Adventures from Amandaland

Logan and Trip recently turned seven.  Their actual birthday sucks because it’s right after school resumes from the Christmas holiday and none of their friends or their parents would be able to remember a birthday so close after Christmas.  At least I presume that’s the case since I usually forget to schedule their birthday party until well after their actual birthday.  I’m punctual like that.  I was a week late for my own birth, I think I can be forgiven for scheduling my boy’s birthday party a couple of weeks late.  I think it should even be expected. 

Starting back in early December, the boys started asking for remote control helicopters.  They asked anyone and everyone who would listen and even a few strangers.  If I had taken them to see Santa, where they would be taught that it’s acceptable to sit on some strange man’s lap, to have their picture taken and asked what they wanted for Christmas, they surely would have said they wanted a remote control helicopter.  (Or maybe I just find the idea of standing in line for half a day for a cheap picture of some strange guy in a suit with my kids to be very low on the list of priorities.)  They wanted lots of other toys.  In fact, they may have fallen victim to the endless commercials they saw on television in the week they were out of school before Christmas.  But the toy they mentioned over and over and over was that remote-controlled helicopter.  There was no room for an unplanned toy under the tree this year.  Why?  Because we had already gone overboard and I don’t want them to get every single toy they ask for.  So the munchkins woke on Christmas morning to find lots of toys and no helicopter.  Oma didn’t bring one either.  The poor dears.

So time passed and they kept asking for that helicopter.  They knew their birthday was fast approaching and so they would mention the helicopter to anyone who would listen.  They are a couple of persistent munchkins.

Today, we finally had their birthday party.  It was a fantastic affair held at our usual spot at the local mall in their party place.  The boys were ecstatic.  Ed and I finally wised up and did not request that people not bring gifts because the boys were still overwhelmed from Christmas presents.  We learned that lesson well last year.  They might have been overwhelmed when they were younger, but now they expect presents at their birthday party.  And they received tons of fantastic presents this year.  My kitchen floor is covered with the packaging from these gifts.  The gifts they were most excited to receive however, were  the remote-controlled bugs from Oma.  They look a bit like cockroaches to me, but they were the first gifts out of their packaging.  After a brief plug-in, the boys played with them for 37 seconds and then they were ready to move on to bigger and better toys.  They received four video games today and such extravagances must be addressed.  So the blue electronic cockroaches were left on the floor, their controllers on my desk in the living room, completely abandoned by the boys.  What’s a mother to do?  There’s only one thing to do!  Play with the cat! 

 Hunter the cat is the most awesome cat ever!  He thought he was a dog until he was a year old and we got our black cat, Penelope.  He still plays like he’s a dog though.  The electronic bug was perfect for him.  I set them both down on the floor and started figuring out the controller.  That’s a difficult thing for a woman of my advanced age!  So there I was, playing with my boys new toy and Hunter sauntered into the room.  His ears perked up as he heard a strange clicking on the wood floor.  His eyes darted back and forth, watching the movement.  He stepped forward cautiously, unsure of what these strange creatures were.  Surely they were something tasty to eat.  And then, they stopped moving.  Hunter moved bravely closer, trying to figure out if this new creature was edible.  He’s on the genius end of the spectrum when it comes to cats and he figured out pretty quickly that these things were not food.   

So I spent  half an hour playing with my boys new toys, which they had grown tired of in a mere 37 seconds.  The bugs go back and forth and in circles in either direction.  As long as the bugs stay close enough, one controller will work both bugs.  The best part is leaving the bugs still for a few minutes and then, when Hunter isn’t paying attention, making the bugs crawl towards him and watching Hunter jump with the sudden  movement.

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