The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

My children are very good at surprising me with what they are able to do, especially when left to their own devices.

Most parents remember their baby’s first time rolling over, first steps, first real sentence. Those are definitely some of the best awe-inspiring moments. It’s when we realize that our children are growing, learning, becoming stronger and older.

But who knew the awe would continue?

I’ve also learned that while I might be amazed by what my kids are able to do, it doesn’t always mean I’m happy with what they’ve done. More times than not, I discover their latest feat and think, "Whose children do this sort of thing?"

Mine apparently.

During the recent spring break, I woke up to find my 5 and 7-year-old boys playing in their basement playroom quietly. I was happy. The baby and my husband were still sleeping, the boys were occupied and I could head to the shower uninterrupted.

About 30 minutes later my sons walked upstairs carrying the phone book and phone. The youngest proudly turned to a page in the phone book and said, "I called and tried to order a pizza from here, but the lady said they don’t make them until 10:30."

HUH??!!

Apparently what I thought was quiet play was the two of them making sneaky phone calls to nearly every pizzeria in Racine trying to get someone to deliver a cheese pizza at 7 a.m. They even had it planned to use the $20 their little sister had gotten in her Easter candy from her Nana to pay for it!

I was mad, but in a disturbed kind of way, I was also kind of proud.

Who knew they were smart enough to use the phone book properly?

There was the time when my oldest was 2. I had put him up to bed for a nap. About 30 minutes later I heard him playing. I walked up the stairs and found him COMPLETELY covered in Desitin. I mean, head to toe white, creamy, almost impossible to wash off without soap, water and a washcloth, covered.

Who knew he was resourceful enough to grab a little chair, climb up and open the cabinet in his room where I kept the diapers, wipes and butt cream?

On a relaxing weekend a few years ago, I was sitting on the couch reading a book while the boys were quietly coloring at the nearby kitchen table. I’d peer up at them every now and then to make sure they were still there, but they seemed quite content. And truthfully, I was all too happy to become engrossed in my book.

After about 45 minutes had passed, I got up. That’s when I saw exactly what they had been coloring: themselves.

"Don’t I look like the Green Goblin?" my younger son asked.

Both his arms, from elbow to fingertips had been colored with a bright green marker.

"And I’m Spider-Man," the oldest said, lifting his shirt to reveal the spiderweb he had drawn in black marker on his chest. He had only one red and blue arm finished.

Who knew they were that creative?

Then there was the Saturday about a year ago when I walked into my bathroom and found my 4-year-old standing at the sink counter with a bright red bottle of nail polish open. In one hand was the brush. The other hand was dripping with red polish.

"I just wanted to try your poe nolish," he said.

Who knew ... OK, sometimes it’s just plain naughty behavior. There’s really no upside to red nail polish on a little boy and all over a bathroom counter.

Except that it becomes a funny story after the frustration and anger of the moment is over, the mess has been cleaned up, and no one has had to be rushed to the emergency room.

And every once in a while, my kids will surprise me in a way that makes me feel truly proud:

Like when I catch my boys snuggling together on the couch, or when the woman in charge of their Wednesday night church club tells me how polite and well-behaved they are, or when I discovered that my daughter is the first of my children to have inherited my neat gene.

"I spilled," she told me one morning as she sat in her highchair drinking some water. "Mommy, towel please?" she asked.

I handed her a kitchen towel. She soaked up the few drops of water that had fallen in her lap and handed the towel back to me. "Dant do Mommy."