Chores

Big Drama on this Saturday, trying to "encourage" the children to clean their bedrooms.  Reagan was in tears, screaming "BUT IT'S NOT FUN!!  IT'S SO BORING!!"  The boys, thankfully, are more subtle with their resistance at this age.

Quinn: "Tell me WHY I need to clean my room.  What do I get if I do it."
Mom: "You get a roof over your head."
Colby: "Quinn, we can totally sleep outside in the treehouse."
Quinn: "Yeah, we could."
Mom: "You also get food in your belly."
Quinn: "You're too good of a parent to let your child starve."


I'm too good of a parent to let you get away with reasoning like that.  I'm so good of a parent, in fact, that I am going to teach you responsibilities.  Like cleaning your room.  GET. UPSTAIRS.

I'm not Ready for This Conversation.... Let's Change the Subject

Not 5 minutes after coming home from school, all three chillins sitting in front of the fire warming themselves, patting little dog Fergie.

Quinn: "Mom, Colby says that Fergie can't have puppies without a mate.  That's not true."
Reagan: "I want puppies!"
Colby: "Right!  She has to have a mate to have puppies, right Mom?"
Quinn: "Nu-unh!  She can have puppies without a mate."
Mom: "No, she has to have a mate to have puppies."
Quinn, Colby and Reagan: "WHY??!?!?!?"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Mom: "All animals have to have mates to have babies.  Babies need Daddies."
Colby: "No, not ALL animals."
Mom: "Yes.  All animals.  Maybe not worms.  I think worms don't need a mate.  But almost all other animals do."

And again, in chorus, they asked..."WHY?!?!??!?!?!?!"

Mom: "It's just the way God made animals."  I knew the question that was on the tip of their tongues, and I didn't want to deal with it.  There would be a "HOW" question within seconds, if I didn't divert the conversation quickly.

Mom: "That Fergie is so cute.  Look at her wagging her little tail."

That did it.  They all admired her cute little tail, and hugged her, and patted her, and reveled in her doggie cute-dom.  WHEW.  Close one.

They might not be so easy to distract next time.  Even at dinner, they were patting my belly and wondering if there were any more babies that would come out of there.  You know, because I DO hav a mate. 

NO.  No there's not.

Privacy

I forget that the boys are growing older.  Their 9 years of public nudity have lulled me into believing that they have no self-consciousness whatsoever.  This morning, I walked into my bathroom to get some mousse for my hair, and Quinn was on the toilet. 

Quinn: "HEY!  What are you doing in here???"
Mom: "Sorry.  I just need to get my mousse."  Here I proceed to mousse my hair - a process that takes less than 30 seconds.  No big whoop.
Quinn: "UH, you know, you could have taken the bottle out THERE and done that.  I need privacy."

OH.  OK.  Privacy.  Hmmmm.  Sorry.  I keep forgetting that that's appropriate now.

Not THAT old...

In a rush, trying to pick the boys up from school and get them to basketball camp on time.  No time to change anywhere but the car on the way.  The boys were NOT thrilled with that plan.

Mom: "Really, boys?  It's not a big deal.  Change your clothes here in the car while I'm driving.  It's not rocket science.  I used to do it all the time when I was growing up."

Colby: "Mom, that might've been true in the 1980's, but we have MODERN cars now, and there's no room for that.  Back when you were driving around in Model A's, that was fine."

Wha....WAIT!  Model A's???? Give me a break.