A Friendly Girl

I was up in my bedroom, checking email or something else unimpressive, when I heard Jason and Rosie talking in the living room.

"Rosie, you're still in your pajamas."

"Yes, I am. And I lost my friend Mom."

About ten minutes later, after she had found her friend with the melted heart, it was time to come downstairs. As we were got ready to descend, Rose told me, "I need my friend Dad."

She Makes Me Laugh

Rosie has perfected the domineering & dissatisfied face.

Snap! He's Right

I shouldn't be shocked, but life with Graham can be so surprising. While in the tub today, he was chattering about this and that, when I suddenly thought I heard a rather advanced literary term pass his lips. When I asked him to clarify, I learned I'd heard correctly.

"Onomatopoeia. It's a sound word like 'pop' and 'meow'."

Bluntly Put

Part of the toilet training process means that Rosie is often without underclothing. She just walked in with her dress hitched halfway up. Jason commented, "Rosie, you're flashing."

"No, I'm not. I'm naked."

Jason wanted his blog point

Cami was quizzing Jason on the spelling of various European countries.

"Do you know how to spell Espana?" (I don't know how to do the squiggle on my computer & I'm too lazy to look it up.)

He was a bit distracted and his mumbled response meant she didn't hear the "E," and said he got it wrong.

Jason, "Well, I was thinking the 'E'."

Cami responded, "That doesn't count."

Jason reacted with, "Yes, if I were taking a spelling test I would lose points. But one of the good things about having a PhD is that I don't have to take spelling tests anymore."

My English Rose

Rosie had been asking to make cookie-cutter cookies most of the afternoon. After realizing we were out of butter, I opted to buy some Nabisco-like sandwich cookies to assuage the I-must-have-cookies impulse she'd unleashed in the pregnant mother.

Looking at the opened package Rosie exclaimed, "It's biscuits! They're not cookies, Mommy, they're biscuits!"

Money Matters

I watched a really interesting Oprah interview on YouTube last week with J.K. Rowling. I have been mentally chewing on the segment where the two women discuss what it's like to have been devastatingly poor and then to be billionaires. Rowling refers to having such wealth as having a "superpower," many everyday problems just aren't a problem anymore. Oprah mentions those moments where she finds herself debating between two choices and then remembers, "Oh, wait -- I can have them both!"

With Christmas approaching, I can't help but think about how I really DON'T want things. What I want is that superpower Rowling talks about: I want my cabinet rewired for British plugs, I want all the lights in the house to work, I want a dishwasher. I want it not to matter that I left all my maternity clothes in NJ. I want to live in a house where I can paint the walls & put up pictures anywhere I want & rip up the bathroom carpet (yes, it's gross). I don't want to have to choose between the kids' swimming lessons and replacing the timing belt on the car. I want that freedom from mundane problems.

But Christmas isn't supposed to be about any of that. So I'll try to remember that the superpower of Christmas is the freedom from death & sin that is celebrated as we remember a very important baby's birth.

A Typical Conversation

Rosie is sitting on my lap, eating a slice of bread. This sort of thing happens multiple times a day. And with it, the following conversation occurs:

Me: Hi.

Rosie (around her mouthful): Hi.

Me: How ya doing?

Rosie (still around a mouthful): Good.

Me: I love you.

Rosie (usually taking another bite): No you don't.