Bennett has been sick since Saturday around noon, when he excused himself from the lunch table and promptly put himself in bed for a 3 hour nap (all while I was away at my conference). This is unprecedented, so Matt knew something was wrong. We’ve had up and down times, but for the last two days especially, he’s had a fever of about 102 and even a little higher at night. He really doesn’t have any other symptoms, so Motrin keeps him comfortable most of the time.
He hadn’t napped again until today, when he busted out a monster 3.5+hour nap, which mainly happened because Jack Henry woke for the day at 5:30am and woke Bennett with his wails (did I mention that he’s had a fever and diarrhea, too? Yep. Glad I got my batteries recharged this weekend, because the reserves were very quickly depleted upon my return home.).
Anyway, due to his long nap, Bennett got to stay up late tonight and watch all of American Idol with me. We also needed to fill out his March Madness bracket (we like to start ‘em early ’round these parts) so we were doing that on commercial. While we were sitting on the couch together, he gave me tons of hugs and kisses, which I was totally eating up. He was so sweet today – and yes, it had something to do with his fever and Motrin, but I chose to ignore that – and I wanted to let him know how much I appreciated his good behavior, and wanted him to see the link between napping and good behavior. Here’s how our conversation went down as AI went to commercial:
Me: Bennett, I just want you to know how much I liked spending the day with you today. I mean, I always love you, every day, but I sure LIKE to be around you a lot more when you act so nicely, like you did today. And you know why I think you had such good behavior? Because you took a nap…it helps you be able to control yourself bett-
Bennett: Mom, you’re wasting our time.
I had to giggle, and I realized that what he probably heard was, “Bennett, I just want you to blah blah blah blah….” and he was thinking, “Mom, get on with the brackets already…American Idol will be back in a minute!”
Now, I truly love all of my kids, but I really enjoy spending time with Bennett when he’s behaving himself. He’s funny and insightful and just plain fun to be around, and I think I cherish these moments with him because they are honestly so few and far between. Tonight while watching the show, he had some funny observations I wanted to jot down before I forget them:
1. When Anoop was singing “You Were Always on my Mind” (which I thought he did an incredible job on), Bennett thought he was saying “You were always on my mom.” Which confused him a little bit.
2. About Megan Joy, the cute girl who has influenza this week: “She’s not a good singer, but she looks pretty.” Amen. Even an almost-four-year-old can see why she’s on the show.
3. “Why does that one girl (Paula) get up and dance weird?”
Really quick: my other favorites of the night were Danny Gokey and Matt Giraud, who totally rocked Carrie Underwood’s “So Small.” (Anyone else crack up at Paula’s inability to come up with the word “authenticity?”) Here’s Matt Giraud’s performance:
Filed under: audience participation, bennett, conversations, entertainment, out of the mouths of babes, parenting
i love that kid so much!!!! i i hope this is the last of the illnesses for all you guys!
um, TOTALLY love danny and adam, too!
“Mom, you’re wasting our time”–what a hoot! He could have been on the ANCIENT TV show “Kids Say the Darndest Things!”
I love Danny & Kris!! I am intrigued by & still really like Adam, in spite of the weird rendition of “Ring of Fire.” I did NOT like Megan’s song this week either although it was an improvement over last week’s Rockin’ Robin. Also wasn’t bowled over by Alexis this week, nor Scott.
I needed your survey question to be “short answer” rather than yes-no!
Great observation from Bennett on Megan… I couldn’t agree more.
I’ll also retract what I said about Adam last week… that was absolutely one of the worst performances I have ever seen. I told Michon during the top 36 that he would get way too confident one week and totally screw a song up, I just didn’t think it would be so early. Maybe Simon calling him self-indulgent will bring him down a notch.
i hope he feels better soon. we’ve all had a bad cold this week. nothing like being sick during spring break.
I love that Bennett watched American Idol! I think Danny is absolutely fabulous & will go far. I’m somewhat of a fan of Lil (or Little if you’re Simon) but I wasn’t that impressed last night. Jordan hasn’t like her from the start b/c Simon compared her w/Fantasia – which I disagree, she doesn’t scream. The last guy (can’t recall his name?) was super last night & I think, at least hope, that he’ll continue to get better each week. Moving on to Adam – I can get past the part that he wears eyeliner & nail polish but his voice has not really impressed me much. *Jordan thinks he’ll be the winner & I’m hoping he’s wrong! He’s too theatrical for me. And poor Johnny Cash, what in the world was Adam doing besides butchering that song & quite honestly he freaked me out a bit. And the way he looks at the camera from the corner of his eyes, again, freaks me out….So needless to say, I did vote on your poll and I’m sure you can figure out my vote!!!
I need to re-watch Idol, as I was with my girlfriends watching and didn’t get a good enough idea of how they did. I do think I agree with all that Bennett said. And, boy, do I understand that enjoyment around our middles when they’re at their best. It is utterly enjoyable.
oops, i meant that i agreed with you on danny and matt, not adam. his song kinda scared me this week, although i do think he has awesome stage presence. still have him on my radar for potential top 5, though. i guess i’m not that freaked out by the nail polish and makeup ( i love pete wentz!)
honestly, the eye makeup isn’t so much of a problem for me…it’s the obvious foundation/blush that i’m not digging. i know they wear makeup for television, but i’m not seeing it on kris allen and matt giraud.
i will agree that adam is a performer, but he’s still not much of a singer in my book.
I love Danny. Adam’s a little scary, but his voice and stage presence are incredible, so I like him. Kris is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, and he makes me smile. On the other hand, I need to see Megan and Anoop go home.
Ditto Andrea!
bye bye megan and your tatoo that doesn’t match your presence at all! sell some records and invest in a serious removal and then go into modeling… oh, and i still like lil–i think she’s classy. alexis–bad song but like her, scott is fine…over it though…, anoop’s response to ryan’s question re: whether he was surprised at the judge’s comments was unattractive to me (but great performance!). i am just excited to keep listening to danny sing!!!!
Bennett is HILARIOUS!!!
I don’t watch AI, but the Bennett conversation is hysterical! Tell us how you *really* feel, Bennett.
I was definitely the “Luke”. . . and my sis is the “Bennett”. Not sure if some of it is birth order, but it’s funny b/c I often think about this and notice it in other same sex siblings.