Monday, April 02, 2007

Where's My Prize?

By most everyone who has ever experienced any time with them, even strangers witnessing them from afar, my boys are labeled "active" (read: off-the-wall go go go non-stop movement always-into-everything constant-full-throttle-energy SPIRITED-to-the-Nth-degree). Generally I'm highly opposed to labels. But in this case, I can't blame anyone who labels K & O this way. They are so incredibly "active" all the time that I really can't argue with the label. They don't ever, ever, ever seem to get tired out; their energy never seems to expire. Ever. Anyone who has spent any time with my boys -- you know what I mean. The director of our daycare (who has run the place for over 17 years) told me one day that Kyle and Owen are the two most "active" children she's ever had in her care. Seriously. And I totally believe her. I've often thought that we should offer some sort of prize or award to anybody who can tire them out. Think you are good with spirited kids?! O.k., try mine! Think you have a lot of energy for your age? O.k., try a day with my two boys! Think you can keep up with active children? O.k., try keeping up with mine! The challenge would be something like this: Spend a day with K & O and try to tucker them out without physically putting them in unreasonable danger. The awards and prizes would be given out based on something like this: At the end of the day did they go to sleep smoothly/easily and sleep for more than twelve hours straight? Since I'm so confident that this competition would kick the butts of the vast majority of people who tried to enter it, I would push hard for the prizes to be big, huge, amazing prizes. Like 'all-expense-paid-vacation' kinds of prizes. I, for one, think that anyone who could win at this game (especially anyone over the age of 30) deserves something wonderful and restorative -- like a spa trip for two to someplace warm and lovely. I can count on two fingers the number of people who, to my knowledge, have actually entered this competition and won: 1) Braydon, 2) Heather. Yes, folks, we are over 30 and we're good -- darn good -- at tuckering out our "Active" (with a capital "A") kids. Last night, after a very "active" day, we brought them upstairs for bedtime at 6:30. They were in bed and asleep by 7:00. And right now it is 8:19 a.m. and they're both still sleeping soundly. Shouldn't we get some sort of prize for that??? Like, a really big, huge, amazing prize?

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Late morning P.S. to this post -- Just for the record: Owen woke up at 8:40 a.m. Kyle just kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. Finally, at 9:20, I let Owen go upstairs to wake up his brother. Who knows how long Ky Ky would have slept?! Just for the record: I'm still waiting for my prize...????? I feel like this is one of those games that is rigged from the start -- they let you fantasize about all the great prizes you might win for participating, but nobody ever actually gets to claim anything?!

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