Mts. Edge Park, Spawn of Satan, Clippin me some Coupons

The other day was a beautiful, warm day so I decided to load up my boys and have a picnic at the park with them. Ethan absolutely loved eating his lunch at the park's picnic tables and Teigan really enjoyed the sun and warm weather. I thought I would have to force Ethan to eat before he went to play, but he understood that he had to eat all his food first, and then go play. After the yummy picnic, Ethan was off to explore the park. Because it was such a nice day there were a LOT of people there. We made our way over to the giant snake that Ethan loves to climb on--I was sitting on the bench watching Ethan play with some other kids. He really really loves to play with other little children and it is so cute to watch him interact with them. Soon, the other kids left, so he was left alone to play for a bit (which he doesn't mind either).

Enter spawn of Satan and our day suddenly changed. A boy probably 3 or 4 years older than E started to play in the snake with Ethan. It seemed that they were getting along nicely until I see the kid pick up a handful of dirt and throw it on Ethan's clothes!! I thought surely his mother will come over and say something to him, but after looking around nobody came forward, so I say to the kid, "Um, we don't throw dirt--it's not nice to throw dirt." Which is exactly what I would have said to Ethan had he been the one to throw dirt. The kid just looked at me and kept on playing. A few minutes later the kid picked up another handful of dirt and when Ethan turned around he poured the dirt in his hood! I was in utter disbelief that someone could raise their kid to be so rude. Again, I waited a few seconds to see if whoever was responsible for him would step in but of course no one did. So I had to go over to him again and say, "Do not throw dirt at my son again!" Ethan had a look on his face like Thanks Mom! But Lucifer just looked at me with his beady little eyes and didn't say anything. I sat back down on the bench and thought that I should just try to get Ethan to play on the swings or something to get him away from this kid, and as soon as I was getting up this kid threw a handful of dirt right in Ethan's face! In his face! Poor Ethan looked at me like "what the heck is this kid's problem???" I didn't even wait this time to see if someone would claim him because let's be honest, if it were my kid, I wouldn't claim him either!! I went right over to them, started wiping off Ethan's face and told the kid, "If you can't play nicely than you need to leave." And then I hear it......

Lady with too much makeup on: "Don't talk to my son like that, I'm the only one to discipline him!"
Me: "Well, perhaps if you were around to discipline, then I wouldn't have to."
Lady with overdrawn eyebrows: (with lots of attitude) "I have been right here the whole time."
Me: "Then you should have said something to your son when he threw dirt at my son the first time. I wouldn't have allowed my son to throw dirt."
Lady with lip liner on 10 shades too dark: "My son would NEVER throw dirt."

Are you freaking kidding me?!?!

Right then Lucifer picked up another handful of dirt and threw it on Ethan's clothes. Right in front of Medusa. She looked at me, then looked at him, started yelling something in spanish and took off. Really, now. What. Is. Wrong. With. People?!?!?!?

The thing is, Ethan doesn't know how to be mean yet. Yes, he disobeys, and yes, he gets into things he shouldn't--but I have never ever seen Ethan be mean just to be mean. Even when the kid was mean to him, he didn't understand what was going on.

Skyler said Ethan should have thrown dirt back to stand up for himself--and I said uh, no....he should have punched the kid right square in the nose. That would have taught him. So, now, amongst all the other things I have to teach Ethan, I have to teach him a mean right hook! That's how us Savages do it!

In other news, I have to give a shout out to my friend Sesily for hosting an awesome coupon money saving class. I learned about this website that tells you exactly when to use your coupons from the Sunday paper to save the most money--it even tells you which ad to find the coupon in. It's fantastic. Now, I don't think I had really ever used a coupon before in my life--I just figured it was too much hassle or something. But I used my coupons yesterday and my grocery bill was $52.84 BEFORE coupons, and I payed a total of $15.18 AFTER coupons! I saved $37.66!! I told Skyler that I was going to tally up all the money I saved using coupons and at the end of each month go and buy me some awesome new jeans or shoes or jewelry or something....but then he reminded me that that would defeat the whole purpose of saving money....why oh why did I have to marry an accountant?!? :-)

We are right in the middle of busy season right now--and I say "we" because if Sky is working a million hours/week then that means I am too. Somedays I would just love to switch positions with Skyler because he at least gets to have adult interaction (even if it is boring audit talk). Sometimes the only adult interaction I get is, "Would you like paper or plastic?" And if I have to sing Popcorn Popping one more time.......Also, Sky sometimes gets to eat at fancy restaurants, and even on the days that he doesn't eat at a yummy restaurant he at least gets to indulge in the Employee Dining Hall (which he claims isn't very good, but secretly I think he loves). The EDR is like buffet style of some sort and I still tell Skyler that is a lot better than me having to think about what to cook for breakfast, lunch and dinner--then actually cook it--then clean it up. This week I think I have seen Skyler a total of like 40 minutes. 10 minutes each morning before he leaves for work. The last two nights he didn't even get home till almost 3 in the morning!!! And at least 3 days this week I don't think he even saw Ethan or Teigan! Ridiculous I tell you. I just have to keep my eye on the prize to get through the next couple of busy seasons....which had better be a fatty diamond someday to remind myself of all the lonely hours I've lived through.....after all, diamonds are a girls best friend. So Skyler, if you are reading this, so are True Religion jeans, MAC makeup, SHOES, trips to exotic places, and fancy restaurants. I love my man!

Here are some cute pictures of my darling little boys!!!