A Change of Pace

Are y'all tired of hockey? NorthernDaddy sure is getting that way - it's been hockey, hockey, hockey in this house for weeks. (And it isn't going to get any better after NorthernMommy takes Toddler to a UVM Men's Hockey game on Saturday...)

Despite the abundance of hockey-related activities in this house, there are a few times that NorthernToddler can be found engaging in gentler pursuits. NorthernDaddy has posted some videos of Toddler working his way through the music book. (Y'all might want to crank the volume on your speakers - this was a spur of the moment type thing - no chance to set audio levels.)

"Monkeys"

"Teapot"

All-American

Continuing the hockey theme:

NorthernToddler found a US flag in the house today. NorthernDaddy tried to teach him a little about the United States and its flag. Not sure how much 'took', but Toddler has proclaimed hockey to be the most American sport of all time.

When NorthernDaddy asked Toddler about baseball (Toddler's other 'most favorite'-est sport), he repeated his statement that hockey is the best sport.

--

Right now, Toddler is running around the house with a hockey stick, waving the flag, and yelling: "Go Bruins!"

(Dang it boy! Daddy has done told you - it's Caps! Caps! Caps!)



Discipline

Our dear NorthernToddler has his moments when it comes to obedience. Most days, he's good at following instruction - he does insane things, acts crazy, and drives his Momma nuts - but NorthernMommy and Daddy can usually get him to do what is needed.

Some days, Toddler gets to tearing around and being a little too 'Toddlerish'. NorthernMommy tells him "his brain has left his head". Those days are tough, because there is very little that one can do to reign in the monster. Time Out? Toddler won't stay there - you end up dragging him back to Time Out a dozen times. Spanking? Between the padding of his jeans and his general toughness (he jumps off the sofa onto his head for fun, remember?), you'd wear out your arm before spanking worked. NorthernMommy and Daddy have read through a ton of "practical parenting advice", and there are days that nothing works. It's so bad that they sometimes consider giving up and letting Toddler run wild for the day instead of having to deal with him because nothing works. Have you gotten that yet?  Nothing works! NorthernDaddy was at that point this afternoon. Common-sense reasoning wasn't working. Time out wasn't working. Nothing....was....working....

Until....

NorthernDaddy noticed something as he was hauling Toddler back to the Time Out chair for the seventh time. Just looked over and there it was:

The Hockey Puck.

(Lightbulb goes on in head.)

That's it! Take the hockey puck away from Toddler! That'll work brilliantly!

It did work - Toddler became an instant angel as soon as he lost the puck for a day.

Hallelujah!

(And when Daddy threatened to also take the hockey sticks, Toddler volunteered to start doing his chores! NorthernDaddy loves hockey season!) 

Normal is a Relative Term

NorthernMommy and Daddy think that they are fairly normal people. They were raised right, taught about societal norms, and are generally well-behaved and sane. Just plain normal.

NorthernToddler has started to change this household's definition of 'normal'. He's done some unusual things. Actually, he's done some absolutely insane things. Seeing NorthernToddler stroll through the kitchen naked with only his slippers and a pair of pink bunny ears wouldn't faze Mommy or Daddy a bit.  

NorthernDaddy has come to expect truly odd things to happen at any time. That's the new 'normal'. Therefore, NorthernToddler's most recent role didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Ladies and Gentleman, we present the: 

Pirate Goaler!

The only thing that gives NorthernDaddy pause is the thought of being keelhauled if he scores a goal on NorthernToddler-Pirate-Goalie.

NorthernToddler Heaven

NorthernMommy and Daddy try to downplay it, but the fact is indisputable: NorthernToddler is a hockey nut. He loves the sport. There are games of kitchen hockey that last hours. He plays hockey with Tommy when they're out on the playground at preschool. He jumps around uncontrollably when he's at a "real" game and is cheering the players on. He wants to play hockey when he gets bigger. Specifically, he wants to be a 'goaler'. (That's his word for 'goalie'.) Toddler thinks that his Bruins are way better than Daddy's Capitals. (He'll learn...)

When the Northerns went downtown on Saturday to see the ice sculptures that were part of the Winter Festival, they came across a huge hockey jersey being suspended across the street. How could they pass that by? Turns out that the it was a jersey tour to raise support for the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship that will be played in Burlington in April.

 Just behind the jersey was a small rink setup for kids to play hockey on. NorthernToddler seized this opportunity! No way he wasn't going to play!

 NorthernToddler Heaven!

Toddler was very, very sad when it came time to leave. 

Fire in the Hole!

NorthernMommy had cooking duty tonight. (She puts something called Winter Pumpkin Soup on the menu - she's cooking it. NorthernDaddy doesn't do creamy/thick soups.) NorthernDaddy got to play with Toddler while Mommy crafted her soup. Suddenly, Daddy and Toddler's game of chess was interrupted. Well, not really. Yes, they were interrupted, but they weren't playing chess. It was more like a "Launch the Hot Wheels motorcycle through the loop of fire, off the ramp, and into Mommy's Valentine's Day decorations" kind of game. Anyway, they were interrupted by a horrible sound and a scream from NorthernMommy.

Of course, the boys went running to investigate, and what they found was - to put it nicely - was a disaster. Mommy had put scaldingly hot chunky soup into the blender so that she could puree it. When she pushed the button to start the blender, the top blew off and soup went everywhere.

The soup bomb just missed blowing NorthernMommy's hand off, and she wasn't burned too badly. The kitchen didn't fare so well: it looked like a herd of angry buffalo had trampled through. Or, like a Jackson Pollock painting. There was soup on the wall, up under the cabinets, in the coffee pot, on the radio, in the knife block, etc.

Soup everywhere. Go ahead and click the picture to enlarge it and get a better look.

Don't ask why we have two coffee machines. Let's just leave it at 'WE NEED A LOT OF COFFEE!'

NorthernToddler was his normal 'helpful' self as Mommy and Daddy were cleaning up the mess. As NorthernDaddy cleaned and muttered about each new place that he found soup, Toddler stood in the middle of the kitchen and ticked off a list of places that Mommy hadn't hit with soup. "Look! You didn't get the window! You didn't get the candle way over there on the table! Or the front door.."  His list of clean places was quite short.

In NorthernMommy's defense, the soup that survived was very good. It tasted almost like liquid pumpkin pie. (If one dipped a piece of NorthernDaddy's fresh home-made bread into it, it tasted exactly like pumpkin pie.)

The Northerns have also learned the secret to pureeing hot soup: start the blender dry (empty) before adding the hot soup. There will be no explosion. Good to know....

Living Large

A few facts:

-Heating oil is expensive. $3.89 per gallon this week.

-NorthernDaddy is miserly, stingy, and cheap when it comes to oil.

Thus, the thermostat in the Northerns' house is set to a max of 65 degrees. It drops even lower at night and when they're at work. In NorthernDaddy's mind, being uncomfortably cold is better than spending a fortune on heating oil. For the past few years, the furnace has sucked down about five hundred gallons of oil during a heating season. Thanks to a mild winter, the Northerns are on track to burn only 325 gallons. Being cold (and a tightwad) pays off.

Enduring a cold house is tough, but it's the price that NorthernToddler and Mommy pay so that they can avoid hearing Daddy's rants about the cost of heating oil. The instant someone complains about being cold, Daddy launches off into a thirty-minute tirade about the high price of oil and how he shouldn't have to constantly fill the tank and this and that - complete with graphs and charts showing the upward trend of the price of oil versus the stagnant growth of the household budget. If he's really fired up, the phrase "go put on a sweater" might even be heard.

There is the occasional day during the heating season that is cause for celebration. It comes when NorthernDaddy finally breaks down and calls the fuel company for a delivery. When family members arrive home and see the little delivery ticket tucked into the door frame, they know: it's Heating Oil Day. This little-known holiday is celebrated by an act known as "Cranking the Heat". For twenty-four hours after a delivery of oil, NorthernDaddy will allow the thermostat to be raised all of the way up to a glorious 75 degrees. It's a way to celebrate and relax for a short time; knowing that the tank is full. Tomorrow, NorthernDaddy can go back to his mental calculations of house temperature vs rate of fuel consumption vs market price of #2 Residential Heating Oil. Today, the Northerns shall roast!

NorthernToddler is happy....