While looking for something on my computer the other day, I found an old set of instructions for babysitters, written when Crash and The Boy were 3 and 1, respectively. The instructions covered food, entertainment, comfort and bedtime routines. There was a brief lexicon included, which noted (among other things) that a request for "chippies and paste" was not the cue to start an art project (mosaic?) but Crash's way of asking for tortilla chips and salsa (the salsa came in the same shape jar as the paste at pre-school).
Reading it with the boys, I joked that I should write a similar note to Crash's roommate to-be at college.
Food: Crash does not drink coffee or tea, but prefers his caffeine cold, carbonated and carb-free (e.g. Diet Pepsi). He like hot chocolate, chips and salsa [Ed: some things never change], chicken, rice and chocolate. If he seems to be lagging, feed him solid milk chocolate and he will perk up in 30 minutes or so. We will be sure he has an adequate supply when we drop him off.
Comfort: See hot chocolate, above.
Entertainment: Building large stage sets, taking apart large stage sets. He has been sent with a variety pack of band-aids, please let us know if he starts using duct tape to patch the wounds and we will send more.
Bedtime routine: See description of mad skill with Nerf darts and light switches here.
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UPDATE: My sources insist that the use of the term "mad skill" is no longer appropriate. See change above.
Chippies and paste - I love that! And the whole way you have presented this, simply lovely. What a moment in time!
ReplyDeleteThis took me back to my son's university days as a mad engineer! He built a loft for his bed in residence out of lumber as he wanted to individualize his room. He would study and not bother going to eat until his younger sister would insist that he go with her. Where would he be without endless bowls of cheerios? Such memories!
ReplyDeleteI know kids like this, right now there are bed pieces all over my house (the boys are rearranging their room and assembling a new bed for the youngest)!
DeleteIt's good to hear they can thrive on Cheerios, too.... :)
He sounds an awful lot like my older son, except his caffeine comes in the form of Dr. Pepper.
ReplyDeleteDr. Pepper is his younger brother's drink of choice....
DeleteWhat ?!?! Mad skillz isn't cool any more ? Darn. I LOVE that phrase and thought it made me sound cool to my babysitters.
ReplyDeleteI totally like it, too, but every time I use it I get the eye roll/sigh treatment. I'm determined to keep on using it...if there are two of us, all the better :)
DeleteBoy, just when you think you have a phrase under your belt the kids go and change it. I was all proud of myself for knowing how to use mad skillz. I suppose that as soon as I learn the right way to talk about All The Things, they'll stop saying that too.
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