Category Archives: Griffin

Griffin

Criminal Mastermind

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Griffin, Maggie, and I stopped at Uncle Sven’s Comic Shoppe yesterday to buy some new comics for Griffin and the second volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Saga for me. (It’s so, so good.)

The Loot
The Loot

When we arrived, Griffin changed course and homed in on the candy rack, grabbing a yellow bag of Skittles. He maintained that he had no interest in comics anymore and just wanted candy. He used his best little baby voice (so annoying!) and squeaked, “Please… candy… skittles…”

I was firm, “No, Griffin, that’s not why we are here; we’re heading home to have dinner in a minute; sugar is evil; you’re an addict; etc.” Commence whining, so I ignored him. (I pretty sure this is all in that parenting book.) I noticed, however, that Comic Shop Dude (CSD) kept a suspicious eye on Griff.

Griffin held onto the Skittles, but began showing more interest in comics. (Ignoring totally works.) After some serious conversations with CSD about various titles, Griff settled on the latest issue of the regular Scooby Doo and a Scooby Doo Team-Up. I don’t know much about comics, but I think the “Team-Up” line is DC’s way of transitioning kids to real superheroes like Batman. Inevitably, Saga was out of stock, because everybody else knows how good it is. (Why didn’t he write it just for me??? I found it at Barnes and Noble later; don’t tell CSD.)

Time to check out. I’ve got the comics and am pulling out my wallet. CSD, still eyeing Griffin, shakes his head grimly, tsks like my grandmother, and asks Griffin to please remove the Skittles from under his coat. Yes, my four-year-old just got caught trying to shoplift some Skittles. Awesome.

Actually, CSD was pretty great, giving Griffin a very stern but developmentally appropriate talk about how important it is not to steal stuff. Griffin was clearly embarrassed and meekly put the Skittles back in the rack. For good measure I added something about heavily armed police and a lifetime behind bars. (That  parenting book said something about ninja parents wielding fear and exaggeration.)

Lesson learned? Or Lex Luthor reborn? Stay tuned.

Our legal booty.
Our legal booty.

PS: I would have finished Saga, Volume 2, last night except I forced myself to put it away so I could have more tonight.

Griffin, Maggie, Photo

Ice Castle

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The Inspiration

Rainbow Igloo picture posted by Aunt Alli last year.
Rainbow igloo picture posted by Aunt Alli last year. Turns out that this was beyond our carton count and engineering ability this year. (Click for the original website about the rainbow igloo project.)

Preparations for a more modest structure

Over 100 milk cartons collected.
Over 100 milk cartons collected.
Lesson: Don't leave ice bricks in the sun on a black table no matter how cold it is.
Lesson: Don’t leave ice bricks in the sun on a black table no matter how cold it is.

Construction

Construction begins.
The walls begin to rise.
Drizzling water to help cement everything into place.
The bricks are mortared with a slurry of snow and water. Drizzling additional water helps cement everything into place.
Careful mounting of spiked merlons on the parapet.
Careful mounting of spiked merlons on the parapet.
Finishing touches.
Finishing touches. (Mostly testing the integrity of the wall and adding mortar where necessary to tighten things up.)

Ice Castle!

Tall battlements.
Tall battlements.
Ice castle!
Ice castle!

 

Griffin, Maggie

Two Plates

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In the interest of science, I present the following two exhibits.

Exhibit One

February 15, 2014 photo of Maggie’s place setting after her breakfast. Rather than looking at the cute heart plate, observe the clean black tablecloth around the edge. Maggie is 21 months old.

Maggie's plate. Maggie is nearly two years old (one year, ten months).
Maggie’s plate. Maggie is nearly two years old (one year, nine months).

Exhibit Two

February 15, 2014 photo of Griffin’s place setting after his breakfast. Note the tablecloth. Griffin is 4 years, 10 months old.

Griffin's plate. Griffin is nearly five years old (4 years, 10 months).
Griffin’s plate. Griffin is nearly five years old (4 years, 10 months).

Additional Data

  • The photo of Griffin’s spot was taken after he had already attempted to clean up his area.
  • Breakfast menu was identical (strawberry shortcake with crumbly biscuits) except that Maggie declined the strawberries and requested a poached egg. (To my eye, the strawberries and egg had similar properties — slipperiness, difficulty of fork stabbing, etc. — so these data are still valid.)
  • Both ate with forks and occasional fingers.
  • Both had similar napkins.
  • Neither had substantial adult intervention.
  • This situation is not an anomaly. Maggie’s area is typically significantly cleaner than Griffin’s, although she has notably inferior control of her fork and other eating tools.

Hypotheses

Competing explanations:

  1. Developmental stages. When Maggie is four, she will be just as messy. Was Griffin more fastidious when he was one? Memories are fuzzy and unreliable, but I don’t think so. We can test this in a few years with another set of pictures. (Strawberry shortcake for breakfast, February 15, 2017!) Update: See Two Plates, Revisited for the 2017 results.
  2. Core personalities. Griffin’s gene mix is less inclined toward maintaining a clean environment. (There is some evidence to support this from other arenas.)
  3. Parenting. Our methods of teaching Griffin and Maggie were somehow different, leading to these divergent results.
  4. Gender. I’m often skeptical of this, but perhaps there is a gender component.
  5. As a nod to my years in California, I shouldn’t omit the possibility of planetary influences… Aries vs. Taurus, anyone?
  6. Or, the Chinese lunar calendar was big in my family, so maybe it’s an Ox vs. Dragon thing!

 

Griffin

Ooh Ice!

Griffin and I spent some time bonding today. Walked to the barbershop, the comic store, and then stopped by a local pub for lunch and some pinball.

At the pub we visited the men’s room. The urinal was full of ice. (Why? I don’t know. Maybe they dump their ice there since it will never melt if they dump it outside.) Before I have even registered the scene, Griffin says, “Ooh, ice!!!” and plunges his hands in. Yes, into the covered-with-pee ice in the bathroom at the bar.

At which point I screamed incoherently.

Griffin

Interesting Fruit

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Griffin came downstairs early this morning while I was working. I asked him if he needed a banana or something to tide him over until breakfast. He said, “Yes, I’ll go look in the fruit basket.”

A few minutes later, after hearing furniture moving around and cabinet doors banging, Griffin returns, holding up a box of cookies and a bag of jelly beans.

And lest anyone think he was passing up last month’s shriveled plums, we maintain a well-stocked shrine to the fruit gods.

stale jelly beans trump this
stale jelly beans trump this
Griffin, Photo, Recipes

Pigs in Blankets

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Pigs in Blankets
Pigs in Blankets

This is hardly an ambitious recipe, but while on solo-parenting duty this weekend, I remembered how much I loved Pigs in Blankets as a kid. Griffin was excited about the idea, so we decided to do it from scratch. We bought old fashioned wieners from the butcher down the street and eschewed Bisquick. They were delicious, so I thought I would jot down the recipe we used here, for future reference.

Ingredients

1 cup  flour
½ tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
¼ cup grated cheese (we used sharp cheddar)
½ cup buttermilk
6 hot dogs

Then the usual dough making operation: mix dry ingredients, cut or massage in the cold butter until crumbly, mix in cheese and buttermilk (don’t over-mix). We rolled the dough out lightly on a floured board (again, trying not to overwork the dough) and cut into six similarly sized sheets. Wrap dogs, bake on greased sheet at 400° for ≈12 minutes.

Griffin was quite pleased
Griffin was quite pleased
Griffin

Griffin Says Roundup Summer 2013

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Conversation at lunch today
Griffin: “Daddy, you’re the king, and I’m the prince, and Maggie’s the…whore.”
<Mama and Daddy look at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry>
Mama: “What is Maggie again?”
Griffin: “She drills holes. The Hole-er.”
Mama and Daddy: “Ooooohhhhhh….”

—

We have been promising Griffin ice cream from an ice cream truck for days, but one hasn’t crossed our path yet. Tonight, after returning from 3 hours at an outdoor pool, Griffin asked for ice cream from an ice cream truck again on the way home. Of course, we didn’t see one and once we pulled into the garage, crying ensued. After he had gained his composure, he started at it again and sobbed,
“We never should have gone to the pool!”
“Why not, honey?”
“Because it reminded me of the ice cream truck!!!”
“How did it remind you of the ice cream truck?”
“BECAUSE IT WAS FUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!” <SOBBBBBBBB>

—

Me: “I’m going to sell you to the zoo today!”
G: “Why?”
Me: “Because you’re acting like a monkey!”
G: “Are you kidding?”
Me: “Yes, I’m kidding.”
G: “But you still kinda want to do it, huh?”

—

Overheard in the garden(in addition to giggling under the cover of the bean pole teepee):
“Wow! These beans are wonderful!”
“Hmm, I wonder what Maggie is investigating over there?”
“Hey MOM! We’re investigating a bee pollinating a flower!”
“Wow! Look at the size of that green pepper! It is almost big enough!”

—

Griffin: “I really had to pee so badly that it got on the potty seat, but I used one of the wet wipes that makes it sparkly clean!!”

—

Me: “Griffin, I thought you just went potty.”
Griffin: “I did!”
Me: “Well, your body is wiggling around like you have a poop.”
Griffin: “The wind is just singing me a song and I’m dancing!”