Of course, there are a lot more than five,** but this is a start:
1. He's indefatigible.
Right now I can hear him downstairs rearranging the furniture. After that, he will probably clean out the car and start getting things ready for breakfast. He might also do the laundry and vacuum a little. It's 11:30 p.m. Oh, and he's had two major back surgeries in the last 12 months.
2. He loves to clean.
You might think this is awesome for me. And in many ways it is, but it can also be very tragic (at least in the eyes of our kids). They have learned that if it's not picked up, it might get sucked up. Or that Dad will put it away in places they can't even fathom. Today, Sky left his intricately designed Hex Bug track on the floor just long enough to go take a quick bath as I'd requested. When he got out of the bath, the track was gone, vanished without a trace. It took quick thinking on my part to avert a major crisis--Ren knows Sky doesn't handle lack of fairness or unexpected change well, and yet he always picks up his stuff without asking first. Sigh.
Ren also has trouble with the 24-hour rule: "No child's artwork can be thrown away in the first twenty-four hours after its creation." Before I explained this to him, Ren threw away art almost as fast as Pink P could make it. Nothing produces drama quite like the crumpled up picture of a pink unicorn discovered in the trash can. If nothing else, Ren has become better at covering his tracks.
3. He is not romantic.
And yet he's totally a romantic. Shhh. Don't tell him I'm onto his secret.
4. He can taste something and then make the dish from scratch without ever consulting a recipe.
This is why I married him. Duh.
5. He's a bargain shopper.
The first year we lived in the US, he bought 20 boxes of Hamburger/Tuna/Chicken Helper because it was on sale. When we moved almost two years later, we still had some left. He's learning to differentiate between bargain and binge, and the difference in storage space is amazing.
We're still working through his issues with online shopping. Maybe some day soon, I won't find 4D models of the male reproductive system in my Amazon shopping cart. Then again, maybe I should just get a separate account.
**For example, you already know he's a stay-at-home dad (link) who sews (link) and comes up with interesting parenting techniques (link).
7 comments:
Aahh, the fine art of "garboflage". I have learned to hide discarded projects amazingly well in the trash can. Also, in the recycling bin. "No, that's ok. Mommy will dump the office paper bin all by herself. It's heavy."
Didn't you also have an amazing supply of Sunchips, or something like that? That's ok. I was once restricted from buying toothpaste because the perfect storm of amazing sales (which never happen for toothpaste) and great coupons resulted in 7-10 boxes under our bathroom sink. It took a really long time to go through all that toothpaste.
I think you're thinking of the Nutrigrain bars. To this day, none of us can eat any of that stuff (not that we should be eating it anyway!). Your toothpaste story reminds me of my first time living in Japan. Back then, you couldn't buy American food anywhere, so you had to use the Foreign Buyer's Club. You ordered it, and they sent it in bulk. Twenty jars of peanut butter is enough for a lifetime...
For some reason I seem to remember you telling me a story about Ren and the back seat of your car/trunk filled up with chips. Who knows? Mommy brain!
Sadly, my kids would take your peanut butter challenge and probably win. I don't see how they can eat PB&J every single day, but they do it.
Take photos of the art, make a photo book out of the photos after a year or so. Then Ren can throw things out to his hearts content. I have 3 art books so far for my oldest, the youngest will get a preschool art book at the end of the year and I'll get to throw away all the actual art, which is the best part :)
I have stacks of toilet paper everywhere. I get in trouble for that...but it is always used...especially when 2 year olds become FASCINATED with flushing!
Much of it is truly not worth the effort of recording it, but Pink P doesn't need to know that. We keep a lot, but some times she will draw 20-30 pictures in a day!
At least he's beginning to tell the difference between "binge" and "bargain." I have one who is completely impervious to that distinction, and two full pantries to prove it.
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