Grounded!

A series of unfortunate events led to the grounding of the boys last Thursday. Their punishment? No screens: no tv, no computer, no Xbox. Nothing. After the expected weeping and gnashing of teeth, a calm came upon our house.

Saturday was fabulous! Knowing they could not turn on the screens, the boys planned out their day. First, a game of Army men. Then, a bike ride. They played soccer outside. Went for a long walk with the dog. Ran some laps. Sport colored a picture. Lego reorganized his collection of military collectibles. I was left alone to garden. I was not called upon to negotiate any of the complex treaties that go along with obtainig screen time.

It was heavenly.

Today the screen ban will be lifted. After school, the boys will break their 6-day hiatus with a viewing of the UEFA cup final. And Saturday I will undoubtably be bombarded with pleas: "Can I play the Xbox?" "Can I watch the Military Channel?" "How long can I get on YouTube?"

I can't wait until we can ground them again.

I sing of pianos and plumbers

I have two reasons to be happy this morning. Sport participated in Guild on Saturday and did very well. In fact, he almost did too well. Let me explain.

The last six weeks have been a nightmare with this child. Ever since he started taking piano, he has wanted to compete for the best scores, the biggest medals, the largest trophies. Since his teacher is a member of the National Guild of Piano Teachers, she expects all of her students to participate in Guild each year. At the age of 6, he started off with memorizing ten pieces in order to go for a gold medal. This year, it was again 10 pieces. As he gets better, the music becomes increasingly difficult.

As of Friday, he was still memorizing the last piece in order to perform on Saturday. I was literally chewing my knuckes. I told SO, "If he pulls this off, it will be a miracle."

Well, cue the choir of angels. He did it, scoring a 98 out of 99 points and earning a top talent award, plus that damned gold medal he wanted. Wednesday, he'll be getting a whole new batch of music. I don't know if I can do this another year.

On the bright side, the Abbott and Costello of plumbers who have been driving us crazy for the last 11 days finally unclogged our bathroom pipes. We now have a working tub and sink! The only problem is the stains left behind by 5 inches of clay-filled water. SO scrubbed the tub for hours. Alas, it looks like we are to have a constant reminder of our plumbing woes.

Sunday morning with Sport

Lego had a migraine this morning, so that left me with Sport while we got ready for church. It's always a challenge to be alone with Sport. For one thing, he's full of questions. Here's what I got hit with at breakfast and on the way to church:

1. Do serial killers chop people up?
2. Can ants swim?
3. What is Flag Day?
4. If I get in a car crash, couldn't you identify me by these two scars and my teeth?
5. Can I start the car?
6. Can I pull the car out?
7. Do ants hibernate?
8. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?
9. Did you know there's only 13 more days of school left?

It's no wonder I find the weekends so exhausting. But I do it to myself. I find it hard to sit still when there seems to be so much work to do. I used the afternoon to clean off the back porch and get it all set up for spring. By summer, it's just too hot to sit out there, but I like to clean off all the furniture and rinse out my tabletop fountain. When I find the time, I can sit in one of the cushioned chairs and listen to the water running. Usually the boys are fixated on either the TV or the computer, so they don't miss me.

Another busy week lies ahead. With only 13 more days of school left, the next 3 weeks are filled with activities.