Wendy

Someday I would love to meet Wendy. Apparently she is one amazing person. She is smarter than me. She even knows how to drive. She is the oldest kid. The list goes on and on. I decided to ask Rachel about Wendy so I could make sure and portray her accurately. Everything in italics is a direct quote from Rachel.

Her (Wendy) mom and dad died by the war, just like Aubrey's old grandpa that died by the war and now all she has is his ring. Wendy knows how to get bugs out of your eyes. I think this came up because just before this conversation we discussed how Aunt Kristin knows all about ears and can even get bugs out of your ear – Rachel asked if Kristin could get bugs out of your eyes if one crawled in there. I said I didn't think so – Kristin just does ears, noses and throats not eyes, plus I don't think bugs crawl into eyes all that often. Well I guess Wendy has one on Kristin because she can get them out of your eyes. Back to Wendy . She also has a dog and cat. She knows things that Anna knows . When her mom just barely had a baby she died so Wendy has to take care of her because she knows how to drive and stuff. She knows how to tie good and work ipods when they are off and they aren't turning on. She knows how to sing really good, she knows how to tape really good. She knows how to take care of a baby good. And she is a doctor too. Her mom was a Dr but now she is not because now she is dead by the war. She knows how to wash good. And her baby wouldn't cry. Wendy is with white hair and she has a pool in her house, like in her bathroom. She has 2 bathrooms, no 3 bathrooms, no lots of bathrooms, 4, because she has one downstairs. The downstairs one has the pool. She has a blue swimming suit, Anna's favorite color is her swimming suit. She has lots of boots. Also Wendy can even do the splits – I am not kidding, I am not lying, I am not crossies. She can – even she can do the gymnastics. She is really smart. She has a roof on her ground and she can walk on it without falling.

She has a blue ipod and she has her own laptop and her own computer. She looks like the same as the Wendy that we get a frosty at. She has a cute necklace. She has a snuggle butt. I asked what a snuggle but was. Rachel covered her mouth while snickering and said a snuggle butt is a cute butt.

Wendy is Rachel's imaginary friend. She has been for a LONG time. I keep waiting for Wendy to be forgotten, but she is not. She is as real as anything to Rachel. She is always talking about Wendy and telling me how much better Wendy is than I am. Apparently driving is really important because the fact that Wendy is not a mom, but an old kid who knows how to drive, is very important to Rachel. When asked the best thing about Wendy, Rachel will tell you “Wendy can even drive”. Also the fact that she has a dog and a cat strikes right up their with her driving talents. I then asked Rachel who she liked better. Here is what she said.

Who do you like better Mommy or Wendy:

Wendy (-no hesitation)

Who do you like better Daddy or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Taylor or Wendy:

Wendy (a little bit of a hesitation there-surprisingly enough)

Who do you like better Dallin or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Anna or Wendy

Wendy:

Who do you like better Ryan or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Grandma or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Grandpa or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Kevin or Wendy:

Wendy

Who do you like better Tess or Wendy:

Wendy – (pause) actually Tess and Tess's baby

Once again Tess triumphs as Rachel's favorite person, I thought for a minute Wendy would win out but Tess pulled it off. I wonder if it has something to do with the baby. She is not even here yet and she still beats me but whats even more amazing is that she beats Wendy, and that Wendy is one amazing girl.

Beauty Salon

Rachel's got a new game she likes to play. She lays down, completely naked, on the bathroom counter puts her head in the sink and washes her hair. The first time I walked in the bathroom and saw this I about lost it. There was water running down the side of the counter pooling all over the floor. There were towels everywhere - to catch the water Rachel later told me. There was a bottle of shampoo laying on it side with shampoo all over the counter and Rachel was naked as a jay bird happily scrubbing the top of her hair. I asked her what in the world was going on. She sat up and very matter a factly said, "I'm pretending I'm going to the dentist-no not the dentist, you know that one place that does hair and finger polish" then she laid back down and continued scrubbing.

Rachel loves the salon. She begs to get her hair cut every time we pass it. For her birthday Anna chose to go to the salon and get her hair and nails done. Rachel got to go too, and Liz and I got pedicures. (Which I so enjoy). Rachel walked right in hopped up on her seat and when asked what she wanted done with her hair she said I want Taylor Swift hair. The girl looked at me. I nodded and said, make her into Taylor Swift and went back and got my toes done. A little while later a beaming "Taylor Swift" came in and sat by me while they finished up my feet. She loved it. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled and smiled. She'd turn this way and that admiring her hair and nails. It is a pity that a girl who loves to feel pretty as much as Rachel does can't seem to look much better than an orphan most days. As beautiful as she is she has got to become better friends with a brush a wash cloth and matching clothes.

Taylor and a rant about scouts

Taylor has been working on his scouting. His goal is to get his 1st class by his birthday. One of the requirements is to invite a boy to join scouts. Well we had to bend the rules a bit because he actually does not know any boys who aren't already in scouts. All of the boys in our ward are active - at least in his age group. There are some older boys who could probably come more often but when I mentioned them he flatly refused saying he was scared of them. I agreed, I'm scared of them too. I asked around to find out what others had done in this situation. Just like many other requirements in our wards scouting program they kind of just skip them. I didn't feel good about just skipping it so I decided to have Taylor write a letter to a boy inviting them to scouts. This is what he came up with....

Hello,
come to scout's sunny,
cuz if you don't well that's to bad.
You get knowledge, experience, and refreshments,
that are very yummy.
So if you don't come thats just
fine.
You just won't be a straight line
But you will be missing a lot I say,
Bowling, fishing, swimming, sports, work, and play.
However if you do come you are likely to get your
wolf, bear, webelos and more
maybe you'll get your eagle that will be
a high score.
So come or don't come for all I care
I just wanted to give you some
fun to share.

From,
Taylor

While not exactly what I had in mind but I decided to let it pass. Creativity can earn you extra points. Scouting is a interesting thing to me. I didn't think much about it until Taylor turned 8. Even then I drove him to his den meetings and listened to him say his scout law and stuff. Then I got called as a den leader. I learned a lot about the scouting program, the boys, my sons and my self. I am a big fan. I think it is very important. I feel strongly (like anyone who has read much of my blog already knows) that it is very important to teach children that they can do hard things. Boys need confidence. They need that taste of success. They need to accomplish something and feel good about it. I recently read an article by Bob Lonsberry that I very much agree with. Read it here http://www.lonsberry.com/writings.cfm?story=2963&go=4 . Pretty much it says that you don't give your children self esteem it is a consequence to actions. A consequence to succeeding. A good parent teachers their children to work hard, set goals and be persistent. Success will naturally follow which builds self esteem. I think scouting is a great way of doing this. So are sports and chores but that is a discussion for another day. So I like scouts, I think it is important. The problem I have with my experience with scouts, at least in our ward, is that it is not necessarily taken seriously. A scout is trustworthy... at least he should be. So when leaders just pass off a boy because the requirement is inconvenient or too hard I don't think it teaches him to be trustworthy. I know being a scout leader is hard. It is a demanding job - both in time, patience and money. But if one agrees to do it - he should do it. When the requirement says go on 3 cam pouts with your troop. The boys should go on 3 camp outs with their troop. Not one with the ward, one with their parents and one with the troop. A 1 mile hike should not be passed off by walking down the sidewalk from the church for 1/2 mile and turn around and walk back. (Even if they boys are technically walking for 1 mile - I don't think that is what Powell had in mind)

Anyway I could go on and on, but I won't. The thing is I know that it is a lot, a whole lot, to ask of a man. Especially when he didn't volunteer to do it. Most men agree when called upon, but not because they want to, but because of a sense of obligation and lets face it a bit of guilt if they refuse. Giving up 3 weekends a summer for the 11 year old boys and 10 weekends a year for the older kids - plus 1 week for scout camp is a lot to ask. I hated it when Rick was a scout leader. It's not fair to the leaders family to have him gone so much, for his vacation time to be used up with scouts. But it is also not fair to those boys to be in a program that is ran half hearteldy. I honestly don't know what the answer is.