Ussins

Mago tends to like old-style “chiptune” Nintendo music. This is pleasing to his father. I played for him my mp3 album ripped from the game Legacy of the Wizard - explaining to him that this title more or less means “remember the wizard” - whatever that is supposed to mean, ha! - and he liked it. Here’s an exemplary track to accompany your blog reading.

(download .mp3, ~1.2 MB)

I also explained to Mago that this is from a game I played as a kid. On the same drive (this was all quite a while ago - but every now and then he’ll ask me to play it again) a song from my collection came on entitled ShadowFire -

(download .mp3, ~2.2 MB)

- a Commodore 64 tune I found and burned. After he learned this was from a game I hadn’t played, Mago said:

I played ShadowFire! when I was a kid.

- which he reminds me every time the song is played.  On a different occasion while I was playing with him before bed, he said:

Daddy, I want to come live with you at work.

Whoops.

There’s a wall in the bathroom without an if-I-knew-the-name-of-it-it-would-probably-be-there thing that would keep water from spilling into the wall, and spiders from coming out of the wall - though we haven’t seen but very few spiders (as opposed to dozens) since politely asking them to find somewhere else to live - if you have faith, this works! - but by those spiders he has seen coming out from under that wall, he has dubbed it “The bug wall”.

Nem-nem has started waving “hello.”

Two evenings ago as I was holding Nem-nem she saw her shadow on a curtain in front of me, and was delighted - as if something alive were in front of her - and she started humming at it and waving her arm. I never capture the best of this stuff (by the time I get my recorder the best has passed), but I did get some of it:

(Download mp3, ~33KB)

A few days ago Mago explained to me about a movie he watched. Here is that:

(Download mp3, ~780KB)

[Note: it turns out these are at a MHz rate not always playable by the Adobe Flash player (I’m guessing older versions of the plugin). If these sound funny from the player here, you may download the mp3 and listen to it in any other player.]

Tia has clarified for me that “Eglor” is his way of saying what they called Bilbo - a burglar. She also said he absolutely loved it - this was the cartoon rendition of The Hobbit done I think in the 70’s (that rendition was awful - my opinion - but you can’t keep the magic of these stories out of any rendition - it’s the stuff of magic). He watched it twice.

“Eglor” sounds so much like a name for a character you would find in these series that as Mago related this to me I wondered if I’d simply forgotten about some character. I’ve heard it said that good writing is remembering things wrong - so here’s to the tale of Eglor.

This morning around 3 AM Tia nudged me to go to Mago, who came out of his room for some reason. I opened the door and he stood there, and seeing me, he started whining and throwing a tantrum - he wants to see mommy, not me. Sorry, friend. I took him back in his room and his tantrum mounted; finally I got out of him that he’s looking for Snowman (his plush toy). I searched around the house (I wouldn’t but he’d been searching and asked for help). I came back and found Snowman at the foot of his bed. I started putting Mago’s dinosaur blanket back on him to meet another tantrum from him; he insisted I have to be in the chair, like mom, not beside his bed, to put the blanket on. I’d indulge this if he weren’t throwing a tantrum, and I prompted him that I respond to a big boy voice. He kept his tantrum up so I simply put the blanket on, and he was relieved to see it can go properly on from beside the bed (as well as the chair). I thought I’d capitalize on the learning opportunity:

Did daddy put the blanket on you from beside the bed?
Yeah.
Did he put the blanket on right?
Yeah.
What did you learn from that?
Stop hitting.
Okay.

I gave him a hug.

Do you want another idea?
Yeah.
Did you learn that daddy can put the blanket on right from beside the bed?
Yeah.

I snuggled him for a while.

Did you look for mom?
Yeah?
Who came?
Daddy.
Did daddy help you?
Yeah.
What did you learn from that?
Loving Jesus.
Okay.

I can see as I’m writing this it’d be better to prompt him for details of events - he’d put it together more, he’d be doing more thinking. I’m doing better with this though.

Audio recordings Copyright 2008 Richard Alexander Hall all rights reserved.

Just after 6 AM Mago awoke loudly whining (almost howling) and I went into his room to learn what was the matter. He charged me like a linebacker to push me out of the room, crying:

No, I wanted mommy!

I know better than to argue with that, but at the same time Tia was still sleeping and I’m not going to leave and get her. I tried to hold him and tell him it made me sad he didn’t want me (how permanent that sounds - better to say I’m sad he doesn’t want my help - most mornings he’ll give me a long hug). He wouldn’t have any of it, and kept crying -

Mommy didn’t put on my shoes!

- and in some moments he went back to his bed. I paused, standing at his door trying to sort out where this complaint was coming from.

Did you have a dream?
Yeah.
What happened in the dream?
A picture frame fell.
Then what happened?

He didn’t have any further answer, so I went to his bed side. I didn’t know what to do with this. I wondered what connection this had with shoes in a dream or real life. Maybe I asked the wrong question next.

What did you learn from that?
Stop hitting.
.. I don’t know that that has anything to do with that, but okay.

How would I more carefully say I don’t see a connection while acklowledging he may? .. maybe just like that. Or is this just a default answer? It both tickles me and makes me sad. He’s reflecting to us our Old Testament treatment - do not, do not. Let’s turn that around to “Be gentle.” I guess “Don’t” is a good starting place.

So a picture frame fell - of what picture? - that could be sad symbolism in itself - and mom wouldn’t put on your shoes.. and maybe you want to hit people because of these things, but you don’t. That’s good. If I’m understanding this right.

It eased him, anyway, and he slept for another hour and a half.

Conversation with him this morning as we “played” (switched on and listened to the demo music of) METROID PRIME on the Nintendo Game Cube:

I’m so glad that Heavenly Father sent you to me. You’ve been with me for three years now, and I’m glad.

What do I have?

What do you have? You have gifts, and talents, and you’re smart, but even better than all that, you’re good.

What do I have?

You have blessings.

No - no - I have toys. In the living room.

These past two mornings, first thing Mago says when emerging from his room to see me:

I promise not to take naps anymore.

These affirmations come between his daytime efforts to abandon naps, often ending, Tia tells me, in his nodding off in the early evening and consequently going to bed later - and thus the cycle repeats itself.

This morning he had a time out for talking loudly near Nem-nem’s room and waking her up, in which time out he struck me in his futile but aggressive way in frustration. I said to him very pitifully “Oh, son..” and told him I’d have to take some stuffed animals and keep them until I come home from work, and he should work on being gentle with Tia and Nem-nem until then. (He adores Nem-nem. When his adoration isn’t expressed in wrestling or otherwise hurting her. Tia is exasperated some days, and I think our loving disciplining is tapering off his uncontrollability/aggression?) This saddened and angered him a great deal, and he lovingly stroked my face in between fits to show his effort to be gentle. I told him that’s great, and he needs to do that all day until I come home and give his stuffed animals back. (Y’all are getting pictures of me towing a ton of kids’ stuffed animals away in my car and bringing them into work. That would be fun - but I just hid them in the house.)

In the late morning I called him, and he answered the phone, and I asked him how he was doing with being gentle. His answer was:

“So you can give me my stuffed animals back.”

Okay. That’s not an answer, but he’s clearly got the concept. After this, I asked him to let me talk to Tia, to go give the phone to Tia, and he said:

“Why are you going to work.. you are going to work.. okay come home. I love you.” (click.)

I hang up and get another dial tone and call again.

“Hi.”
“Hi. Will you get mom?”
“Who is this?”
“This is dad.”
“Oh. Alex. Okay. Come home. I love you.” (click.)

He’s left the phone again. Okay. I’ll leave this alone.

Tia tells me later in the day he’s had a few bouts of aggression. I think that’s better than all day, so he’s getting some stuffed animals back.

This morning I was listening to the finale music for the film SIGNS (a very favorite film, also featuring this very favorite music), and Mago asked me what it was. I told him it was from a scary movie with aliens where the people are in danger, but they (SPOILER if you haven’t seen it!) show

Naturally, he said he wants to see the film, and I told him I’ll let him.. in many years. But I held him tight as the music progressed, as if we were endangered (as the music so well conveys).

In a while Nem-nem awoke and I sat with her and listened to the same music continuing. Mago looked at her admiringly and said:

Heh. She’s scared of the aliens. She’s like, I want to see the scary aliens!

I don’t know where he picked up that idiom, but it tickles me. He’s three years old on Monday.

Mago wanted to draw the aliens (which I explained to him are scary pretend monsters), and he did so. Here are three drawings of them. These are done with his left hand - he’s a southpaw like his dad - and like his uncle who shares his middle (real) name

You can right-click (on Windows - I dunno fer Mac, sorry) to see an option to view in a new window - larger. I don’t know why the first isn’t showing as large as the others - I like the first best.

Last night as I read a book to Mago for bed time he noticed a small smiley-face sticker I had put in the center of the face of my watch. I’d put that sticker there as a reminding device a week or so ago because it came as sudden inspiration to the question: how can I keep myself on track, on duty, and remember what I’m supposed to do? (I can be quite distracted, and even my very simple daily list gets neglected).

Mago: You have a smiley face on your watch.

Me: That’s to remind me to be nice to you, because when I’m nice to you, I’m really being nice to Heavenly Father, because he wants me to be nice to you.

Mago: And when it’s frowning, you’re mean.

Nem-nem started a few days ago to clearly say “Oomm-a, ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma, ma, ma-ma..”. And it refers to Tia. One evening Tia left Nem-nem in the crib to go to sleep, and left the room, but Nem-nem didn’t sleep, and pulled herself standing up beside the rail and called:

“Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma..”

Reports Tia - I copy this from a web site for her siblings to keep in touch with Tia’s parents on a mission:

..the other day as [Mago] was giving me a hard time, I whined and crawled into his bed and complained,

“[Mago], I give up, I don’t want to be a mommy any more. I just want to be Tia and have friends, and go shopping, and do my own thing!”

And he said in a very sympathetic tone,

“Mommy, you can’t give up. You don’t have friends, you just have a boy and a girl!”

He helped me make biscuit dough and tasted it, and said “Ick, it tastes like grownup skin!”

A little bland and salty? And this is an apparent contrast with baby skin, which evidently does not have an unpleasant taste.

I didn’t want him to watch a video segment on insects because it was so gross I was afraid it would give him nightmares, and he said “Mom, put it on and don’t say ew!”

Tia’s sister Janae related having the same experience that same day:

…Just tonight I [said] i was about to give up being a mom.

“I have no more Mom energy…i think i’m just going to quit.”

[My boy] gave me a kiss on the cheek and said,

“Please keep trying…you have to be a mom …because you ARE a mom!”

He’s right; It’s a job you just can’t get out of. Hang in there, little Mommy… We’re all in it together!