I went over my daughter’s weekly spelling words with her to be sure she knew their meanings. Most were easy, but some, like ascertain, required an explanation. Others I pointed to and asked, “Do you know what this word means?”
“Yes.”
“And this one?”
“Yes.”
“Let me tell you what this one means.”
“I know what cleanliness means!” she said.
“Based on the state of your room, I don’t think you do,” I countered.
She grinned sheepishly.
These two are writing a book together in a google doc. Because they can see what the other is typing, as she’s typing it, when one misspelled a word on her computer, the other corrected it on her own. Then the first wrote in the doc, “Show off,” and they both started laughing.
While they were washing dishes earlier, I heard them discussing what hair color to give a particular character.
“Red hair.”
“But James has red hair.”
“What about black?”
“Eww.”
I chimed in with, “How about strawberry blond?”
“Oooh, let’s do that,” said one.
“Yes,” agreed the other.
“You know why?” I said.
As a Christmas present, my daughter gave me coupons to sleep with certain of her beloved stuffed animals. When I cashed in one of my coupons, I found this waiting for me in my bed.
My daughter, who grew up loving stuffed animal frogs, is now too old for them. {Brief moment of sad reflection.} And so it was time to rehome her amphibian friends.
This was the first to go:
As I handed the giant frog to her new owner, who is, ironically, a teenage girl, I said, “She goes by Rita, but will respond to anything.”
The girl held the stuffed animal out in front of her and, with a gleam in her eye (the girl’s, not the frog’s), said, “You shall be called, ‘Rita’!”
Clearly, it seemed to me, this girl knew that the name fit.
I reported the happy news to my daughters: Not only had the frog gone to a new loving home, she would be able to retain her name! “Isn’t that wonderful?” I said.
I was met with blank stares. Didn’t my children personify animals the way I did?? Didn’t they care?!
Our family took a mini trip to a rented house in a quaint little mountain town known for its apple cider and apple pie. On the drive, as we got farther and farther from our city by the sea (and sea level), Husband warned the kids of several possibilities, due to the altitude:
Their ears might start to hurt, due to the altitude.
The air is thinner, so it might be harder to breathe, due to the altitude.
It’s much colder, due to the altitude.
These possible side effects were mentioned several times… due to the altitude.
At the house, one daughter said the water tasted different, “maybe due to the altitude.” (I suggested it was probably just the different fridge.)
As another daughter climbed into bed with socks on, I was shocked to see how filthy the bottom of her feet were.
In the check-out line at Costco, a young employee asked with a completely straight face:
“The item at the top of your cart–will that be to purchase or for return?”
“I didn’t realize returns were an option on those,” I said.
Again, with nary a mouth twitch, he said, “If you have the original receipt.”
I’m going through my drafts folder, of which I have 22 potential posts. This was the oldest. The daughter I speak of is now 15! This was fun for me to read, as I didn’t remember any of it. So grateful for this blog to store these memories. I hope you enjoy this little tale.
My oldest daughter was two-years-old, I would regularly take a nap on the couch while she played quietly nearby. Yep, you read that correctly. I could nap without fear while my TWO-year-old played. She was certainly something special.
Usually I would sleep with a blanket on me. One day I laid down without first grabbing the blanket. My daughter noticed this and got my blanket for me, spreading it carefully across my body. Another time, the blanket had slipped off my feet, so she replaced it for me.
Pic by tookapic of Pixabay.
Perhaps a year or two later, Read the rest of this entry
Hubs and I were standing in the kitchen when youngest daughter said, “Damn.” Our eyes widened.
What in the world?
I turned and saw this:
Writing and Martial Arts 