Thursday, March 15, 2012

Filthy Rich

We're sitting at Five Guys (you, me, Daddy, and Grammi) and you started asking "Would You Rather" questions. You asked me if I'd rather have an alligator or a lion for a pet. I said an alligator. You replied, "Of course! It takes years for alligators to grow, and you'd have to be FILTHY rich to afford a lion." Well, I learn something new every day.

Love,
Mom

Monday, March 5, 2012

The Worst Part of Your Day #2

This morning, 6:30 - wake up. I came in and rubbed your back, spoke sweetly to you, and told you it was wake-up time. You ignored me. I asked you if you wanted me to come back in 5 minutes, and you said yes. (We call this your "second wake-up.")

I came back 15 minutes later, you lucky thing, you, but you promptly said you couldn't wake up. I helped you up, and you sat back down on the floor while I made your bed so you wouldn't have to. I turned on a lamp so I could see, and I pointed the light away from you. Then you told me the lamp made you feel like a vampire. Sigh...

Next you started complaining about how early you have to wake up, that you have to wait YEARS until high school, etc. I simply kissed you on your head and walked away.

As you continued to mumble, you said, "I HATE mornings. They're the worst part of my day!"

I thought laundry was the worst part of your day! ;) [See yesterday's post]

You're a stinker. But I love ya.

Love,
Mom

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Worst Part of Your Day

Dear Ashton Crawford,

You are a funny kid. Let me walk you through the last couple of days.

Yesterday was a pretty good day for you. You had to clean out your bedroom (because I was threatening to throw everything you own away), but you seemed to enjoy the work. You are like me in so many ways. You are a pack rat, but you love things to be neat and orderly. That juxtaposition caused great conflict in you (and me) over the last week or so, and it was time for us to do something about it. So we teamed up.

I wish I had gotten a "before picture," but we'll have to do with some "in-progress" photos instead.



Good heavens! You have a lot of junk. But like I said earlier, you were more than happy to part with it. (Perhaps that was because I was Lego-blackmailing you; either your crap went, or your Legos went. The choice was, of course, up to you.)

Here are two pictures that crack me up. This is going to make me seem like a bad mother. I promise I'm not. Really.


In this picture above, you were snuggling a small craft you made in the midst of the rubble. I called him "Fuzzie," but you said his name is "Furball." My bad. Anyway, you made this in Ms. Johnson's class, but I found him under a bunch of trash in one of your desk drawers. I told you to throw it away. You angrily informed me that Furball is a "he,"not an "it," and that HE has feelings and that HE cannot possibly be thrown away. Then you started to cry. So I compromised. I told you that we needed to get a picture of you with Furball, then you could throw him away. It seemed logical to me; you never played with him or even looked at him, but since you had a picture, you'd never forget him. Boy, was I ever wrong...


Here is a close-up of you snuggling Furball. Look at how upset you were! You cried your eyes out! It just broke my heart (I'm a real sucker sometimes), so you and I came to another agreement. He could live on top of your dresser for one more week, then you would have to throw him away. Yeah right. We'll see how that goes down in a week.

After all the Furball drama, we continued to work. You made me so proud! You were a very big boy about all the things you decided to throw away or donate. You organized, sorted, and cleaned. I was very impressed. Here's the final product:



The best part of this whole cleaning-out process for you, though, was the fact that Daddy put up two brand-new shelves on the wall for you so you could display your Bobblehead collection. You were THRILLED. Here is the piece de resistance!


Amazing how $20 in shelving from Target will make such a difference! You just sat and stared at it for a while. Later that night, while you and I picked up dinner, Daddy made another Target purchase that left you ecstatic - a clip-on lamp for your bed so you can read in the bed at night. I'll have to write more about that another day.

Today has been a pretty good day, too. Relatively speaking. We are currently dog-sitting Grammi's dog, Louisa May. She apparently pooped all over herself and dragged it all over our house. So we stayed home from church today to take her to Aunt Jane's vet clinic for a bath and a butt-shaving (you find that incredibly comical) and clean up all the crap. Literal crap.

We went to Target (I am starting to think I spend a lot of money there...) and bought a new mop. You were excited about the mop, too. (Have you been kidnapped by aliens?) We went home and spent the next two hours cleaning the house. You even helped! (Maybe you WERE kidnapped by aliens...)

After cleaning, we went to Burger King, where you ate a TON of food and played, then you came home and played video games. I asked you to go and put up your clean underwear and socks about three times, and then I discovered you didn't do it. (Now that is sounding more like you.) After making you stop playing until you put them up, you went in your bedroom to (loudly) put away your clean clothes.

You loudly proclaimed that you HATED laundry, and that it is the WORST part of your day. Honey, I totally agree.

Here is a picture of you playing the Wii after putting away your laundry. I love the fact that this picture is a common one, you snuggled up next to Peanut on the couch. It seems as though you've made it through the laundry incident unscathed. I love you.



Love,
Mom


Friday, March 2, 2012

Tornado Warning

Dear Ashton Crawford,

Notice you fell asleep in your shoes
Tonight we are in the middle of a tornado warning. 2 tornadoes have touched down in GA tonight. Daddy and I picked you up early from Kids' Night Out at church to bring you home because the storms were worrying me.

You were very frightened tonight, but not too scared to eat some Goldfish crackers. You kept telling Daddy that we needed to get in the basement. We've been watching Glenn Burns and Brad Nitz on Channel 2 for an hour and a half. I was teaching you how to read the weather map, trying to help lessen your fears. You were watching that map intently!

You said you were tired, so I (finally) convinced you to put on jammies and come lay down on the couch. In just a few seconds, you were SNORING! You make us smile. We love you.

Love,
Mom

NERDY

Dear Ashton Crawford,

This morning I'm wearing my NERDY shirt. While I was helping you brush your teeth, you came up with an acrostic for it.

Nonstoppable
Excellent
Reader
Describer
Young

Then you told me that "young" was the only Y word you could come up with. Thanks.

Love, Mom

Thursday, March 1, 2012

British Taxi Driver


Dear Ashton Crawford,

Today is March 1st, and at school we're celebrating Dr. Seuss week in honor of his birthday (tomorrow). Today is "Crazy Hat Day." We don't really have any crazy hats, though, so you're wearing your favorite Falcons hat, and I'm wearing my pink beret. As you walked into the kitchen, you said to me, "You look like a British taxi driver. For real, mom."

Perhaps the best part of your comment is the fact that you actually said "brutish" instead of "British." Sweet.


Love,
Mom


Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Dear Ashton Crawford

Dear Ashton Crawford,

at the Georgia Aquarium
This blog is dedicated to you, my sweet baby boy (who is now seven - not so much a baby!). I have been chronicling much of your life on Facebook, and I recently spent lots of time going back through my Facebook feed, just marveling at how sweet, funny, and smart you are. I laugh at the times you were less than "precious," and cry at the times that you were better than gold.

One of my favorite things you say when I take a picture is, "Don't put that on Facebook!" I'm probably a bad mom for posting your artwork, your silly faces, your good grades, and your messes in such a public way, but it's only because I adore you and I'm so proud of you.

So, this blog is my gift to you. At age seven, you might not appreciate it. Maybe, though, twenty years from now, you'll have a sweet baby of your own, and going back through your life in pictures and posts won't be embarrassing; it will be source of joy.

Love,
Mom