Kidz is Kidz (Dateline September 2005)

Does it ever surprise you when your kids actually hear anything you say? I mean, mine usually go blank eyed and slack faced when I tell them toadjust their manners or tell them what the school is going to do to them if they use that word again in public. (I don’t care where you heard it! I was fixing the boiler in the basement!!)

I had one of those déjà vu moments this morning while driving the gang to school. During the chaos, bickering, finger jabbing and chattering (me, not the kids) there was one of those sudden quiet periods that sometimes occur, usually when we drive by a particularly gory road kill, or someone sees the group of deer that narrowly missed my front bumper running along side the car. This morning was a little different because I heard Tanner loud and clear from the back seat. (No, not that I heard him, which isn’t all that uncommon, but what he said made me almost drive off the road).

I heard: “Nicholas, they aren’t CP kids, they are just KIDS!!”

I smiled all the way to school. About a week ago, during one of our rowdy get togethers we call ‘supper’ I heard one of the kids say something along the lines of ‘You know, us five and the two CP kids’. I was on my way to the kitchen when I stopped in my tracks and turned to glare at the culprit. I can’t remember now who it was who said the offending words, but Luc and Elizabeth were blissfully unaware they were being talked about (hot dogs have that affect on some of them). I do remember what I said: “I’d like to introduce you to two people you might not have met yet. This is your brother ‘Luc’ and this is your sister ‘Elizabeth’. They are not the CP kids, the handicapped kids or anything else. They are ‘Luc’ and ‘Elizabeth’ to everyone in this house. Any questions?”

I got about what I expected in return, seven bug-eyed stares over seven plates of ketchup (which was obviously the highpoint of the dinner). Nothing like dead silence to really make a point.

So this morning, when I heard the worst culprit in the house repeating (with conviction, I might add) that ‘Kids are just Kids’ I wanted to pull over and cheer. Hey! They really do listen, after all, don’t they?

As always, Love from Buckley
Mary, mom to ‘The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything’ *(Veggie Tales) http://www.ultimateveggie.com/silly/silly07.html

We are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything!

Well, I've never been Greenland and I've never been to Denver, and I've never buried treasure in St. Louis or St. Paul, and I've never been to Moscow and I've never been to Tampa, and I've never been to Boston in the fall.

'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything.

And I never hoist the mainstay and I never swab the poop deck, and I never veer to starboard 'cuz I never sail at all, and I've never walked the gang plank and I've never owned a parrot, and I've never been to Boston in the fall.

'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay at home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything!

Well, I've never plucked a rooster and I'm not too good at ping-pong, and I've never thrown my mashed potatoes up against the wall, and I've never kissed a chipmunk and I've never gotten head lice, and I've never been to Boston in the fall!

'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay at home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything!

And I've never licked a spark plug and I've never sniffed a stink bug, and I've never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball, and I've never bathed in yogurt and I don't look good in leggings ...

'Cuz we're the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything! We just stay at home and lie around. And if you ask us to do anything, we'll just tell you ... We don't do anything!

Words and Music by Mike Nawrocki. ©1997 Big Idea Productions, Inc.