Jack a/k/a/ "An Endless Supply of Blog Content"

I think that Jack must know that his mommy is getting ready to blog about our family life, because yesterday he said or did several things that must be documented and shared. So, thank you Jack, for providing some great material to include in our first real blog entry!

We were getting ready for the good ol' work/school shuffle yesterday morning, and running more than a little late as usual. When I announced to Jack that I thought we were going to be late to school that morning, he actually said "Mommy, it's OK. Don't give up!" Of course, this blew me away - I am not even sure where he picked up the encouraging phrase. Wouldn't you know it, Abby woke up 5 minutes later with a clear case of pink eye. Translation: I could now stop worrying about getting myself ready for work, we got everyone else in the car, and lo and behold: Jack was on time to school!

After a more than eventful day at home with Abby and a doctor's visit to confirm my astute pink eye diagnosis, Jack and Daddy finally got home from their long day away from home at school and work. I had managed to squeeze in a fair amount of work while Abby napped during the day, and she and I managed a very peaceful and productive trip to the grocery store (note: why is canned corn now 66 cents per can?? Oh yeah, biofuels - but that is a topic for another blog entry!) Before dinner Jack entertained us with a puppet show, featuring Jack as the main puppet character in a production entitled "Jack in the Box". We have a king size four poster bed with a canopy, and it actually makes a wonderful "puppet theater" - something we never considered when we bought our bedroom suit. Anyway, the show basically goes like this: Jack in the Box jumps up - Jack in the Box jumps down - Jack in the Box turns all around - Jack in the Box falls on the ground, with Jack saying the lines and acting out the appropriate actions with great enthusiasm. Of course, the recollection of the puppet show is not complete without mentioning Abby's hysterical laughter after each line of the play! She loves to watch her brother being silly, and she laughed and clapped the whole way through several repetitions of the puppet show. It was really the happiest that she had been all day long. Again, thank goodness for big brother Jack.

Michael promised Jack that he would be the puppet after dinner if Jack ate well and behaved at the table (clearly, we believe a little bribery never hurt anyone, so long as public officials are not involved!). Of course, during dinner, our angelic Jack decided to talk back to Michael and stick out his tongue for good measure. Not a smooth move - Jack lost all privileges for the rest of the night, including Michael's promised puppet performance. Michael was now really disappointed that he would have to wait another night to be a puppet. Jack apologized to Michael, but that was not going to be enough to reverse the consequences of his actions. I did not want to contradict Michael's decision, but I wanted to see if I could help Jack find a way to earn the privilege back. All I did was suggest to Jack that maybe he could do something really nice for Daddy, and out of no where, Jack said "Mommy, I can go and pick up my toys - they are very messy. Daddy would like that." And, off he went to pick up all of his toys and straighten his play area in our family room. Michael and I were both shocked that Jack came up with this all on his own. I pitched in to help him pick up, and after he was finished, Jack apologized to Michael again and asked him to come and look at all the toys he had picked up. Needless to say, we found a win-win for everyone, and Daddy got to be a puppet after all.

For my next post, I am going to try to put up some video of Jack in the "Jack in the Box" puppet show, assuming I can get him to repeat his stellar performance. It is way too cute, especially with all of Abby's laughter included!

Thanks for patiently reading this long initial post. For those of you who know Michael, please do not mention this blog to him until after Father's Day. I am starting this family blog as part of our Father's Day gift to him, and I am sure that he will start contributing a few posts of his own once he knows that we have got this started. THANKS FOR HELPING TO KEEP THE SECRET!!!