shoe tying buffers

The start of this morning was about getting Eleanor and Vanessa out of the house, reasonably on time, for her "transportation" field trip. The kindergarten class is taking the Skytrain & Seabus to the Lonsdale Quay today, and Vanessa gets to help chaperone. I helped Eleanor pick out some clothes, which involved the vetoing of first shorts, then a skirt. We decided to settle on capri's, and while she was brushing her teeth I was off to make her lunch. Halfway through, I realized that Vanessa would need lunch too, since the teachers would probably frown on her taking off for some McDonald's halfway through the field trip. The girls are finally ready to go, and Eleanor calls me over to watch see something.

She puts her shoes on, and proceeds to tie them up, in a double knot. This in itself isn't such a miracle, that a child can tie her own shoes. The surprising part is, it wasn't Vanessa or I that showed her how. It was another child her in class that taught her.
THANK YOU BROOKLYN!
Teaching shoe tying is not a task I was looking forward too, and she has it nailed down now.

After they leave, it gets quiet in the house. Thomas and I sit down to have some cereal, and it is here that I come to the conclusion that now would be a good time to break the disheartening news about the Canucks to Thomas.

Me: Hey Thomas, the Canucks lost their hockey game last night
T: Oh no. It's hard to win the game when you can't get any points.
(he's almost 5, and he has that concept down pat. Maybe he should talk to the Canucks powerplay team?)
Me: You got that right. This means that they are out of the playoffs now, no more hockey until September, when you start kindergarten.
T: BUST...MY...BUFFERS

If you have never watched any Thomas the Tank Engine, then you probably wouldn't know that this is where the saying comes from. The show is full of little sayings, my other favorite is "bossy boiler" referring to an engine that is being bossy. Rest assured, that this was quite comical in his delivery, emphatically saying every word. I don't know that he will actually mind hockey being over though, as now I won't have to rush home from work and stare at the t.v., I will be able to play with them before they go to bed.

Enjoy your summer Vancouver Canucks, I look forward to next year.