: Have the boy do this for you from now on. He’s good with math, you’re not! And then he went to work.

He decided that he wanted to box his cookies and set about making origami boxes for them. Pink boxes with yellow ribbon: feels like Spring! He had quite the rhythm established by the end: scoop cookies, put them in the oven, fold a few boxes, DING!, take cookies out of the oven, repeat! The results were pretty good, too! He’s now our official goto guy for Peanut Butter Cookies.

I want to go on record here: the ONLY thing I’m responsible for in this whole thing is tying ribbons and donating flowers. Otherwise, this was his from start to finish. Oh, wait… I helped eat the cookies too. 😀

As much as he enjoyed the whole baking process, I suspect what he really digs is delivering his goods. He was gone for at least 10 minutes to each house (save one)… I peeked from inside our entry door—watching him chat with the neighbors. They all stood and talked to him, raving about his kindness and inquiring to his day. He’s a really chatty kid and when I asked him why he wanted to do this he said, “Well, I thought it would be a good neighbor thing to do!” A box of Peanut Butter Cookies is a nice bonus for a chat with a sweet 10 year old. And darn, if to the one they didn’t stand there in their doorways being ever so pleasant.

The only real snag was with our neighbor, John, who is a man of few words. He took the cookies and said thanks, but he didn’t enthuse. He was one of Boy Wonder’s last stops, so the lack of enthusiasm was a bit confusing, I think. However, this morning the doorbell rang and there was John bringing our “dish” back. Inside, he had tucked 3 squares of yummy Ghirardelli chocolate and then wrapped it all back up. Apparently, we have very good neighbors!