Monday, February 22, 2010

The One with All the Snowboarding

Are you into the Olympics? We have Olympic fever here. The kids and I have been watching (and in some cases, REwatching) the events. Jackson especially loves the snowboarding events. He watched Shaun White win the gold medal in the half pipe at least five times. Then, being a pain-in-the-butt creative, active, athletic individual, he tried to recreate the half pipe event. In his bedroom. Yeah.

When I heard the thuds (you know, the kind of thuds that can only be made by kids launching themselves from the top bunk), I rolled my eyes and put on my headphones to drown out the noise went back to their room to see what hair-brained idea they'd cooked up this time.



Uh huh. Let me get this straight. When I ask you to pick up the games scattered on the family room floor, you tell me you can't because they're too heavy. Yet, you can remove two mattresses from your beds and arrange them in a half pipe. Or more like half a half pipe. A quarter pipe, if you will. I see. Makes perfect sense.

Sure, I was mad. But more than that, I was intrigued. I was fascinated by the inner workings of a child's brain. Just why would any kid think this was a good idea??? "Why?" I asked. "Why, why, why? Why on earth did you do this? Didn't you, even for a moment, think - Mom's not gonna like this?

"Well, we put the mattresses on the floor this time instead of just jumping off so we won't get hurt," they boasted. It was as if they really believed they'd done no wrong. What's the big deal, Mom? We're playing nicely. We have cushioning in case we fall. We've got all the bases covered!

Yes, I can see you're hard at work, perfecting your skills so you can make it to the 2018 Olympics, but did you guys happen to notice the light? Do you see anything wrong with it?

"Yeah, that was an accident," they admitted. "But it had nothing to do with the snowboarding," they quickly added. "Clay just threw his puppy up in the air and the light came off the ceiling."

"So puppies can snowboard too?" I asked.

"Noooo," they said as if I was daft. "The puppy just wanted to watch us, but he needed to be higher so he could see."

Uh huh. Makes perfect sense to me. We've since instituted a No Snowboarding in the Bedroom rule.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

We're lovin' the Olympics here at our house, too! My favorite is Apolo Ohno.

scottreynolds said...

There is such a thing as a quarter pipe, and that's pretty much exactly what it is. Thanks for the heads-up. :)

Shannon said...

Ha! Gotta love their thought process! My three year old son saw Shaun White jump off some truk or something in a promo and now he's convinced he needs to do the same. I've told him NO snowboarding until he's 18! :)

Marcy {pine creek cottage} said...

I adore their creativity! Use what you have - and go for it.

Marcy (long-time reader/first-time commenter... spreading some blogger love!)

Joanne Lendaro said...

Sorry, I had to laugh!! Glad it was you and not me! Been, there, done that! Got three boys of my own, the things they think of...scary. And even scarier, they THINK it makes sense??

Have you ever noticed on America's Funniest Home Videos, that the most outlandish stunts involve the male sex?

Momfever said...

Kids always manage to catch you out! Perhaps you should have a No Skiing in the Bedroom rule too, just in case.

As Cape Cod Turns said...

At the very least they are creative! B was practicing her snowboard moves by jumping of sand dunes on the beach the other day. Maybe you need to live closer to the ocean?

Anonymous said...

I have 5 younger brothers. This could be a verbatim conversation from my youth.--Ah, the memories!

Pat

Jen@Scrapingirl said...

Oh, to ba a fly on your wall. :)

Blended said...

just in the bedroom?...so they can snowbaord in the living room? Kitchen? or how about your bedroom?

LOL....this is hos they think...and technically you did not say they couldn't in those room!

Meg said...

I'm afraid to ask if they watched the aerial competition last night....

I do think they are super creative and I love that they've thought about cushioning.

We have enough snow around here, you could send them outside to build their own half pipe (or even quarter pipe) - that would keep them busy for a while.

Unknown said...

Been there. Only the mattress' where down the stairs to be like the bobsled. Seriously why?

On Stage said...

That is awesome. At least your kids have no trouble entertaining themselves!

Sue

PamGram said...

LOL,yea and surfing in the pool doesn't work either.My 3rd son and friend placed a surfboard in the pool,then ran and jumped on it.UGH Riding a bike in the pool doesn't work so good but is less dangerous.

A Mother's Thoughts said...

HAHA, yeah for olympics....atleast they aren't at the UFC or WWE stage. It could be worst. Shitty thing is that it is usually us that have to clean up the mess. Damn them!! lol

Lynn

Echo said...

Dawn,

I absolutely LOVE your blog!!!! and this is why . . . posts like this! I have 2 boys that do the SAME exact things and tell me the SAME exact carazy things! as I read this and looked at the picture I of course did a laugh with a ohhhh nooo it it and my b/f says what? I said you know what Jay(my b/f's name) come here I wanna show something. so he reluctantly, with a sigh comes over. I show him the picture and start reading to him the post. he's like ya. and I say to him, do you know why I love this womans blog sooooo much? he says why? I say: because it makes me feel sooooooooo good! It makes me feel good because it lets me know I am not the only mother out there dealing with boys or children (girls can get creative too - lets not discriminate) that do things like this and make me feel like I've done and am doing something wrong. so thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing and for taking the time to have this blog.

Sharon

Jennifer said...

No snowboarding in the bedroom? Clearly that means we can use the couch cusions and snowboard in the living room, or haul our mattress outside, jump off the roof, and snow board in the back yard. ;-)

Lord help you. When we were kids my brother jumped off EVERYTHING. To include a bridge. Yep, that's right, his friends jumped off the bridge so he did too. :-) I thought the skin was going to peel off my mother's face.

I thought I was lucky to get only girls, but it seems my youngest daughter is a jumper too.

Robin said...

And did you ever think you'd need to have such a rule??! :) At least no one ended up in the e.r.

Colleen said...

Dawn....be glad it is mattress/snowboarding. My brother was in the age of space rockets and Evil Kaneevil. He tried to jump everything, and blow up things. Tried to make a bomb in his room so he could go to the moon. He burnt up most of the hardwood floor in his bedroom...ahhh those were the days!

Unknown said...

Dawn, didn't you ever do anything that inventive when you were a kid?

Belinda in Brisbane Australia

Jennifer in Wisconsin said...

Happy thought, who needs toys any more when they can just use furniture to entertain. Now you do not have to pick up/step on the toys, just get rid of the toys and let them play with a mattress. When they are done, they can go to sleep. Win win :)

pmerry said...

And no bobsledding, or skiiing, or ski JUMPING, or figure skating or speed skating in the bedroom either! Buy em a snowboard and throw them outside! LOL! I love your blog.

jill190 said...

Thank for the laugh and the memories of my childhood with my brothers and sister. Jill

Juneau Poole Party said...

Another reason to love Target - did you know that Shaun White has a boys clothing line at Target????

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