Joker Children

At some point, the kids are going to start reading my posts, and I suppose I'll have to begin censoring what I write, but for now, I'm going to keep sharing the things they say to both Tim and me that crack us up.

For instance, one day this week, Sofia announced (while sitting on the toilet), "Umm, Mom, did you know that George Washington wrote lots of constitutions?" I was opening my mouth to explain what she meant to say when she added, "And I'm making lots of constipations right now." She says things like that with such a gigantic grin on her face, I know she's only saying them to make me laugh. Of course I obliged. :) And I also helped her understand what she meant to say, and then taught her the meaning of the word "constitution" when talking about her health.

And here's another thing that's likely not appropriate for me to discuss with the entire world, but hey, they're my kids; it will be fun to torture them with these stories when they're much older, right? ;) Why is it that no matter how many times I repeat that bathroom doors are meant to be closed, no one pays any attention? I mean, I need to know: does this also happen in your home? Is it really that much extra effort to close the door? There is seriously no such thing as privacy in our home. I'll be working out in the dining room, have the ceiling fan going, the windows and door open, trying to not sweat to death when I'm accosted by the stink of someone taking a dump in the downstairs bathroom. We're talking about a well-ventilated room, and I suddenly cannot breathe due to stinky kids. I just start hollering, "C'MON! Close that door!!!" And I hear fits of giggles. "It smells great, Mom!" "No!" I holler -- "It does NOT!" That phrase about "you must think your sh*t doesn't stink" genuinely applies to these kids.

Alright -- onto a more socially appropriate topic...Gabe has discovered that a good friend of his lives 3 doors down, so he is spending nearly every day (after doing his homework) hanging out with his buddy. This is sweet on the one hand; I feel happy for Gabriel. But on the other, we have the incredibly jealous sister Sofia who puts her hand on her hip and exclaims that this is "not fair! I don't get to have a play date every day." So, Tim and I are putting in a lot of effort to figure out fun and exciting things to do with Sofia, including lining up play dates just for her. I have to say I don't remember our parents going to these kinds of lengths to discover new and exciting things for us to do during the week or on weekends. Are we spoiling our kids today? Or were my folks just too busy with 6 kids? It's probably a bit of both. :)

Sofia is writing and spelling everything now; it's totally adorable. I'll ask her questions, like, "What do you want for a snack before you do homework?" And she'll quickly scribble on a piece of paper, "a peenut buter and huny sanwich." She answers everything on a piece of paper because she wants to be practicing writing. And she'll read the same book several times over again. She's phonetically spelling everything at this point of course, but she's insistent that I teach her the correct spelling. At this point, I bet her handwriting will be neater than Gabe's by the end of kindergarten. I love when the kids correct me too. Yesterday we were walking past a Hallmark store, and it had all kinds of Easter stuff in the windows when I said, "Wow! Is Easter the next holiday?" Sofia piped up with, "No, Mom, St. Patrick's Day is!" Oh, right! How could I forget? :)

I was helping Gabe study for a science test earlier this week, and I asked him how he thought he did yesterday when he said, "Well, Mom, you're not going to like this..." and he made a sad face as he slowly opened his assignment book to a page where his teacher had written, "A+, 100%, WONDERFUL!" His face spread into a grin as I exclaimed, "Great job Gabe!" Such little jokers for kids we have!

Hope you're not taking yourself too seriously this fine February day!
xoxoxo,
k