Hey, little girls can make weapons too… especially if they grow up with four brothers. Oh, the things you can do with rubberbands and clothespins…
Anyway, I don’t have any kids of my own (everyone should be grateful for this) but my childhood was about as normally peculiar as that. I remember my brothers and I holding a formal funeral for a caterpillar, complete with flowers and mourners. It was only fair as we had cooked said caterpillar on the slide in the summer sun. My next younger brother and I used to hold pagan rituals in the basement, sacrifice and all (don’t worry-just my other brother’s legos were sent to the great beyond). We also once built a jail out of giant tinkertoys. So naturally we had to have a trial (of the same younger brother-animal cruelty charges I believe) and imprisonment. He had to be acquitted however, because he started to cry.
I may not be normal but I’m sometimes interesting. Your kids sound like great ones.
Good point. There’s a decent chance we’ll be in Gotham sometime in the next few months for a wedding. Which part of the City is Crime Alley in, anyway? Did I mention that The Boy’s ambition when he grows up is to “be a tycoon?” That fits nicely with the whole Batman theme.
Alas, not nearly as exciting as it could have been. Radioactive Underpants Man (yes, that was his name) had some pretty standard powers. He had the power of flight, superstrength, and he was able to stretch his limbs incredible distances. I believe he also had either a voice capable of bursting eardrums or sonic farts. One or the other.
The best part, though, is that Bill Gates was his archenemy.
I miss the little boy my brother was. Now he’s just a 17-year-old who doesn’t especially like school but really likes video games. He’s got a really great sense of humor when he actually talks. Widdle Brudda, I miss you!
Just a little while ago… it’s past their bedtime, but I hear noise coming from their room. I go in and they’re both on the top bunk, with The Boy reading to The Girl by very dim light (a small lamp with some cloth draped over it). He’s reading her Matilda. They are both giggling.
Did I mention that their favorite Doper is Iampunha?
(If that’s not odd…)
I loved Encyclopedia Brown as a child! I devoured Nancy Drews as well! I get tears in my eyes when I hear that other children read as much as I did!
Some other books they might be interested in are:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (kind of scary)
And I know you said no scary stories but some books to keep in mind if they decide they like them:
*Scary Stories to tell in the Dark * (I, II and III) by Alvin Schwartz
Anything by John Bellairs
Anything by Betty Wren Wright
I read the Scary Stories books until the covers fell off - and they have a fantastic bibliography - I was able to write a research paper on Urban legends in HS using those books. hehe I loved scary stuff as a kid - I went through phases at around 9 and 10 years old and read everything from stuff on Big Foot and Nessie to exorcisms and alien abductions to ghostly encounters. I read everything in our little library child and adult non fiction and fiction about ghosts. hehe
You should make them microphones out of a toilet paper roll, tennis ball taped to the top and foil to cover it all. My brother and I rocked out to those. My brother was very into taping songs off the radio and then adding DJ talk in between each son - he was like 6 at the time - too cute.
Okay, long babble short - you’re kids are totally normal, wildly imaginative and have really awesome parents to encourage it!
We have these two at home. I was asking last night if they’d read The Westing Game* and they said it wasn’t that interesting. I’m not familiar with it, so I read through the beginning. I think some of the subtelty is lost on them, so I’m going to make a point to do this one as a story time book so they know what they’re getting into. I’ll let them finish it on their own.
*A Doper recommended this one in another thread where I was asking for book recommendations for my daughter. Not sure who it was without researching.
I think your kids sound FABULOUS! They would probably like Neil Gaiman’s kids books:
“The Wolves in the Walls”
“The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish”
“Coraline” (this is actually a novelette, and is a bit spooky when looked at a certain way. But the main character is a [I think] 9-year-old girl who must save her parents from the clutches of the Other Mother, and who triumphs in the end, so maybe your daughter would like it after all.)
He also has the “Neil Gaiman Audio Collection,” which is Neil reading four of his kids stories. He is an EXCELLENT reader with a fabulous voice. I think he also reads on the “Coraline” CD.
All of these should be available at your local bookstore or through Amazon.
So I got home from work this evening. The kids were playing with some Playmobil toys that they got some years ago, which includes a little zoo setting with animals. As I come in they both get very excited and say they have song to sing. “We’re going to see lions, only in Kenya…”, they start singing. I notice that there is a zebra and a giraffe on the floor, surrounded by lions and tigers. (You need to watch the link to understand the full effect). This is from a Weebls clip they saw at Bluesman and Lucretia’s place about 2 months ago. They remember most of the words to the song correctly, including The Boy at one point singing, “Forget Norway!” They danced and sang this for several minutes.
I’m gonna have to vote “no” on that one. My 15-year-old daughter finds this book way too spooky, and she routinely reads stories about vampires, ghosts, true crime, seances, etc. (you know, typical gothypunk teenage girl stuff :rolleyes: ) I have not read it myself, but she told me something about buttons and sewing thread in this book that freaked ME out, too!
I’d save Coraline for when she/they reach their creepy stage.
I was unaware anyone else had ever read The Headless Cupid; it was a favorite of mine for a while.
And your kids sound wonderful and a tremendous amount of fun. My sisters and I used to put on plays and musical shows. We went through a period when we were unnaturally attached to the Little Shop of Horrors sound track. I devoured Nancy Drew books [and enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown]. I think your kids have it about right, and you two sound like awesome parents, too.
When you’re done with my son, can you send him home?
Seriously, your son sounds just like mine – although he’s an older brother to a 5-year old sister.
In answer to your OP, yep, they’re peculiar, and that’s a good thing. Mine are turning out fairly well in that regard as well, and I’m pretty happy about it. Becoming individuals is a wonderful thing, and the earlier that kids can discover their capability for being themselves the better.
A couple of additional suggestions…
Homestarrunner.com has a variety of strange and wonderful stuff, all kid-appropriate (assuming that you’re okay with relatively frequent use of “crap” as a cussword). My son has long since memorized all of the lines from the Halloween cartoon/game there (best line: one of the characters, dressed as Carmen Sandiego, says “Where in the world is my candy?”).
The Mad Scientists Club books by Bertrand Brinley are back in print. I read those around the same time I read the Great Brain, and enjoyed them both immensely.
I agree with the general conscensus that your children sound intresting bright and imaginative. It’s also great to see a brother and sister get along so well together.
As for the evil glowing eyes on the beanie cats, just tell her to leave out a saucer of milk for the kitties at night and it will keep them from turning evil. Of course it may attract cockroaches but at least she won’t be eaten by kittens.
I recently saw Lilo and Stitch for the first time. I thought Lilo was a very interesting child and she won me over when she showed her friends her doll that she made and told them that the doll’s head was big because a fly had laid eggs in it’s brain.
So, do your kids eat vegetables?
