Colds

Everyone is sick again.  Josh (8) approached me the other morning with the following statement, "Mom, we have a problem...my nose has been drooling all night."  I know baby.  I'm sorry.  Sam (3) keeps telling me that his nose is "soggy."  It is a miracle that I haven't caught it yet.  Oh, and just because it was funny...during the storm we had a couple of days ago Sam informed me that the storm was so bad that maybe a tomato was coming!  It was so difficult not to laugh...bruchetta, marinara, gazpacho, oh my!

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo

Dad came home from Singapore with a knowledge of the children's Chinese birth years.  I am the year of the snake.  Surprised?  Anyway, Joe (age 5) ended up with the year of the rooster...

Joe raises one eyebrow, puzzled.  "So I have the powers of a rooster?"

Dad explains that it doesn't work that way but Joe is not convinced and tries out a tentative, "Cock-a-doodle-doo?" just to see if his newfound "powers" are functioning.  :)

No Damsels in Distress for this Knight

My eight year old and I were recently talking about the Knights in Shining Armor/Damsels in Distress theme of many storybooks.  I was rolling  (on the inside of course.)

Josh:  "I don't want a girl like that.  If I get married, I want a girl who can take care of herself.  She will need to because we are going to live in the jungle, and I don't want to always have to be saving her and stuff."   

Note to future daughter-in-law:  Better be starting those karate and target shooting lessons now. 

Detox

Imagine going from having 4-6 people doting over you and taking care of you, having yummy ice creams, cookies and treats, staying up too late and having no responsibilities whatsoever to having 1 slightly cranky lady monitoring your playtime, boring meals (haven't been shopping yet since our return) and immediate immersion into schoolwork and "gasp" housework.  We are definitely going through grandparent detox. 

Grandparent detox is hard all around.  It's hard for the grandparents.  It's hard for the kids and it is hard for the parents of the kids.  It takes days to return to normal.  LONG days.  Can I have a spring break?  Please? 

Early Introduction to the Feminine Mystique

After a talk with daddy about never talking to women about their weight, Josh mistakenly told me that the lady driving the car next to us was very old.  I proceeded to inform him of his mistake.

"Josh, honey, you should never say a woman is old.  It isn't nice to talk about a woman's age."

A huge sigh, "How many rules are there for women?!"  Oh, babe.  If only you knew. 

Oh, he's a monkey alright

You know that song, "10 Little Monkeys?"  I've got one.  Tonight, he is leaning over the rail of his bed, standing up (probably jumping) and goes right over the top of it.  Ends up with a bloody nose, a fat lip and a grumpy mom because I was nursing the baby at the time and he was supposed to be in bed going to sleep.  God must have made three year olds cute so that they would live to be four.

Homeschool

Josh, age 8, told me today that school for him is like the Babylonian captivity of the Jews.  Gee, thanks hon.  Glad to be able to help you learn and grow.  :)  Sometimes it feels like that for me, too, though I didn't inform him of this fact.