Cards and Kids

Craigley and I went on just one "date" and had a 3 month long long distance "courtship"‎, and then, got married! Would not recommend it to anyone if I hadn't known Craigley as a classmate and a friend for about 2 years prior to that! Why am I mentioning it now? Well, I have been thinking about what Craigley said before we got married...he said something to the effect of men don't grow up - men are just big kids! I didn't realize that it would be an excuse he would use for the rest of our married life!!

Disclaimer: Craigley'‎s claims are his and his alone, and definitely do not apply to the rest of mankind. I have a mere readership of 4 individuals whom I consider to be very near and dear to me. They all happen to be men. And of course, I am documenting Momley Moments for my 2 boys who will eventually grow up to be men. So, I am in no way endorsing Craigley's claims.

‎Moving along now...

Craigley started collecting Star Wars cards just before we got married and also actively participated (once a week) in games with other "big kids". At one point in time, I truly believed that Craigley loved his cards more than his legally wedded wife. We were in the States at that point in time. Once we moved back to Canada, Craigley had to put away his cards neatly in a box as there weren't as many avenues in Toronto to engage in Star Wars card games. Also, ASid was born and we got busy with new responsibilities.

When ASid was about 5 years old in 2006, he discovered cards for the first time. ASid got a Yu-Gi-Oh card in a McDonald's Happy Meal. A few more visits resulted in a small pile of cards. ASid has always been an avid reader. He read all the information on all of the cards and wondered what to do with them afterwards! This was around the same time that Craigley decided that ASid should work on advanced Mathematics in Kindergarten and ASid decided he wasn't really good in Math! It was a crazy time between father and son. So, it was decided that Craigley would teach ASid how to play the Yu-Gi-Oh strategy game and help the little guy learn Math. ASid literally learned to do mental Math (addition and subtraction) within a couple of weeks. He was working with big numbers as well. It was quite impressive.

What was equally impressive was how much money Craigley spent to buy more Yu-Gi-Oh cards to make decks that both of them could play with. All in the name of Mathematics! Both father and son went onto attend some tournaments and Yu-Gi-Oh was an obsession for a good couple of years. Then, peer pressure took over - ASid moved on to Pokémon cards. Even Craigley realized quickly that we just couldn't afford to invest in another card game. Luckily, ASid was happy with a couple of tins of Pokémon cards.

Fast forward to 2015...

This is the year Craigley brought out the Star Wars cards he had neatly boxed away. ASid also brought out his Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Not to be left behind, Hans started his own collection of cards (obviously with some encouragement from his dad, the big kid) - Tim Horton's Hockey cards!

This is what I got to hear in the last few weeks:

Hans: It is not fair that ASid gets to spend his money (allowance) on buying cards he wants!

ASid: ‎It is not fair that Dad can buy as many cards as he wants as he is literally minting money!

Craigley: It is not fair that Tim Horton's only lets you buy one discounted pack of cards per medium coffee‎!

‎Cards and Kids!! The saga continues...

Questioning One's Existence over a spilled Smoothie!

Last weekend, Hans and I decided to take advantage of 20X points at Shoppers Drug Mart. ‎Hans loves walking down aisles and checking out all sorts of merchandise! In preparation for this exciting shopping spree, I decided to get us each a beverage. Usually, I grab a coffee and Hans gets a smoothie. Sometimes, the beverages get in the way of optimum shopping (pun totally intended)! So, I made the executive decision of buying one beverage and sharing it. Hans and I got a large mango smoothie at Baskin Robbins (and it is important to mention this little detail here).

Hans wanted to hold the smoothie immediately and started sipping from his straw. ‎He made sure my straw was untouched and clean. Happily, we made our way to Shoppers. Here is the point in our tale where our happiness was on the brink of being short-lived. Hans has this habit of entering Shoppers through the exit door. It is quite dangerous and one has to wait for another shopper to make an exit to use that particular door to enter. I have warned Hans on many an occasion that if he stood in front of an exit door, it could hit him in the face! Well, he took it as a challenge and always positions himself at a safe distance. It has almost become a non-issue and I have a happy boy who darts in quickly as the exit door is closing and feels like a ninja!

And as we neared this double door adventure, Hans realized that he was holding a large smoothie. So, as I was entering through the "entrance" door, Hans decides to hand me the smoothie before he darted through the "exit" door! Predictably, the smoothie landed on the ground. We were lucky that it came from Baskin Robbins; it was so thick that it stayed a blob where it landed. It is amazing how something that looks so delicious in a container looks so disgusting when it lands on the ground!

I ran in quickly to inform a Shoppers employee. She was very nice and told me not to worry about it and that they would take care of it. All this while, Hans literally walked beside me with a scared look. Once I finished speaking with the employee, he blurted out:

Your life would be so much better if I wasn't born. It is all my fault. I give you so much work.

I looked at Hans and felt like I somehow failed as a mother. It is a spilled smoothie for heaven's sake! ‎Hans' reaction was a bit too intense. I just gave him a hug and told him that I don't care for the spilled smoothie; it can be cleaned up! I would be very sad if he hadn't been born. He makes me so happy. He is more important than any smoothie in the world. Hans cheered up quite a bit. Then, he had this to say:

So, you were always sad before I was born?

Hans is something else. We had the best shopping spree and as we walked out with our bags, I had to warn Hans to not step into the messy pool of mango smoothie right in front of the exit door!

What would I do without you?

Out of the blue, ASid hugged‎ me and said the following:

I love you so much!

What would I do without you?
I would probably go to China and eat a snake...
Then, realize what I ate and would probably eat a monkey!

Who says such strange stuff? A good guess is a14 year old with a developing frontal lobe! But as long as I get a hug out of it, he can talk nonsense anytime! Talking of nonsense, the other day, ASid again quoted some statistics:

Only 30% of teens are honest with their parents. You should be happy that I am honest with you!

Seriously, what would I do without this child of mine?