Nick Nack and the F-Bomb

Yep. The title says it all. My precious little lovable, huggable, sweet baby boy dropped his first F-bomb today. I knew it was coming. Charles had his turn - like just after his first birthday party and he dropped a whole plate of olives on the floor - he let loose an appropriately timed - "Oh f#&!". But even though we tried hard not to laugh and we never really did stop using profanity around him, he very quickly learned it was not ok to talk like Mommy. Nick however - he's a very passionate little fellow shall we say. Complete mind of his own. So yesterday, when I tried to talk him into eating his pineapple, begging a few times for him to please come back to the table to get another bite - he stormed away in a little curly headed rage, stomping his feet high in the air like a Paris Hilton catwalk and said clear as a bell, "No Mom. I no wanit dat pineapple. Fut You."

Yes - it was funny. I was stunned really for a moment. I just sat there - amazed at what I'd heard. 'Not my Nick' I thought. I may have even ignored the whole episode and plunged into denial if Charles hadn't heard the whole thing. Good old Charles. Never misses a thing. When Ron came home he couldn't wait to create various scenarios that were likely to piss Nick off enough to generate the same response - just so Daddy could hear it too. And hear it he did. After one or two rounds of - "Come on Nick, it's time for bed" the F-bombs flew again. And now with several of us laughing and holding our hands over our mouths, now it became an event. So within a few minutes, naked Nick (he's always naked pretty much) ran through the house from one end to the other screaming "No Dad. I no go do seep. Fut you, fut you, fut you."

So now, needless to say (despite the fact that Ann and Tony are now laughing themselves into a stupor) Mommy and Daddy finally have to curb their potty mouths. And fortunately for us (or unfortunately - depending on how you look at it) Charles will do a great job as watchdog. "Mom - you said you weren't going to curse anymore." "Mom, do you want Nick to say the F-bomb again?" "Mom, should I call the Supernanny on you?"

Should make for an interesting flippin' summer. Good thing he can't read yet!

Making the Video

We want our kids to be creative. We want them to have great memories of our family coming together to do interesting, fun things. We want to believe we are those unique, exciting parents that all the other kids want to have. So today, with rain and thunderstorms forecast for Wilmington all day - we decided to make a movie with the kids.

Yes - a real movie. As in get out the old costumes and charge up the video camera. And yes, we know it sounds like a lot of work and no, we didn't think we'd actually accomplish what we set out to do. We're famous for coming up with grand ideas and then not following through. And trust me, our kids are enough to talk even the most determined person out of a good idea. But - this was a test. To see if we could work together as a team, cooperate, share ideas, and complete a plan without killing each other in the process. Charles was super excited and after all - it was raining.

We've been talking about making our own movie for a long time. As you may already know, we are big movie buffs. Especially the Spielberg action films - Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Close Encounters - the list goes on. We know every line and how kool would it be to star in our very own movie? Pretty kool right?

Well, let's just say they pay movie makers millions of dollars for a reason. Yes there were challenges. Yes there were budget constraints. Yes we had temperamental actors. But after six hours, three home made costumes and one silly script later, we made our first movie.

And I think we actually did accomplish what we set out to do. The boys had a blast digging up costumes, designing props and making up lines. Charles totally surprised us - adlibbing scenes we didn't even discuss. Dad did a fabulous job editing and adding music and sound effects and we spent an entire day hanging out with the kids with no video games, no cartoons and almost no yelling. Who said it coudn't be done? Score one for the parents.

So without further ado - Shaw Productions presents: Indiana Jones and the Wilmington Mummy. We hope you enjoy it. The kids had a blast. And who knows, in ten or twenty years this might be played on the Academy Awards as Charlie's first film - after he wins an award for Best Actor. :) Or maybe we'll just have a big bottle of wine and crack up laughing.

Oh and stay tuned. The next movie to be released - Pirates of Wilmington.