Expression

After dinner tonight Nathan (5) said, "Do you know the expression, 'Throw in the towel and call it a day'?"

"Yea," I said, "I know that expression."

"It doesn't mean that you have to throw a towel. You can just go do something else."

The Poetic Riddle

Emma (8), as I've told you before, is a voracious reader. So my mom got her two poetry books for Christmas. They were specifically catered to young people. One was by Robert Frost and the other by Emily Dickinson. Emma spent the better part of the day reading one book and then the other.

"How did you like those books?" I asked when she finished reading.

"I hate poetry," Emma said decidedly. "It's like a riddle with no clues."

She's Eight?

When were on the way to Wendell's work to show off Annika's haircut and Anson's toy that he bought with his birthday money, Emma started asking questions and running some scenarios about car sales.

"So," Emma said, "what if people needed a car and the only viable cars were Hondas. Then everyone would drive a Honda."

My response: "Did you just say 'viable?'"

Annika Loves Fun

Often, before I do something fun to Annika (18 months), like drop her on a bed or couch, I count down...1, 2, 3. This is tremendous fun and leads to the inevitable giggles and smiles. She's taken to counting down with me, although she only knows one number: 2.

The other day she was on my bed and threw herself back with a bounce. She then sat up and announced, "I do two, two!" It was really cute.

English Lesson

As I was scrubbing chocolate off of Nathan's (5) shirt sleeve when he looked at me and said, "I'm going to tell you about a word you probably don't know much about."

"OK," I said, "what's the word?"

"The word is PREDICAMENT."

"How do you know about predicament?" I asked.

"Oh," he smiled, "I know all about predicament."

"Where did you learn about predicament?"

"On Sesame Street."

"Are you in a predicament right now?" I said, still scrubbing his shirt.

"Yep. Do you think you can get the chocolate out?"

"I have a load of laundry that needs to go in right now. I'll give it a try."

Parade

We went to the 4th of July Parade which is a big deal in our area. Millions of local residents attend. As parents of 4 young kids, Wendell and I try point out how wonderful each new entry is.

"Look!" Wendell said pointing to the parade route, "A water faucet float!!"

"Wow," said 7-year-old Emma, "Dad's sure excited."