theViles | Taking It One Day At A Time

On Tumblr And Stuff

Published August 3, 2011 by Kevin

So awhile back I started a Tumblr account because it seemed like a lot less work to post something short and quick. I’m rethinking that decision. Partly because the posts are then not under my control (they’re on Tumblr’s website and I like things on my website) and partly because folks have to check like a bazillion places to find updates on our family (yes, a bazillion – it means a lot). So I thought it would be helpful to migrate some of those tumblr posts over here – and then stay here. I might still use tumblr once in a while, but if I do, I’ll find a way to link them over here, so it’s all in one spot.

If you subscribe to our rss feed, you may have seen a blip on the radar of a ton of posts that came over, and now aren’t here. Well, that’s just me, trying to get the posts over here. Rest assured, you haven’t gone crazy, your rss feed reader isn’t having problems, our site was just messed up for a moment!

So, the Tumblr posts will show up here shortly. As I can get them over. And if you’ve already read them over on Tumblr, read them again, I mean, aren’t they just that great?

If none of this makes sense to you, ignore it. Really. It’s okay. You can ignore what I say. I’m used to it.

Posted in regular

If we didn’t know it before…

Published July 18, 2011 by Kevin

we know it now. We’re in trouble.

Today the children were leaving (with Mom) for swimming lessons. They were all packed into the mini-van with the essentials (towels, goggles, matchbox cars, drinks, snacks, sunglasses, hats, … you get the picture). I poked my head in to say good-bye and wish them all a fun time (and Erin good luck).

Ethan told me he couldn’t wait to go under water.

Lucas showed me his matchbox cars and informed me that one had a round front-end and the other had a pointy front-end.

Alayna showed me the buckle to her car seat (buk-uhl), her hat (hhhaat), and then reached down to find something – and didn’t find it. She said sunglasses (suhn-gas-es) and began to cry.

I was in the process of closing the door, but re-opened it to see what was wrong. What was wrong? She couldn’t find her sunglasses. Where were they? On her face. I pointed that out and she replied, “Oh” and ceased crying.

Yes, we know it, we’re in trouble.

Posted in Alayna Grace, Family

Crime and Punishment

Published June 29, 2011 by Kevin

We’ve recently started sending our almost two year old to the corner for screaming. She screams… a lot. Today, Erin told her to stop screaming and she screamed one last time and then walked right to the corner. I’m not sure if that’s helping or not, but at least she knows the penalty for her crimes.

Posted in Alayna Grace, Family

Tyranny or Democracy? Or What Goes On In My Home.

Published June 28, 2011 by Kevin

Americans really arent democratic by nature. Were really slaves to tyranny. Before you think this is a political discussion, let me quickly say it is not. Im talking about the American home. Let me explain.

Tyranny. The arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power. In other words, what goes on in my home (and possibly that of many others). But it may not be what you think. Contrary to popular opinion, I am not the tyrant of my home. But neither is my wife. Its actually not any one individual. Instead, the tyrant of my house is the child who happens to be screaming the loudest at any one given moment. And there are lots of moments in my home. Lots.

You see, Bill Cosby put it best when he talked about how parents respond to certain sounds emanating from childrens mouths. He described a scene where a child is somewhere in the house screaming “Mine! Mine!” and the sound travels up the parents spinal chord, sending irritating tingles the whole way, causing the parent to get out of his or her seat and search frantically for the source of that sound. Upon finding the screaming child tugging at a doll, clasped tightly by her older sister, the parent grabs the doll and gives it to the screaming child. The older sister sobs that the doll is really hers and runs away while the parent responds, “Shes got stuff of mine too!” Cosby explains that parents are not interested in justice, they simply want quiet!

The loudest child is the tyrant of our home. Everyone and everything else must wait until the screaming baby (screaming is too gentle, its more like what a teapot would sound like if it got really mad and was going slightly hoarse at the same time) or the screaming toddler or little boy is dealt with. Tyranny at its finest.

So, if my home is anything like most, then Americans really arent democratic after all. They are really just slaves to tyranny.

Posted in Family, Parenting

Spaghetti, Spoons, and Schizophrenia or A Dinner With the Viles

Published June 9, 2011 by Kevin

Okay, so indulge me as I explain how part of a typical dinner goes at the Vile household.

Tonight at dinner Alayna was eating beans. Fistfuls of beans were flying down her throat, literally. When she hit the bottom of the bowl, we encouraged her to move on to her spaghetti. She requested a spoon, in her usual way, with a scowl and a frantic call.

“Poon, poon, poon, POON, POON, POON, AARRGGHH!”

“Do you want a spoon Alayna?” Erin responded.

“Yeah!” Alyana answered with a large smile.

Erin got up to get the spoon and Alayna cheered, “Yay!”

Upon returning to the table, Erin handed Alayna the spoon and sat down. Alayna took the spoon in her left hand and immediately became distracted by something else. I think it was her spaghetti filled right hand, which she wanted cleaned.

“Een, een, een, EEN, EEN, EEN, AARRGGHH!”

I told her to lick it clean. She responded by grinning ear to ear and putting her hand into her mouth. However, by this time she realized she wanted her spoon.

“POON, POON, POON, AARRGGHH!”

Yes, we got to the yelling point immediately this time. I pointed to her left hand and reminded her she had the spoon there. She looked down, and her frowning, mad face instantly brightened with a smile, “Ooooohh, pooooon!”

A schizophrenic? A bi-polar? No, just my 20 month old….

Keep in mind this is just one child. The others are either refusing to eat, falling off their chairs with plates and food flying, crying incessantly from the swing, demanding more milk, etc., etc., etc.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our kids and I love dinner… Sometimes, though, I’d like to love them separately.

Posted in Alayna Grace, Ethan, Family, Lucas, Samuel