Garage Band . . . in our Living Room?

Jonah and two of his friends, Bradley and Sydney, have started a band.  Their goal is to play for the school talent show at the end of the school year.  When they first began talking about this, their plan was to get together on weekends to practice in Sydney's garage . . . hence the "garage band" in the title.

Somehow, they ended up practicing in our living room.  This afternoon.




Ken and I had a little glimpse of what our futures holds as our living room was taken over by not three but 5 teens and preteens, each of them armed with at least one electronic device.  There were multiple texts, calls, and general adolescent energy amidst the sounds of drum-, piano-, and saxophone playing.





I have a sneaking suspicion this will be a recurring event as they need a LOT of practice before they are performance-ready.

. . . when I grow up . . .

Recently Toby asked me, "Mom, why did you choose to work in a college rather than in a zoo?"

Well . . .

 

That led to a discussion about education required for working in a zoo (science, math, animal science), which led to a conversation about careers and goals.

When he grows up, Toby's goal is to play in the NFL. 


Hmmm.
 

I pointed out to Toby that one of the things he didn't like about basketball was how rough it was, while football might be a wee bit rougher than basketball.

I asked Toby, "Do you want to play football next fall?"  (please no, please no!)

Since it would not be flag football, he does not think so.  "But I still want to be an NFL player when I grow up, Mom."


Okay.  I can handle that.



 
In the event that he does not make the NFL, Toby would like to be:

a zookeeper 
or better yet, a zoo owner.






 I'm so glad to hear that he has a backup plan!

Sticks and Stones

We've all heard it: ". . .sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. . ."

It's not true!  Words have the power to wound!  My instruction manual that came with the birth of the boys made no mention of this.  Nothing in the extended warranty either.  I don't remember any of my baby books mentioning the developmental stage of "seething ball of rage"!

Language has power, and my pre-adolescent wields a serrated edge lately!

Jonah has started calling his brother, "Tubby, Tubby, Teletubby."  We've tried to ignore it.  Doesn't work.  Why?  Because he gets a reaction from his brother. 

I don't think of myself as particularly thin-skinned.   I can brush off most of what I hear from the boys when they are feeling sulky or scornful.  However, one of the more recent zingers packed a punch!  It went something like this,
". . . and you call yourself a mom . .  you are NOT my so-called mom!  I was adopted!"

I think I burst out laughing.  Or was rendered speechless with shock.

To be fair, I had some choice things to say about my own parents when I was a teenager.  Ah, the righteous scorn of a child who knows so much more than the clueless parents. . . I guess this is payback.

I am completely THRILLED that Jonah is choosing words over fists and I have to be grateful about this.  There is a tiny part of me that secretly LOVES the glimpses of quick wit, subtle sarcasm and irony that Jonah both understands and uses.  Because language is power! 

Let's hope that he will learn to wield it well and one day stop slaying his family with his words.