Skip to main content

What We Learned This Week

Food Safety
Phoebe gave the dog a biscuit last night and said, “Don’t choke, Finn! Don’t choke!”

Bad Language
A few weeks ago Chris came through the door carrying a box and Mallory greeted him with, “What the hell is that?” So they had a discussion about appropriate and inappropriate language. She took it to heart but is now perhaps a bit overcautious – she questions the “badness” of any unfamiliar phrase. A few days ago while looking through a catalog she said, “Well, that’s a fine-looking thing!” – and then glanced up at me and said, “Is it okay for me to say, ‘fine-looking thing’?”

Fairness
Yesterday afternoon Mallory started Gymnastics at a local gym. I had planned to hang out in the waiting area with Phoebe during Mallory’s class. The gym and waiting area are separated with a huge glass wall, so parents can see what the kids are doing. Unfortunately this also meant that Phoebe could see what the kids were doing, and she wanted in on that action. Major tantrum ensued. “I want to JUMP! I want to JUMP TOO!” she screamed, over and over. She was inconsolable. I had to call my father-in-law to come get her because I could not calm her down. Next week Phoebe will be staying at home during gymnastics!

Villains
Last night Mallory asked, “Are there bad guys in God?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You know, bad guys. Around God. Like in that book that’s all about God.”

“The Bible?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, there are bad guys in the Bible.”

“Like the guys that took Jesus away, were they bad guys?”

“Yes, those were some bad guys.”

“Are they still WITH Jesus?”

“No, probably not.”

“Are they going to come take YOU away?”

“No, they’re all dead now, that was a long time ago.”

“Well that’s good.”

Then Phoebe said, “Bad guys at Elmo show?” referring to Sesame Street Live.

“No, there were no bad guys at the Elmo show,” I answered.

“Daddy bad guy?”

“No, Daddy’s a good guy.”

“Mommy bad guy?”

“No, I’m not a bad guy.”

“My-ee bad guy?” And so on through the entire list of people Phoebe knows – none of whom are bad guys, I’m happy to say.

What We’ll Learn This Weekend
How Mallory and Phoebe will get along without me and Chris. Send good thoughts to my parents- and sister-in-law!

Comments

aimee said…
Have fun!!!! And enjoy!

Good thoughts headed their way.
Anonymous said…
Have a great time. I'm sure that the girls will be fine, as well as Bob, Claudia, and Amy!

Mom
H Noble said…
I'm glad you aren't a bad guy too. Interesting thoughts from little ones though. My 2 year old nephew thought yesterday that if he got out of the car at Town and Country, that he was forfeiting going to Nana and Papa's house. As you said, tantrum ensued.
H

Popular posts from this blog

File under: stupid problems to have

I'm going to see Wicked (the musical) in May with my sister- and mother-in-law. I'm excited; I like musicals. In anticipation, I downloaded the soundtrack a few days ago and have been listening to it continually on my ipod ever since. I read Wicked (the book) back when it first came out, but didn't remember much of the plot. So in order to understand what happens in the gaps between the songs in the musical, I turned to wikipedia for a plot summary. Then I clicked over to the synposis of the book to see how it differed from the musical. Reading about the book made me realize that I had pretty much forgotten all of the book. In fact, to be honest, what I remember about the book was that I found it a bit dull. A bit long. A bit too much about the politics of an imaginary country. A bit too full of unsympathetic characters. And then, I remember, I read the author's next book (a retelling of the Cinderella story) and didn't like it much at all. So I never even cons

Crafty Update

I've made a whopping total of two things this summer. A puppy for Phoebe's birthday: And a cell phone case for me: The case needs a bit of tweaking; I'm not happy with the strap. But it was way easier than making a stuffed animal, I'll tell you that much. The girls were on etsy with me last night looking at crochet patterns. Now I have a list of requests a mile long. I'm not sure when I'll have time to get to these new projects, but I'll keep you posted. Because I know you care.

Whew

When they called Pennsylvania, I knew. When they called Ohio, I knew for sure. But I still got chills up and down my spine when they called it for good. And I have tears in my eyes every time I think of his speech. Last night, I attempted to explain to Mallory why this was such a big deal. (This was after a rather undignified few minutes during which she, Phoebe and I danced around the living room chanting Go-bama, Go-bama!) I tried to explain that not so many years ago, black people couldn't even vote, much less become president. She looked at me in great perplexity. She didn't get it. She didn't get racial prejudice. And now...well, it's not that I believe for a second that she and Phoebe will grow up in a world where prejudice doesn't exist. But they do live in a country where, for one election, it was transcended. This is their world now, and their history being made, and I...I'm just elated.