Let’s just try this again, shall we?

Here’s what happened:

Our Aristocats book was lightly scribbled in by one of my daughters years ago, like so:

When Joe asked about it, I told him his sister had done it. The next day, I discovered more scribbles, like so:

“Joe, did you scribble in this book?” Parenting note: I already knew the answer to this question, so I shouldn’t have worded it in such a way that would encourage him to lie. Nevertheless, it was the first shocked response to come out of me.

He responded: “No.”

“Oh really?” I said. “Then who did?”

“My sister.”

“Your sister is old enough now to know better. I know you did this, Joe. Would you please say, ‘I’m sorry I colored in the book'”?

My brilliant son

Joe pointed to my husband’s shirt hanging up on the clothes rack and said, “Dada.”

“That’s right, Joe. That’s Dada’s.”

Then he pointed to my husband’s sock and said, “Dada.”

Me, thoroughly impressed: “Yes, Dada’s.”

Then he pointed to

Kids say the funniest things

A friend came across these notes she’d written about her daughter and kindly and boldly sent me photos. She even allowed me to share them with you. Enjoy!

As heard in a fourth grade classroom, part 3

From my friend, “Mrs. P.”

Me (to one of my boys who was absent yesterday): Hey Buddy, you feeling better? Or, wait… Were you sick yesterday?

Boy (sighs): Oh, yeah… gas problems…
Me: Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better…
Boy (shakes head, smiling):

Utilizing the scientific principal of ‘better late than never’

Here’s Little Man in his “My First Halloween” outfit.

You got candy over there?

My friend, you appear to have lost your head.

And so as not to have this blog turn into an excuse for showing off pictures of my baby, here’s a funny story to reward you for scrolling past the pics. My mom sent this to me about a friend’s child.

A little girl asked her grandfather, “Papa, what is the man’s job in a woman having a baby?”

WHAT did you just say?

My oldest daughter’s birthday was  yesterday. My parents gave her a set of little chicks. (Random? I know.)

Two are missing because they’re in need of repairs. Their wings fell off. I wonder how.

All three girls were playing with them for a bit when I heard my seven-year-old say something that sounded horribly suspicious.

“Here’s your (something starting with an f and ending with -king) chicks.”

Momma kitty

My youngest loves cats and kittens. A recent visit to the library netted her this book, which became our bedtime “story.”

Ridiculously cute, am I right?

For kicks and giggles, I was subtly adding words in my “reading voice.”

For instance (not a direct quote from the book): “Cats are fun and playful just like Momma.”

“Cats are beautiful and smart just like Momma.”

Then my husband walks in and says,

Nightmares of John Wayne

Now calm down. I’m not about to insult The Duke. I grew up on John Wayne movies, including this one mentioned in a comment someone kindly left in the Add Your Own Story section of this blog. Check it out:

Last night we finished watching The Quiet Man with John Wayne.

6 Yr old son: Papa, that movie is going to give me nightmares.
Papa: What part?
6 Yr old son: What’s a nightmare?
Papa: Bad dreams that scare you.
6 Yr old son: Never mind… I’ll be okay.

Too cute, right?

I responded to this by thanking the person for evidently thinking of me shortly after it happened. He responded:

Not exactly a glass-half-full kind of kid

My husband missed dinner because a work meeting ran long. As I was serving our youngest her food she said, “It feels like Dad died.”

“That’s a sad thing to say!”

She looked down, thought about it for a while, and then changed her statement to

A friend was brave enough to share this on Facebook

Whilst caressing my cheek and speaking in a sweet voice, my daughter said, “Mommy, I really don’t like you. I like daddy.”

How touching.

And someone else sent me this nugget: