Treasure Hunt

Mitchell is such a mystery to me.  One day, he is quiet and moody, answering my probing questions with one word answers and funny "looks."  The next day, he is skipping in excitement and bursting to tell me stories of what happened at school and his plans for building a spaceship "that really flies!"  One day, a hug annoys him and a kiss?  yuk!  No way!  The next day, he just can't get enough ticking and wrestling and hugging.  One day, he prefers to find his own entertainment and doesn't seem to notice me.  Other days, he just can't seem to let me walk from one room to the next without following me.

He is constantly surprising me, and yesterday was a classic example.  It was classic "Mitchell."

I had to make a phone call.  I wanted privacy while I did so.  I explained to Mitchell that he was to stay where he was, playing quietly and alone for just a few minutes.  He nodded in agreement.

When I finished my phone about 10 minutes later, he was standing right inside the door, hopping in place, big grin on his face.  He definitely had been up to something and was literally hopping up and down waiting for me to discover it.  I smiled and asked him what was up and he said, "Mom?  Do you notice any shopping bags hidden around the house?"

I looked around and yes, indeed, I did notice a few plastic shopping bags poking out of drawers and stashed under chairs.  "This is a treasure hunt and I hid special treasures in the shopping bags and you get to find them!  C'mon!"

Each time I found a new bag, I opened it up and inside was something on which he had "written" a message, which he would read out loud to me:

The bag under the kitchen table said "You are invited to a birthday party!"

The bag behind the couch said "I love you, Mom."

The bag in the bathroom said "It's pizza day!"

Behind the chair in his treasure room was a note saying "You're the best mom ever!"

Under Dad's desk in his office, the note said "I'll give you flowers in just a second!"

One under the couch read "I love your guts!"

On the stairs, the note said "You're the prettiest mom in the world!"

In my coat closet, tied around the mop, was a bag with a note saying "I'll meet you at the movie theater!"

Sticking out of my rain boot - "Meet me later.  I'll be at the flower store.  Get whatever you want!"

In a potted plant, he hid a note saying "Let's go to the crystal store.  There's jewelry there!"

And it all was intended to lead me in a treasure hunt to the grand prize (which was the first thing I noticed but was instructed that I did NOT see that yet and had to wait to see it until the end) which was hidden under a kitchen towel on the floor behind the table.  He bounced over to the spot, whipped the towel off, revealing an apple, a glass of water, and a pile of cereal on a paper towel.  "Now we get to have a special snack together!  Don't you just love this?"

As we sat on the floor, eating and drinking our special little snack together, just the two of us, I asked him what made him think to do such an adventurous and special thing for and with me.

"Oh, you know... I just thought you were special and you'd like it of course!"

I picked him up and squeezed him.  I must have squeezed a bit too hard and too long though because, true Mitchell style, he groaned, "Ok... That's enough hugging..."  and he ran off to find some other adventure.

Saved the Best (or Most Annoying) For Last

Although I set and stuck to a budget this Christmas, I couldn't help but feeling a bit overwhelmed as I was placing the wrapped gifts under the tree a few days before Christmas morning. Many of them were just little things, but I started to think there were too many presents for each one to be fully appreciated.

So I hid two of them high up in the branches of the tree.

Then I forgot about them!

After the chaos of opening presents was over, we had all eaten breakfast, and were sitting around feeling fat and happy, I suddenly rememered about them! I called Mitchell over and told him I thought I saw one last present hiding in the tree. His face lit up and he went running into the Christmas room. After a few minutes, he came skipping back in with a small, wrapped gift clutched in his hands, and a huge grin on his face. "Mom! You were right! There is one last one left and it has my name on it!"

I had actually not only forgotten I put one there, but also what was in it, so I was almost as excited as Mitchell was! When he tore off the paper, he discovered a neat little wooden box with a shiny harmonica in it. "Oh mom! This was JUST what I was wanting! I thought you forgot!"

We then experienced the excitement of an unexpected and hidden gift all over again when Ben got in on the action and discovered his nestled in the branches as well.

I think I will always save a small gift and hide it up in the tree for later. I'm pretty sure that was Mitchell's favorite gift this year!

The Season of Giving

Mitchell loves his school friends. He finally prefers some of them to adults.

Lately, he has been excited about giving them special gifts. He has quite a bit of time after Jack has gone to bed and before Ben gets home to plan who gets what and what he will give each day. Most times, he just draws them a picture, puts their name on it, folds it up tightly, puts it in an envelop (which also needs their name on it), and carries it to the park, where all his friends are also waiting for their older siblings to get out of school. Last week, he even handed out some of my extra Christmas cards.

Sometimes though, he is in a more generous mood and he digs through his multiple treasure boxes, looking for something that is special enough to be a gift, but not so special that he can't part with it. Sometimes, not wanting to part with a jewel or sharp stick or old belt buckle, he makes a treasure out of something normally not considered one.

Today, one friend gets a tongue depressor, another gets a rock. Merry Christmas, best friends! You can cross "rock" off your Christmas list!

To be fair to my thoughtful boy, he did write their names on their gifts. He also drew a knife on the tongue depressor and a picture of himself and his friend on the smooth rock. Judging by these same friends' reactions to the earlier pictures, I think they're gonna like these...

Shel Gets It

This one's for you, Mitchell:

HECTOR THE COLLECTOR - Shel Sylverstein

Hector the Collector

Collected bits of string,

Collected dolls with broken heads

And rusty bells that would not ring.

Pieces out of picture puzzles,

Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,

Twists of wires, worn-out tires,

Paper bags and broken bricks.

Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,

Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,

Leaky boats that wouldn't float

And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot.

Butter knives that had no handles,

Copper keys that fit no locks,

Rings that were too small for fingers,

Dried-up leaves and patched-up socks.

Worn-out belts that had no buckles,

'Lectric trains that had no tracks,

Airplane models, broken bottles,

Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.

Hector the Collector

Loved these things with all his soul--

Loved them more than shining gold.

Loved them more than shining diamonds,

Loved them more than glistenin' gold.

Hector called to all the people,

"Come and share my treasure trunk!"

And all the silly sightless people

Came and looked... and called it junk.

When Mitchell and I came across this one afternoon while reading together, he immediately likened it to himself: "Hey mom! He's just like me! You think stuff is junk and I think it is all treasure!" Clearly, Shel and Mitchell are on the same page here and Mitchell is glad to have found a kindred spirit.

Welcome To The Gift Shop

Yesterday, we took an adventure on a boat out to see Lady Liberty. She's big. She's green.

The kids were all fabulous the entire time. They loved the ferry ride, gobbled the pb&jsandwiches on the ground at Ellis Island, were helpful with Jack when need be, and stuck with us without lagging behind or complaining about anything from beginning to end! That's the way sightseeing with little kids is done!

Although there were many highlights for the boys, including standing at the back of the boat and leaning over the edge to see what they could see, I believe their favorite part was the gift shops! I was hesitant to even bring them into the first shop, knowing that even on their best behavior, something was likely to be knocked over and broken and I'd end up buying a broken Statue of Liberty snow globe or something.

When I let them peek in though and they saw the entire room full of treasures, they just had to go in and promised to be careful. Wow. They were in heaven! I think I have told you before how my boys love treasures. Well, this was a big room stuffed full of treasures! They had some of Mitchell's favorites: pocket watches, compasses, lockets, and key chains. They had some of Ben's favorites: masks, toys, light-up pens, and funny Statue of Liberty hats. They even had a candy section they stopped and stared at for a while. I am pretty sure they would have stayed in that gift shop all day if I let them and the patient cashiers didn't eventually run out of patience for my enthusiastic little treasure hunters.

After picking out plenty of items to put on their Christmas list (hopefully Mitchell forgets he needs a special coin with Lady Liberty on it and Ben no longer sees the importance of an elaborate masquerade mask), it was time to get back on the boat to head to the next island. What did the boys want to do there? See the big green lady or climb up to the top? Ice cream treats maybe? Nope. They wanted to head straight to the gift shop!

Sharp Dressed Man

Mitchell has really been enjoying helping me pack this time around. I think what he loves most are the treasures we uncover. His top finds so far are an old day planner/calendar of mine with plenty of pockets, a heavy duty watch box, a sleep mask from an airplane, a shoe box, an old stop watch, and, best of all, Ben's old tuxedo.

We got Ben a tuxedo a couple years ago to wear in a wedding, but he only wore it that once. It has been hanging up in a zippered bag ever since then. Well, as I was packing clothes out of the closet, Mitchell spied that funny-looking bag hanging up and, of course, had to know about it. When I took it down and unzipped it, planning on showing it to him, then packing it right back up again, his eyes got wide and he just had to try it on!

Well, what do you know, it fits him perfectly! He got that bad boy on, all 5 pieces to it, and has not willingly taken it off since. He pretends to be a man going to work and shows it off to everyone he sees. He wore it to school the next day and walked around before drop off showing it off to anyone who would notice and listen. One of my friends there even thought he was so handsome, she took a picture of him! He kept it on when he got home and rode his bike to Starbucks in it. He wore it to the grocery store. He wore it to the park. Boy, was it funny watching a little boy riding his bike down the street in a tuxedo...

He wanted to wear it to bed, even, but I had to say "no." Well, I didn't think to warn the babysitter about his new treasure a couple nights ago, and when I got home, I found Mitchell wearing all 5 pieces of it, snuggled up in his bed!

Last night, as we were putting jammies on after bath, he started searching all over the room for it (I had put it away somewhere else, hoping he might forget about it if it was out of sight). After a minute or so of searching, he marched up to me, hands on his hips, and said, "Mom! What did you do with my mosquito?!"

Ben and I burst into laughter, and when Ben pointed out his mistake, Mitchell thought it was HILARIOUS and wouldn't stop laughing!

He did fall asleep, and not in his mosquito/tuxedo, but he kept it laid out close by so that he could keep an eye on it. He doesn't trust me...

Important Discoveries

While Jack is constantly adding new words to his vocabulary, he has made four new discoveries lately that have led to some important new words.

Discovery #1: The pile of dirt and dust in front of my broom

While I like that Jack loves me to sweep, I don't love why he loves it. If I ever can't get Jack to follow me, all I would need to do is get out my broom and he'd come running! He just loves that pile of dirt I sweep up! He wants to dance in it and stomp on it. He wants to pick it up and inspect it. He wants to pick bits of food out of it and eat it. He wants to re-spread it throughout the house. This discovery has led to his new word: "dirties." "Dirties" is what I am sweeping up and what he points at right before he pounces.

Discovery #2: His pockets

Jack is almost as obsessed with "treasures" as Mitchell is, but is far less discriminating when it comes to what he considers a treasure. His favorite treasure right now is rocks. He will search the playground over for all rocks. He loves the size that fills his hand but are not heavy. Another reason he loves this size rock is because it fits perfectly in his sweatshirt pocket. He discovered his pockets when I pointed them out as an alternative to stuffing his treasures down my shirt. He now runs around the playground, picking up rocks, yelling "pocket!" as he fills them.

Discovery #3: Some things do not taste nice

While he still likes to put most things in his mouth for a taste, he is finally discovering that not all things are tasty, hence the new word, "yuckies." This word is usually accomplished by quite a bit of spitting and drooling and funny faces.

Discovery #4: He does have a mom!

I finally have a name! No longer am I just whined at or climbed upon or chased around as if I am no more important and deserving of a name than the couch or stairs. I am not called "daddy" anymore or just smiled at with his toothy smile. He finally discovered that my name is "mama!"

Mitchell's Backpack

Mitchell loves his school backpack.  I don't think he cares too much about what it looks like or that he can wear it on his back, but he LOVES having something to put his treasures in and bring them with him wherever he goes.  

Sometimes, he has specific things he is supposed to bring home from school like an announcement from the teacher or a picture he drew.  Sometimes he needs to bring something to school, like two objects that begin with the letter "F," for example. Most days, though, he doesn't really even need a bag, and any other boy might just either leave it home on those days, or at least carry it empty.  Not my boy.  Some days, when he gets home from school and I ask him if he has anything in his bag to show me (expecting a picture or an announcement), his face brightens and he says "Yes!  I have all kinds of stuff in here!"  He then sits down at the table and theatrically pulls one thing after another out, in a seeming never-ending stream of objects!  We are talking Mary Poppins style here!  

He hasn't pulled a lamp out yet like Mary Poppins, but sometimes the stuff coming out of it is quite funny and surprising: toys of all kinds (of course), assorted kitchen utensils, my checkbook, books, empty water bottle, flashlight, vacuum attachments, mittens, scissors, jack's hat, a fossil... you name it!  If it will fit in there, he will sneak it in!

Dumpster Diving

I come by dumpster diving honestly: my grandpa did it, my dad did it (I specifically remember him finding a sandwich in the garbage at the lake one time and, after not being able to convince anyone else to eat it, ate it himself!  To his credit though, that is the only instance of dumpster diving I remember him doing, albeit pretty gross.)

I have taken dumpster diving to a whole new level though.  Not only did I find quite the treasure, but I made my oldest son do it for me!  After all, the "treasure" was for him and his suboordinate (Mitchell) so why not make him do the actual gathering of the item?

Let me back up a bit to give a little perspective on why a mother would possibly make her 5-year-old son get somthing out of the garbage.  One of our neighboring houses is being demolished.  It is being completely leveled to the ground, and it is an awesome thing to watch, even for me!  In order to get the best seats to watch this fantastic show, we parked our butts down in the ally, not 10 feet away from the tractor performing the amazing feat of knocking down walls and tearing down chimneys and causing total and utter destruction.  It was awesome.  Try to ignore the fact that we were actually sitting on the ground in a dirty ally, leaning our backs against someone else's garage door, hoping it didn't open on us and send us falling backwards into someone's garage.  It is at these times, when we are having so much fun doing something or watching something we don't normally get to do or see, that I wonder if providing a new and exciting experience for my boys is worth the fact that it is filthy and we are actually sitting on the ground getting covered by the dust of a newly demolished building.  Obviously, I chose fun over cleanliness this time.

So there we were, sitting on the ground, watching one man working a tractor, one man spraying the mess with a fire hose, and one man just sitting on the fence watching ("supervising" I presume.  Wish I had his job), when something caught my eye on top of the garbage bins next to us.  Now this was actually on top of the garbage bins, not actually in the bins, so it's OK, right?  It looked to me like a child's workbench, taken apart and placed on top of the bins.  The bins were squished in between the work site and the next building, so I couldn't actually reach the workbench to check it out, so I lifted Ben up and onto the bins, and he crawled across them to give me a report on what he found there.  His glowing report was that it was, indeed, a fully intact and clean workbench that had been taken apart a bit in order to fit in the small space, but otherwise in great shape!  He dragged it back to me, and we quickly carried it a block back to our house (quickly in case someone somehow knew that I had just taken a toy out of the garbage and scolded/criticized me for my disgusting act.) 

       We cleaned the thing up, brought it upstairs, put all our tools in/on it, and it is our new favorite toy!  The funny thing is, we almost bought this very same toy for Mitchell at Christmas last year, but it was more money than we wanted to spend on just one toy, so we passed.  Should I be finding and bringing home someone else's garbage (or, more correctly, encouraging my child to do so?)  My final thought on the matter is that when the "treasure" is good enough, the answer is a big "yes!"