Teenagers

...they think they know everything.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the mom of teenagers already. I can't put my finger on anything specific, it's just a general feel of attitude and teeny-bop things like Hannah Montana, which they've strangely taken a liking to.

Logan lately has taken quite a liking to my mp3 player. He uses it every night to fall asleep, and most days is pestering me to just wear it around the house. I've got a fairly eclectic mix of music on there and he periodically goes listening for new songs he's not familiar with. He's so much like his dad and grandpa in this way - they're always interested in new music and will give just about anything a chance. Quite often I hear him wandering around the house without the mp3 player, singing songs I didn't know he knew. But when he has it in his possession, he totally cranks the volume up and rocks out. I took this picture of him last week before he went to bed, and I think he looks so much older than 5.


Declan, being the carbon copy of me that he is, has all the emotional control of a teenage girl most days. That kid can crumble into tears like nobody's business. The other day I bought them some Peeps since it's the season of the Peep and the kids piss down both legs for marshmallows (I can't stand them, p.s.). [Sidenote: That phrase "piss down both legs" also comes from my friend Char's house. Her dear sweet daughter said it at the ripe old age of four when she saw something at the toy store she just knew her little brother would be thrilled about. It is *the* phrase to use in such context. End sidenote.] So, the Peeps. Declan ate one, and then started in on the next, biting its head off. Before I knew it, his heartbreaking pouty face had formed (the one where he's squinting as he attempts to hold back the tears and his lips form this beak-like protrusion as he attempts to hold back the sobs) and he was crying big huge tears about it. I asked him what in the world was making him cry since I assumed a Peeps treat would have the opposite effect. He told me between his jagged, sobbing breaths that he wanted to have a pet chick of his own. From then until the time the boys finished eating them, Declan teetered between the complete thrill he gets from being allowed sweets and the depths of heartache over eating baby chicks. Who knew Peeps could be such an emotional roller coaster?