Cigettes, Lice & Speeding

I've saved up some little son#1 tidbits to share. I'm also starting to think this Brainpopjr.com is waaaaay too smart for it's own good. First it's Presidents & the Civil War, now we're on to divorce, cigarrettes & lice!? Sigh!

Cigettes are cigarrettes. My son came excitedly off the bus awhile back telling me he had seen some stranger down the street, through the bus window with a cigette in his mouth. Not knowing WHAT he was talking about I was not as excited as he was or wanted me to be. I asked what a cigette was & he said, "Annie & Mobie say a cigette is a white stick with fire on the end. It's very bad for you."
me: "Okay, I see what you're saying now. Come on inside, we'll talk about it later."

son#1 "Okay, but I tried to yell through the window on the bus to tell the stranger with the cigette that it's bad for him, but he couldn't hear me. Shouldn't we go find him?"

me: "Uh no. No, not right now. Just get inside."

Later, he tells us at bedtime about how cigettes makes your lungs go from pink and healthy to black.

son#1 "Julie, did you know that if you smoke cigettes, your lungs will turn black like Darth Vaders?"

me: "Yes, I knew that. How do you know Darth Vader smoked cigettes though?"

son#1 "Well, remember he was on fire in Episode 3 on Mustifar and then his lungs were black & he had to have that box to talk?"

me: "Oh yeah, good point. Good night honey."

This morning, son#1 runs back to where I'm at in my room, telling me to come quick, there's two somethings outside. Now he mumbles and talks low, so it's always hard to hear him. Especially when he says something & sprints away in the middle of it. So I run out there thinking sons 2 & 3 have broken out & are roaming freely in the front yard. I had the storm door locked but the front door open. Nope, they're fine. But what son#1 is excitedly jumping up & down to show me, and pointing at repeatedly, is two "strangers" (our neighbors across the street) sitting on their front porch smoking cigarrettes. Nice. He's trying to open the front door while he's yelling,

"Hey strangers! Don't you know if you smoke those cigarrettes your lungs will turn black!? Strangers, over here, hey, don't smoke those cigarrettes, it's bad for you!"

I quickly shut the door & explained FIRST, we do NOT point at people. It's not polite. Then I gave the shortened version of some people make bad choices and one of those might be to smoke cigarrettes. We can't stop them or tell them it's bad for them, they are grownups, they know it's bad. And children are to NEVER smoke a cigarrette. It would make them sick.

son#1" Yeah, it sure is a bad choice to turn your lungs black."

So as a rule, if you didn't know, cigettes (which I think sounds much better than cigarrettes) are bad for you. And I don't think I'll be able to borrow a cup of sugar across the street for awhile.

Last month we're tucking in the boys to bed and son#1 always has something to say before we leave the room. Imagine that. I don't know WHERE he must get that talking thing he does. Anyway, so he is scratching his legs & all over his, head & his body. Part of this I assume is his dry Ezcema skin he's had since he was a baby and the other, well, he's almost 10 years old and hair is starting to appear on his legs. (that's a whole other blog) So his scratching is just making me think it's a sensory issue with the feeling of the air hitting his leg hairs or dry skin.
We start to leave the room and he says:

son#1: "You know, lice are parasites that live off of other plants or animals in order to survive. They may make your head tickle or itch. People should avoid scratching as much as possible. Scratching can lead to infections and worsen the problem."

me: "Why do you know this? (like I shouldn't have figured this one out already) And why are you telling me about lice?"

son#1: "I learned it from Annie & Mobie on Brainpopjr.com. And I think I have lice on me making my legs itch."

me: "NO-you don't. I promise. There are NO lice on you. Now stop scratching & go to bed."

son#1: "Lice live close to the scalp, where they feed on your bloods."

me: "You DO NOT have lice. Now stop scratching & go to sleep."

son#1: "Okay, good-night Julie"

me: "Good night baby."
(pause)
me: "Son, you didn't wear anyone's hat today or use their comb at school did you?"

So I think you can see just HOW educational brainpopjr IS to our children. All those discussions you may not know how to handle or what to say, let Annie & her robot Mobie tell them about divorce & using their friends hairbrush. Sigh!

Yesterday, son#1 was in the car while I was driving. He asked me if we can take the car to the 120 on the spedometer. I laughed and said no. This reminded me of going to my grandmothers house when I was little & an overpass we would travel on. I always wanted my dad to go "3-0" to see how many cars or trucks we'd "run over".
So anyway, son #1 says, why can't you go to 120? This is a good question. If your car is only by law allowed to go to 75mph or 80mph, WHY do they make it's capability for 120mph? This brought on a discussion about speed limits & the signs posted to tell you how fast you may go in certian areas. He watched me like a hawk all the way home. Then I heard a gasp at one point, I ask what is it. And he tells me:

son#1: "You went over the 40 that's the speed limit. Will the policeman take you to jail?"

me: "No, there's not a policeman here. He might stop me if I'm going more than two over the limit. Then he gives you a ticket and you have to pay a lot of money."

son#1: "And you have to say your sorry to him huh?"

me: "Yes that's right." (under my breath--"Among other things.")

Thanks Brainpopjr for turning my son into a cigarrette speed nazi! Sigh!