Witnessing the rise of The Purple Octopus

Twice daily we pass the horse farms on Norwood Road. Twice daily my older daughter (age 4) points out to my younger daughter (age 2): "Horsies!" The younger yells each time: "I see the horsies!"

Twice daily we pass the construction on the old Stained Glass Pub building at the corner of 108 and Georgia. Once, I said to the girls: "look at the construction!" With the next passing, I didn't say anything. When we crossed the intersection again the next morning the older one said to me, "Mama, say to us 'look at the construction, girls!'" And so I do, twice daily.

One morning the girls were being silly and instead of yelling "Horsies" on Norwood the older yelled "Sea turtles!" The younger responded, while pointing to the horses: "I see the sea turtles!" If horses could hear my girls they'd have an identity crisis. Their species classification is now reassigned, twice daily.

Now we watch the walls going up for the new Fair Hill Plaza. I told them that the expansion on the corner will be a new restaurant called The Green Turtle. Each day we inspect the progress and (as I've been instructed) twice daily I ask, "How's the construction coming, girls?"

And twice daily they respond, according to their agreed-upon script: "We see the Purple Octopus!"

The (Unsuccessful) Time Travelers' Mother

"No TV/Computer Monday July 19 through Tuesday July 27!" With this clever ban in effect at my house, I can kill two birds with one stone: sibling warfare and screen addiction (sometimes occurring at the same time). Here's how my parental ingenuity has been faring so far:

MONDAY 7/19: I decreed to my two daughters that they could not watch TV or play on the computer as a result of persistent sibling squabbling and endless whining for screen time. In order to learn how to talk through their disagreements, they would have discuss their concerns with each other without any yelling, pinching, slapping, shoving, etc. For every yelp of "Mom! She --" I would extend the ban for another day. By Monday night, the girls found an electronic-entertainment-free truce.

TUESDAY 7/20: Continued peace -- I should have thought of this ban earlier. Was this too good to be true? How long would this civil and electronics-free atmosphere last?

WEDNESDAY 7/21: At the computer in the basement, I heard the kids up in the family room amicably chatting, helping each other with homework and practicing piano. I noticed upstairs had grown quiet but figured that the girls were reading. After about an hour, my older daughter suddenly appeared at the door ... wearing what looked to be a change of clothes. "Can we watch TV?" she asks gingerly.

"Is it Wednesday, July 28? Look at the calendar," I answered barely looking up from the monitor.

"Why yes it is, Mom," my strangely smiling firstborn replied.

Happy for break, I stood up and climbed upstairs, all the while insisting that today was still Wednesday July 21.

My younger daughter greeted me in the family room -- in a change of clothes. The family room, which earlier that morning had been strewn with laundry, books, and detris from a latch-hook rug craft kit, was pristine. I marched over to the calendar on our refrigerator to point out the correct date when... I noticed the red marker had been moved one week ahead from July 21 to July 28. The "July 21" I wrote on the dry-erase board had been altered to "July 28." Olney's weather forecast for the day was rewritten. "Swim team" disappeared and "tennis camp" (next week's activity) appeared.

Apparently, the girls did learn a lesson from my ban -- how "discuss their concerns" well enough to negotiate a collaborative plot to circumvent the ban. Alas, this would-be time travelers' mother was not fooled.

Later when I couldn't find my wristwatch, the younger partner in crime piped up, "Oh -- I know where it is. We tried to change the date but it didn't work so we hid it." Right before they went up to bed, I found the latch-hook rug kit in the downstairs bathroom. "What is this doing here?" I called.

A voice from upstairs replied, "Oh, I hid it there when we cleaned up the family room."

FRIDAY 7/23: Today the ban still in force. This morning, the older daughter posed an interesting question: "What if someone asks me to see a movie?" I'll have to handle that if/when that occurs. Uh -- I heard BANG upstairs followed by "Mom! She--"; I may have to extend the ban yet another day.