May 05
“Was this picture taken when you used to be prettier?”
Kyle age 2 or 3
Kyle age 2 or 3… He was standing at the fridge, pointing to a photo taped to the door. Asking me if that picture of my more youthful self was taken when I used to be prettier. You had to peel me off the linoleum.
Kyle age 5… It is Christmas time and he is singing his heart out to Joy to the World. Letting all within ear shot know that “he rules the world with two fat legs.”
I love cute things kids say, do and sing. So here is what I am hoping. I am hoping you have a few of those tucked away that you might want to share. I recently started taping a new food show written by moms, dads and grandparents, too. My goal for the show is that it becomes every parents platform for celebrating the sunny side of daily family life which is something that we bloggers already do. Click here to see my new show.
What kinds of fun things do your kids say or sing?
Apr 13
That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another.
Charles M. Schulz
The other day I was strolling down the road, leaning back in the passenger seat, chatting on my cell phone, when abruptly the words, “call ended” flashed across the screen. Apparently my friend Bonnie had driven through a hole. She will call back…
Several minutes pass. The phone rings. Bonnie is talking super fast… “Tye fell out of the car. I don’t know how it happened…..”
“What?!!! Was the car moving?”
“No. I took him out of the car seat and he stood up, flew forward, and the next thing I knew, I was catching him sideways. I’m worried he is hurt.”
“Did he hit his head?”
“That’s why I’m calling you, I don’t know.”
“Is he crying? Is he in pain? Are his eyes rolling?”
“No. He is acting fine. He’s playing.”
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Mar 04
“I bet Einstein turned himself all sorts of colors before he invented the light bulb.”
Homer Simpson
Lipstick, high heels, vanilla pudding…. Most mothers would agree we instinctively know there is a high price for perfection. What I never dreamt however, was that during my daughter’s formidable years she was the equivalent of a micro-chipped chalkboard. Everyday storing bits of anything I said - even dumb things… Allow me to share a snippet from our early cooking days….. It is 1990. My precious kindergartner is standing on a chair beside me. We are making homemade plum jelly. She has the task of stirring.”How many more minutes Mommmmy?”
I did not know. I had never made jelly before. But I wanted it to be perfect. The purple goo was almost thick so I said, “stir-stir-stir……”
“But Mommmmy! My hand is falling off!”
“Doesn’t matter Rissa, just stir-stir-stir…..”
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Jan 28
“Don’t you just hate that? You get used to using the same shampoo all the time then the company discontinues it?”
“Yeah - I know what you mean. You have to try something new…
Who wants to do that?”
FLOUR… You might say it used to freak me out.
I had just finished reading Conquer Your Fears Past the Twilight Zone, when I realized that I had soared past it! My flour phobia.
I was no longer afraid of getting every speck of this refined white milled powder into the bowl. I was excited to share this revelation with my children, when I stumbled across them re-enacting my old flour tapping ways. They did not know I was eavesdropping outside the door.
“If there are any holes in the flour the cake won’t bake properly so you need to tap-tap-tap on top of the measuring cup…..”
“Don’t tap too hard. If you push down you will compact it. Just tap-tap-tap…..”
“…or there will be an indentation in the flour - tap-tap-tap…..”
“Oops! You tapped too hard. Now we have to start again…..”
Thankful for this twilighty book that made me a flour tapper no more, I rounded the corner still floating. I told my precious offspring how I couldn’t believe I used to sound like that. Then, as quick as a pin, I dropped back to earth. They busted my bubble with a great big, ”Used to sound???”
