My Life with Tayshaun....recording and live

A Deal with the Bullies and BeyBlades

So on our drive home from work today, Tayshaun and I had an interesting conversation. It was so humorous, I had to record it and transpose it to blog:

Tayshaun: well Mom, the big bullies are off track again and back at daycare.

Me: oh yeah. have they been bullying you?

Tayshaun: no, but they bully everyone else - except that one black dude and a white guy.

Me: why aren't they bullying you?

Tayshaun: because i just let them butt me

Me: what do you mean they butt you?

Tayshaun: I let them get in front of me in line.

Me: do you just tell them that they can get in front of you?

Tayshaun: no, they just ask and i let them in. you gotta be nice to them or they'll bully you.

Me: well if they start bothering you, then you're going to have to let me know so i can go talk to the teachers.

Tayshaun: well Mom, i could just take care of it myself. i know how to make the bullying go away.

Me: you do? how?

Tayshaun: you're going to have to let me make a deal with them and i'm going to have to take my Blade Blades to daycare.

Me: you're going to just give them your Blade Blades in exchange for them to stop bullying the kids? No, that's not going to work - they'll just keep asking for more toys.

Tayshaun: No, Mom, i'm not going to give them my Blade Blades. i'm going to make a deal with them.

Me: what kind of deal?

Tayshaun: i gotta challenge them with the Blade Blade and tell them that when i win then they're going to have to stop bullying all the kids, forever.

Me: how do you know that they'll take the deal?

Tayshaun: oh, they'll take that deal 'cause they think i'm a loser. but guess what, i'm going to prove to them. they're just phony boys and they're not gonna beat me. i'll show them.

Me: hmmmm

Tayshaun: so what do you think, Mom? can i take my Blade Blades to daycare? it's up to you. this is really important. if you won't let me battle them, then i'm gonna have to take it to the teacher. but i'd rather take care of this myself.

Me: well if you're not going to give away your toys and you're just battling, then i guess it's ok- but take just one toy with you.

Tayshaun: Yes!

Me: so i guess you'll probably want to take your green one because it's stronger.

Tayshaun: that's not a Blade Blade, Mom -- that's a Battle Striker.

Me: babe, i don't know if you've thought about this --- but--- what happens if you don't win the battle?

Tayshaun: then i'm dead meat. But Mom, if i buy a Blade Blade online then i'll be sure to win. But if I don't buy one online, I might lose the battle.....and then i'll lose everything.

Me: how you gonna lose everything?

Tayshaun: they'll get to keep bullying everyone. And then the kids won't like me anymore. So what do you chose, Mom? My life being dead or getting me a Blade Blade online?

Me: how is your life gonna be dead?

Tayshaun: 'cause i might lose and then i'll have no friends. Well, what do you chose --- my life and no friends or Blade Blades online?

Me: even if i buy them online, you can't battle tomorrow. it will take a week or so to get them.

Tayshaun: nah uh, they give it to you instantly.

Me: you won't get it instantly?

Tayshaun: they'll just give it to me tomorrow.

Me: sorry, babe, it doesn't work that way. let's just think about purchasing some Blade Blades online, another time.

Tayshaun: i think i should just take my Battle Striker. they'll never expect my Striker to beat them. (Pause for a while) ---but then they'll probably think i'm cheating.

Me: Are you?

Tayshaun: Yea, the Strikers aren't really supposed to challenge the Blade Blades. That's why I really gotta buy some online. I'm gonna struggle tomorrow because the online Blade Blade always win. So what do you chose --- me getting some online or me getting beat to death....Mom. (Pause for a while) ---I can't hear you?

Me: i'll have to think about it, babe.

Tayshaun: well then....will you train for battle with me, tonight so i can be ready for tomorrow's battle?

Me: yea, Tayshaun - i'll train with you.

So i went home to look up Blade Blades online and realized that they're actually called BeyBlades - and he does already have some. I don't know the name of the toys I buy this kid - i just fork out the money.

And here's a smaller version of the whole battle arena.:

Here's the Battle Strikers that I thought he was going to try to battle with...looks pretty similar wouldn't you say?

Well, that's ending another day of my life with Tayshaun.

TAYSHAUN..yes, a little late birthday memories

It's already October and i still haven't posted birthday memories about Tayshaun.

With the girls, I have YEARS of memories to post about. Tayshaun's only turned 6 so we're still in the process of making memories. But I'm going to take it back a little to post some of my feelings about the beginnings of this BOY.

My pregnancy was sooooooo much different that the others. I knowI say that about all my pregnancies but this time WAS VERY different. There's something to be said about how differently your body reacts in pregnancy by the chromosome make up developing inside of you. My body's negative reaction to pregnancy was one of the many clues that Tayshaun's father and I didn't belong together. The girls, of course, had a different father than Tayshaun's. I never enjoyed being pregnancy but carrying Tayshaun was a hardship. I gained my usual 1,000 lbs but the differences were 1) high blood pressure 2) insomnia 3) sleeping on my right side 4) soooo uncomfortable 5) back pains. Obviously, I wasn't happy while I was pregnant.

When I viewed the ultrasound for the first time, the sex of my child was unveiled to me, on the solo tip. The ultrasound was a scheduled appointment and for the first time in his life, Tayshaun's father owned a vehicle but he still wasn't able to make the appointment on time. This was one, of many, incidents where he would not come through for me at a very memorable and important event.

Nevertheless, the technician divulged that i was carrying a son, although, it was very obvious that i had viewed the fetus' penis. From day one, Tayshaun was making sure to display that he had a penis. This boy is absolutely proud of that appendage and would walk around like Adam and Eve if he could. The boy is psycho. I had mixed emotions about the fact that I had just viewed a penis on my unborn child's ultrasound. When Tayshaun's father arrived and viewed our son, I was excited to witness his reaction, I had expected some emotion, thrill, excitement…anything that resemble the emotion that I felt when I viewed my son for the first time. But I didn't feel a bond when I watched and listened to Tayshaun's father's reaction. Unlike my daughter's father, who after assisting and watching the birth of our first born, wept with joy and happiness. I shared in his emotion and thrill of parenthood.

Tayshaun was premature and incubated immediately.When the girls were newborns, they stayed in my room until the required, minimum 12 hour stay was over. I didn't even get to hold Tayshaun for the first day. Then because he was hooked up to intravenous tubes, feeding tubes, heart monitors, etc, it was difficult to really cuddle that little newborn. Tayshaun grew slowly and was required to re-gain back to his birth weight before he could be released from the hospital. After the first few days, I decided to nurse him. He didn't respond very well. And he tired quickly. Since there's no way to measure the amount of milk that babies consume from nursing, I was always nervous that he wasn't getting enough. I couldn't relax through the process. I never seemed to be as full of milk as when I was nursing the girls.

I remember when Tayshaun was finally released, I brought him home, alone. I did the same with Shalyse. And both times were emotional. When you're pregnant and/or post-natal, the mother's emotions are up and downt. And I wasn't an exception to the rule by any means. It was nice to be home but Tayshaun was (IS) difficult. I felt like a brand new mother again. As with Shalyse, the first night was sleepless. There were the every 2-hr nursing sessions and with those sessions lasting about 45 minutes, there wasn't much time for sleep. Fortunately I didn't try to feed Tayshaun a bottle of water with the lid still fastened as I had Shalyse -- so I don't remember any frustrating crying (that night). After a couple of weeks, I surrendered nursing and started giving Tayshaun a bottle.

Tayshaun's first Pediatrician visit was the "snipper one". Neither my stomach nor my nerves would allow me the courage to accompany Tayshaun during the procedure. Thank god for my good friend, who was fascinated by the idea of witnessing a non-ritualistic circumcision. I gave her plenty of instruction to comfort Tayshaun but that was all I could do for him in that experience.

Tayshaun never seemed to sleep through the night but then neither did Shalyse. When Tayshaun turned about 3 months old, I noticed that he had a huge lump on the left side of the crown of his head so at his next Pediatrician visit, I asked about it. Since it had been over 15 years since I'd had a newborn, the rules had changed a bit. To avoid SIDs, we used to be instructed to ALWAYS lay your baby on his/her tummy. Now, the experts have changed their minds and we shouldn't lay babies on their tummies. Since Tayshaun was such a fretful sleeper, I laid him in the position he slept best and that was on his left side…..which apparently caused his soft skull to flatten and created a slight bulge at the crown. Obviously the Pediatrician suggested I alternate his sleep positions, which I did--very frequently afterwards, to try to even out his lumpy skull Tayshaun still has a bit off a bulge on the leftside of his skull. Sorry, Kid!

Tayshaun's hair was absolutely adorable. He had some short chunks here, and long chunks there, and bald spots here and there. His father didn't want him to have a hair cut until he was 5 years old. But I had just had a son not a daughter so I couldn't agree to his "spiritual" or "fashionable" -ness of having corn rows for the first five years of his life. His first haircut was bittersweet. Some of the curls were gone but the bald spots and long, chunks were less apparent after the cut. Something about that first hair cut just started the domino affect of losing his baby-ness.

Tayshaun began dancing early. All babies have a bounce when they hear music but Tayshaun really loves to dance. He was exposed daily to a variety of music with his sister nannying him. To this day, Tayshaun still has a versatile ear for music. And I think he was born to dance. I know that he's going to be a GREAT dancer whether he likes it or not. It comes so naturally. He can watch dance moves and pick them up pretty effortlessly. It is something that I think should be pursued. So it's on the checklist of "things to do".

Tayshaun has an awful habit of grinding his teeth while he's sleeping. He started at a young age and still has the habit. If the habit doesn't go away by itself when some of his primary and permanent teeth come in, the dentist is going to fit him for a mouth guard that he'll need to wear while sleeping.

Tayshaun hates to shop, He hated it when he was a baby - he was terrible at the mall. Nothing's changed. He still hates shopping. And someday I will be a shopper again.

This boy is growingup tobe a charmer, mischievous, athletic, musical, hyper character. I can't wait to see what's in his future. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Flag football

This was quite the experience. Imagine me....trying to figure out a scrimmage diagram.

X X X O O O X X X :-)

| XOXOXOXO HUGS AND KISSES TO YOU TOO!!

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WTH...i do NOT belong at the Wrestling Mania

What? This is why I should have had a girl!

Bad, Bad Blogger

ok, this is going to be a condensed version of all the school things I'm supposed to have been blogging about since September.

Getting picked on at daycare....Tayshaun was trying to talk me into switching to another daycare we'd visited in August. So I finally just asked him...what the heck? So he admitted that there were a few older boys in the morning that had been picking on him....lying to the teacher and saying that Tayshaun was picking on some other kid; trying to kick his chair out from under him, etc, etc. So I told him that he better not let the boys get away with the teasing and lying. He needed to tell them to stop kicking his chair. And that he needed to tell the boys to pick on someone their own size. I asked him not to act like he's afraid of the boys. I told him I'd have a talk with the teacher but he didn't want me to address it. It's been a month and he hasn't complained about them since so either those boys are back on-track at school or he handled it.

While volunteering in his class....Tayshaun says the Pledge of Allegiance, the loudest. He sings every word of the Star Spangled Banner. I had no idea he knew the Star Spangled Banner. At recess and while playing, all the kids yell out "Julie...Marianni", "Julie....Marianni", individually and throughout the entire recess...like when you hear kids shout out "Marco...Polo", "Marco....Polo" at the swimming pool. Funny thing is, Julie Marianni is an actual student in Tayshaun's kindergarten class. Even Julie shouts out "Julie....Marianni" during recess. I can truly say that ALL 5 and 6 year olds are creepy, cry-babyish, sassy, curious, independent, blah blah blah. My son's not the only creepy 6 year old. The girls are as horrible as the boys. There's still hope for my son. :-)

Parent Teacher Conference.....right on track; no complaints; great student. Congratulations, my little kindergartener.

My son SNORES! No more sleeping with mommie. I've thrown out sleepovers when they snore louder than my hair-dryer! I CAN'T SLEEP WITH TAYSHAUN, THE SNORER! He doesn't believe me that he snores (except that his preschool buddies used to tease him). I don't think he believed them either. I need to video tape him...so he can HEAR for himself.

Tayshaun's first fight....on the way home from school last week, Tayshaun told me about a fist fight he had with a first grader. I asked him if the fight was just wrestling each other or if it had been an actual fight. He said, "No we were fist fighting. I made a first-grader cry." I asked him if he got in trouble or if the principal or the kid's parent(s) got mad. He said no - that they'd fought after school. I told him that he better not get in trouble or he was going to be in BIG trouble. He said, "Nah, Ma, we were just playing...you know, wrestling." I figured he was just telling stories...like he always does. This weekend, however, I was talking with Elena and she was telling me a few things about Tayshaun's visit while I was in Miami/Bahamas. She asked me if he told me about his fist fight at school. I told her he told me that he'd been wrestling the first grader. She said, "Oh No, he got in a fist fight with the kid. Keenan watched the whole thing." She said that Keenan said he'd never seen little kids fight like that - there was BAM, BAM, BAM fists a flying....by Tayshaun. I guess the first grader wasn't much of a match. Oh, Oh...I guess I'm going to have to start calling my son, MOSLEY.

My son's first accident at school....today, I picked up Tayshaun from school after a kid from his daycare pushed him from the back and Tayshaun's eyebrow met the sidewalk. He had a nickel size hemotoma on his eyebrow. After consulting with a nurse, we decided to just have him take it easy and watch him. I get to wake up every 4 hours tonight, to wake him and make sure he's talking and recognizing things around him. Probably won't be a problem waking every 4 hours ......'cause with this snoring.....HOW'S A PERSON SUPPOSED TO SLEEP. URRGGGG!