Beatle Mania ...

Our taste in music is quite varied and Bob and I have been very lucky to have three children that prefer to listen to "our" music than, say, The Wiggles or Barney. In fact, we only own two or three kids music CDs and probably haven't listened to them since Milo was a baby.

Bob is always educating the kids on important musical figures from today and yesterday and was more than a bit excited when he heard that Paul McCartney would be giving a free concert in Quebec City for the city's 400th anniversary. (It must be mentioned that he was also heart-broken when he finally realized that driving more than 10 hours to a free concert, for which you'd need to line up 48 hours in advance -- no matter how once-in-a-life-time the experience -- is not an option with 3 children in tow.) As he was excitedly bouncing around the apartment, he asked the kids if they knew who McCartney was and how significant his influence on music was.

Neva jumped in: "I do! I do! And I’ll prove it!" She ran to get our DVD copy of his 2003 performance in Moscow, Paul McCartney Live in Red Square.

"He was in a band called The Beatles. And two of them died. And now he’s in a band called Red Squares."

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Shave and a Haircut ...

As seems to be the norm since school let out 3 weeks ago, I was late getting the kids into bed and I went to check on Milo in the bathroom. The child I had sent to brush his teeth had decided, instead, to shave. He had his "Cars: The Movie" shaving cream all over his cheeks and nose. (This is when, instead of giving him grief about not doing as he was told, I ran to get the camera.) When he had a sufficient amount, he rinsed his hands, picked up his plastic "razor", climbed up on the bench so he could see in the mirror, and began.

He started between his eyebrows and shaved right down over his nose. Next the cheeks, shaving up, down and sideways -- whichever way he could successfully remove the foam. And since shaving his cheeks left foam on his eyelashes, he shaved his eyes. Both of them. Twice. Finally, the upper lip, down over his mouth, chin and throat to finish off.

Once he rinsed his face, splashing water all over the bathroom, he dried his face and put on "man cream", the fresh-smelling aftershave his Dad uses. "How do I smell, Mom?" he asked proudly, letting me nuzzle up against his still-baby-soft skin.

And, thus, we have reached yet another milestone in the life of Milo, the six-year-old. One I didn't realize would have as much an effect on me as I figured it would on Bob. I just hope, as the years go on and he's using real blades in his razor, he'll still ask me every once in a while, "How do I smell, Mom?"

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Climbing the Walls ...

Our kids are climbers. They climb trees and playground equipment, of course, but they also seem to think the house is a jungle gym. They climb on the back of the couches, on the radiators, and, oddly enough, up the doors. (I still don't know how they discovered that one!) In particular, they like to climb on the chest freezer in the laundry room and jump to the door from there. The frustration has both Bob and me climbing the walls!

The other night, I looked out the kitchen window to see Neva and Willa on the back fire escape. They know they are not allowed up there, since it is simply unsafe for children. So I tapped on the window and in my sternest "Mommy" voice, called, "Get! Down!"

After a short silence, a stunned Milo said from the laundry room, "How did you know I was up here?"

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Happy Birthday To Poo

Milo and I celebrated our birthdays last week -- Milo turned 6 and I ... well, I had a birthday last week. Although it was a risky situation, Bob took 4-year-old Willa with him when buying me a gift. In order to keep it secret, he suggested she "throw me off" by telling me they bought "sheep poo", since manure is a much-purchased item for our garden in the spring.

Both Milo and Willa thought this most funny and tried to come up with even more clever white lies to keep the secret going. While Milo continued along the "poo" theme, Willa showed her great sense of humour and comedic timing when she told me:

"We got you a bucket o' fish!"

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Willa of the Valley

Willa and Neva, my 4- and 8-year-old daughters, appeared with a beautiful bouquet of Lily of the Valley last night. But an argument over who picked what and how many belonged to whom sent Willa off down the sidewalk upset.

"I'm going to pick my own!" she huffed.

"Wait a minute!" I called after her. "Are you picking them at the neighbours house?"

She nodded yes, while Neva was suspiciously silent.

"You can't pick those, honey, they're not ours."

Still in a snit, with the attitude and tone to match, Willa retorted, "Nobody was lookin'!"

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Michael Murphy

Guest Writer and Heck of a Nice Guy

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

The kids and I have been playing baseball outside after supper the last few evenings. Each has their own style of play and their own mini ritual before swinging the bat.

Neva, who is 8 1/2, taps the bat several times on the sidewalk before swinging wildly at the ball. If she hits the ball, the bat goes flying and she races around the make shift bases in the yard, passing anyone who might be ahead of her.

Almost-6-year-old Milo, likely copying his sister, crouches right down to the bang the bat, stands up to get ready, yells, "Wait!" while he wiggles his lose tooth, then assumes the proper batting stance. If he makes contact, he carefully places the bat on the ground before rounding the bases.

And then there's Willa. First she wrings her little 4-year-old hands around the bat to "strangle" it. (Neither Bob nor I can figure out where she got this expression, unless she heard somewhere about "choking" the bat.) Then she squints her eyes to keep them on the ball and swings. Before I've even thrown the ball! However, since she spins a full 360 degree circle, bat still poised, she usually hits the ball on the follow-through.

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com

Spring Cleaning?

As I sit at my desk at one end of our two-bedroom apartment, I can see straight through to the other end. And between me and the windows at the far end lies what seems to be every toy my children own. My office has Hot Wheels, dolls and bicycle helmets, the laundry room is currently home to Willa's collection of "stuff", and the dining room floor is a mess of markers, coloring books and the entire contents of another laundry basket of toys that we filled during our bi-weekly "panic tidy" just before the cleaning lady arrives. Don't even get me started on the kids' bedroom!

We are constantly after them about dropping and leaving things on the floor, not putting things away, taking care of their toys. We have bins for each child's different toys, larger hampers for collections of blocks and Lego to make it easier. And yet, it would seem "neat and tidy" are words foreign to them. Or are they?

As I picked my way through the debris, I discovered the coffee table in the living room. All three kids were playing with the little, bobble-headed pets they've collected. I found them lined up neatly around the perimeter of the table, organized by species and color.

Happy sweeping!

Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com