87 cents

Bohdin had a late nap yesterday so we didn't make it to the playground until 7:30. We were the last ones out of there when it was getting dark. Bohdin wasn't ready to go home yet and asked to go to the stores which are near the playground. He asked if we were out of beer or chicken and I said no. I only had 87 cents in my pocket and as we were walking home I told him it wasn't enough money to buy beer. I was racking my brain trying to think what one could buy for 87 cents. An apple, a can of beans, yogurt. When we were almost home we agreed that the next time we went to the commissary he could take the money and buy something. He asked if he could go to the grocery now and buy something. It was getting pretty late but I didn't want to pass the learning opportunity up so we turned around and headed back towards the playground and the grocery store. The first thing Bohdin went to was the large bags of candy. He didn't have enough money for any of them. Next we went to produce. He decided he wanted to buy some grapes. I weighed out the grapes and found we could only afford very few. I kept taking grapes out of the bag. Bohdin suggested I take them off the stem. We ended up with 2 handfuls of grapes. We already had grapes at home so I suggested we look around the store to see what else we could get. This isn't a cheap grocery store so there wasn't much. He liked the idea of yogurt but he wanted a 6 pack which was way more than he could afford. I took him to the candy section near the checkout lane and he saw a bag of Skittles he could afford. He put the candy on the end of the conveyor belt because he likes to watch it move. He handed the cashier his 87 cents although the total was 84 cents. It was his first purchase. He said "everything costs a lot of money." Bohdin doesn't have a good sense of money at all but I hope he learned a little something from our trip. He at least has enough Skittles for 3 days now.

Bohdin and I were watching the mens gymnastics on tv the other night. I asked him if he could do those things. He said he didn't have the clothes. This led to me asking him if he would like to take a dance class or gymnastics or something. He said he would like to draw better. We took out the finger paints the next day. He has been finger painting like crazy since then. The walls of his room are almost covered with his creations. He likes to mix all of the colors together in a pile and then spread them out with my small dough roller. Yesterday we had to get more since he's used all of his up. He also bought some regular liquid paints which he used this morning. There are more colors in there but they all turn to brown when mixed. Still it will be something different.

At the playground last night, Nyla was climbing everywhere as usual. Nyla doesn't need any help coming down one of the slides. Since it is a tunnel, it forces her to sit and she then slides down. Later she tried to go on one of the other slides and tried to walk down it. She fell after the first step onto her butt and then slid down. I was scared for her but she thought it was great fun. She's so fast and independent and fearless it's going to be a challenge to keep her safe.

Right before we left, Bohdin started playing with another 3 year old. He was huge. His dad said he was 50 pounds and was a foot taller than Bohdin. I don't think he was 12 inches taller but he was certainly taller. This kid was trouble. His demeanor just oozed naughtiness. I should have picked up the kids and ran away but I didn't. The dad came over to apologize when he covered Nyla with wood chips. We started talking about 3 year olds and he asked if Bohdin was potty trained. I said yes so the dad asked about night time. Bohdin has been out of diapers at night for 2 years now. I didn't say that though. He must have felt inadequate about his son at this point so he said his son started sleeping through the night at 2 months. He picked the wrong thing to impress me. I don't get the sleeping through the night bit. How did that become such a big deal? I'm 31 and I woke up twice last night. Maybe people are trying to say that their child no longer needs them at night? I wasn't ashamed to tell him that Bohdin didn't do that until he was two. That's not really true though. He still wakes up at night just like I do and I'm sure most other people. The difference is he doesn't need me as much as he used to. I don't mind that my babies need me a lot. Okay sometimes I do. But I know it won't last forever. The neediness is part of being a baby.