I've got 99 problems and my kids are 3 of them

Sometimes all my kids are going along swimmingly, being insane but normally so, nothing special to report. Same ole, same ole. Another day another diaper.

But these days, I have issues with each one of them. Issues I honestly am not sure how to handle.

Let's start with the oldest, shall we?

Cary: He wore his glasses for two days without problems. Then, all of a sudden, when people are around, he refuses to wear them. At my mother's house, he donned a Batman mask to avoid having to put on his specs. At church, he wouldn't go into his classroom with them on - just flat out refused. And today, when I made him put them on, he took them off and flung them to the floor.
I know part of the problem is that we made a huge tactical error by making a big deal out of the glasses and how cool they were in the beginning. My Dad came by and oohed and aahed; we even asked the hostess at Gertrude's to tell him how handsome he was in his new glasses, which she was happy to do (because he DOES look cute in them!) Turns out, Cary doesn't love all the attention his glasses bring. He told me, "I don't want people to say things about them!" But why he doesn't want to wear them even at home all of sudden, I have no idea. And I don't know what to do to convince him that he has to wear them. I don't want to turn the idea of his glasses into a sore spot, but I keep finding myself threatening him with timeout if he doesn't put them on. The doctor was adamant that he has to wear them full-time or else his vision could get worse. So what else can I do?
Color me stumped.

See? Here he is lying in the bed "reading" a book WITHOUT his glasses.

Dean: Did I post here before about the time Dean stashed a lollipop under his pillow, to eat, I suppose, after the rest of us had gone to bed? I can't remember if I told you all that story. But nevermind that because guess who did it again? This time with a STOLEN piece of candy from Target? Yes, you guessed it. My middle child. While I was in North Carolina for my friend Laurie's 50th birthday, Lester had to take all three kids to Target. At the checkout counter, apparently, Dean spied a piece of candy he wanted, tucked it into his pocket, carried it all the way home, put the candy under his pillow, got undressed, put his pajamas on, and said not. a. word. the whole time about his contraband. Lester only discovered it because the child who has the sophistication to swipe candy, stash it away, DELAY GRATIFICATION (helloooo!) and keep a poker face the entire time is still only 4 and too young to realize that he had to pick up his pillow (hey dumb-dumb, move your hiding place next time, eh?) to get in the bed after our nighttime prayers. Of course, after Lester found the candy, there was a long conversation about stealing and what that means and about honesty, etc. Lester told me later he was "crestfallen" about it. And I am too. I know that Dean doesn't really understand what "stealing" is, but the fact that he is capable of that kind of planned-out deceit is ...unnerving. Not totally surprising -- he's always been the child who looks for things to get into to. But still, it's alarming. Even if he is only 4.
Color me flummoxed.

No cavities at this last check-up, but I don't know what will happen if he keeps stashing candy under his pillow at night. Also, how can I get him to use his powers for good?!?!

Clair:  The first day of summer camp went OK. The next day, not as well, but still OK. By Day 3, she was in tears from the time we started getting her dressed until after Lester dropped the kids off at school. She cries great big, sad tears, and pleads with us with her eyes not to send her to school. "I don't want to go to camp!" she wails. "I want to stay here with Mommy and MiMi!" It breaks my heart. And now, I guess because she's so freaked out by being left at summer camp, she also has reverted back to acting the fool at children's church. Yesterday, for the first time in forever, they flashed us on the screen during service to come get her from her class. Some of it has to do with the fact that yesterday was the day they moved all the pre-school kids up a level, so the boys went from the 3s to the 4s and Clair went from the 18-24mos. class to the 2-year-olds class. So the change wigged her out, I know. But she was crying at home before we even left for church, once she ascertained where we were going. She refused to put her shoes on, thinking that would prevent us from taking her. And at one point, she even started climbing, barefoot and resolute, up the stairs, saying, "I want to stay here - by myself." It rips my heart out the way she cries, and it also affects my mood for a good part of the day. She's just so highly-anxious! I also really worry now about what will happen when we (hopefully/prayerfully) find a new person to take care of the kids afterschool. She LOVES Michelle and will likely flip the funk out when her time with us is up.
Church, camp, school in the fall, a new caregiver -- I just think this whole transition is going to suck suck suck. 
Color me defeated.

How can you be so cute and independent and fearless sometimes and so fearful and anxious and maddening other times? Quit breaking Momma's heart, girl!

Trying to beat the writer gene out of my children

OK, the title of this post is very much hyperbole.

I'm not really trying to beat the writer gene out of my children. I don't even know if all three of my children have it. But Lester is a former newspaperman and writer and I am a former newspaper gal and writer. Both of us now work "in communications," which is a euphemism for, "We have no math or science skills."

All respect to my fellow communicators out there, really! There's nothing wrong with being good at communicating; there's a HUGE need in this world for people who can read, write and convey thoughts in a way that people can understand. I totally understand that and appreciate it.
It's just that we want our children to:

1. Get out of our house one day.
2. Get out of our house one day.

And so, we want them to have the confidence and the ability to take on math- and science-related professions, should they so choose. Because that's where the jobs are.

We think that most likely, our kids will be inherently good at language-related stuff, because of their family make-up. My Mom's an excellent writer and a reader (nonfiction, mostly); my Dad's a poet and a voluminous reader (fiction and autobiographies, mostly); my sister Kadija would rather read books than do almost anything. She'll read anything you put in front of her. Tahira, the language arts teacher, is the exact same way. Reading is our common hobby. And there are no shortage of words in our extended family -- well, except when it comes to addressing difficult, inter-personal topics, but that is another story altogether.

Anyway, if our kids are anything like we are, we think we will have to work a little harder at getting them to love math and science, and feel comfortable and confident about their abilities to master those topics. I know when I go to board meetings at the Baltimore Urban Debate League, and the finance people start going over the financials, my brain shuts. off. I pretend like I have a clue what they're saying, or that I understand the confusing columns and rows of figures. But ummm. No. Not even a little.

So, I am really interested in what any of you science and math-y types do with your kids that I might not think to do, being a word-y person.

Already, we've started doing a few very rudimentary "experiments," which have gone over very well with the kids. They call it "doing a science."

One day we did the age-old trick of using food dye to change water in clear plastic cups different colors. Another day we put ice in bowls and watched it turn into water and talked about why cold things melt.

One fun one was putting M&M's in water and watching the colors of the candy leach out into the water, making beautiful colors (I considered this science and art). And then, if we were very patient, we could see the "M" float off into the water (or at least pieces of the "M"). Bonus: When we were done, we got to eat M&M's!

So sad that red dye No. 5 is so darn tasty.

Dean said, "Mommy, it looks like a rainbow!"

When the pack of M&M's was gone, Clair was beside herself. I think we've turned her off of science forever.

We also did a fun experiment where I put a bunch of different fruits and vegetables into a bag, blindfolded the kids and had them guess what they had in their hands just by feeling and smelling.

But I'm running out of ideas that are simple and cheap and not dangerous or over their heads. And I also am not sure what to do to encourage their math skills, besides endless counting of objects. Are there math "projects" we can do with 3-year-olds?

What do you guys do to make math and science fun for your kids? Help me turn these kids into software engineers or venture capitalists or CFOs, please. Or else when they decide they want to be journalists (God help us!) and are still living in our house at age 30, we will blame YOU.