Am I raising a family of Lawyers?

So I'm realizing that my littlest boys (Gabe - age 5, and Elijah - age 3) are both very different in a lot of ways. 

Gabe is sensitive.  He will be the first to tears if something hurts his feelings, or if the wresting gets a little too rough (and with a family full of boys there is plenty of that).  He is a people pleaser.  He will look for your reaction first before he answers, wanting everyone to be happy.  And he takes it personally when people are upset.  He plays with video games, and loves movies like Harry Potter that involve fantasy worlds, etc. He has never liked sports, or anything that he can get knocked down or hurt. 

Elijah, I think, was born a superhero.  A rough, tough, version of The Incredible Hulk.  He's built like a brick house (unlike gabe, who is built like a bean pole).  He watches superhero movies, has every action figure made, loves dinosaurs (because they're tough and they go "raur!," and wakes up every morning as a new character.  Example - the other morning I call out -

"Elijah!  Breakfast!" 

Elijah - "Me Batman!"

Me - "Batman, Breakfast!"

Elijah - "Yes!  Breakfast"

Later in the day, Elijah gets a timeout for attacking his brother relentlessly and not listening when told to stop.  He goes to his room for the appropriate time and then I yell:

"OK Elijah you may come out now"

Elijah - "OK"

Elijah comes upstairs and walks past us with a Teanage Mutant Ninja Turtle Sword stuck in the back of his shirt.

Me - "Elijah, come here please"

Elijah - "What"

Me - "who are you"

Elijah - "I'm a Ninja Turtle, see"

He slowly reaches behind his back and pulls the sword out, and poses for us.
Me - "ok, thank you. you may go."
Elijah - "OK"
He walks back into the living room

This brings me to my point.  One thing they both seem to have in common.  Their negotiation skills.  When in trouble, or in a bind, they seem to be able to pull out these skills (or at least perceived skills) of negotiation.  Gabriel can talk circles around any situation until even I am confused about what my point was.  Example (Gabe refused to share his toys but insisted Elijah share his bike)

Me - "Gabe, that's Elijah's bike."

Gabe - "He said I could ride it."

Me - "no, you wouldn't share your legos with him.  Just because you convinced him to let you ride it, doesn't mean it's fair."

Gabe - "Here Elijah, you can play with this Lego.  Isn't it cool?  Can I ride your bike?"
Elijah - "Yeah!"
Me - [sigh] - "Gabe" [giving the mom look]
Gabe - [smiling up at me]
Elijah - [smiling up at me]

Later that day ...

(trying to potty train Elijah)

Me - "Elijah, time to use the potty"
Elijah - "No, me a spider.  Spiders dont have butts.  So, they can't use the potty."



Should we just cut them off?

Sometimes being a busy mom means I don't have a free moment to sit down and write.  So much has happened in the last couple weeks since my last post, it is hard to think of where to start...

Gabriel, my 5 year old, had his first dance recital.  Huge success.  He got to dance to "I just cant wait to be King"  and he was just so excited that he got to be the king at the end (probably because he is the only boy in the class).  He is truly the performer in the family.  He is constantly singing and dancing, he loves to have an audience, and he has talent (wait, I'm the mom so I have to say that, but I think he really does).  We tried sports, it didn't work, he doesn't like anything where he can be knocked down or pushed around, he doesn't like the competitive athletic nature of them at all.  And, all he did was dance around and perform on the soccer field.  So, why not?  And he loves it.  Dance, theatre, piano lessons.  He's into them all so far!! It's so fun!

Davis, my stepson turned 18.  Holy Cow!  We got him a laptop and he got over $100 in ITunes giftcards (spent them all in a day).  I think he may be addicted to technology.  Although, so am I.  There are much worse things to be addicted to.  A friend of mine was over yesterday and was talking to me, Michael, and Davis in the kitchen and she says, "oh my god you guys, you are all on your phones!"  I looked up and we were all three surfing the web, texting, etc.  This could turn into a problem.  Or not.  IDK.  Also for his birthday my dad gave Michael and Davis tickets to a hockey game.  They went and had a blast!

Elijah (3 year old) and I were able to sneak in a little "us time" over the past week.  We acted silly and crazy, and I was able to hold his attention for about an hour!! With the help of a little thing I like to call ... Spiderman!! Elijah has been very interested in spiders and Spiderman lately.  In fact, he had his preschool screening test this week.  Very serious business.  The screener took him into a little room where she proceeded to test him on various topics to ensure that he was reaching certain developmental milestones, and was not in need of additional services.  SO ... of course Elijah being Elijah gets bored about 30 seconds into the screening and wants to impress this lady with his uncanny ability to be creative. Here comes the part of the test where she needs to know if HE knows his personal information:

Screener:  What is your name

Elijah:  Spiderman

Screener:  What is your name

Elijah:  Spiderman

Screener:  What is your REAL name

Elijah:  The REAL Spiderman

Screener:  no dear, I need to know your real name, what is it

Elijah:  (big smile, winning her heart) Elijah

Screener: OK, Elijah, What is your last name, Elijah What

Elijah: Elijah Spiderman

(The screener markes down a zero...)

Gotta love 3 year olds!!

Last but not least, our precious 6 month old Yorkie/Westie mix Oliver.  Yes he is adorable.  Yes he is little, and cute.  Here's the problem.  He has these newfound things called balls.  He's in love with them.  He stretches out on the floor, rubs them around on everything, and because of those darn things, HE PEES EVERYWHERE!  Seriously, we cannot set anything on the floor without it being "at risk."  They say it's because he must "mark" his territory.  Davis writes a paper the other day, it falls out of the printer and onto the floor as he is walking into the office to pick it up.  He picks it up to find ...

So, the dogs is getting his balls cut off next week.  It's about time!!