Missing the point

I'm trying to teach the children about modesty and privacy. The boys seem to be getting it. The girls? Well . . .

Getting dressed is a lengthy process for Lisy (4 years old), because she is so easily distracted. This morning she had put on her shirt and was playing with her underwear, almost putting it on a couple of times. The boys, having been dressed for awhile, came running into the room to play. Lisy freaked out. "Don't look at my underwear!" she screamed, as she hid the underwear behind her back. At this point I stepped in and helped her finish dressing so that she could go play. It was difficult keeping a straight face; I wanted to laugh! Perhaps I need to be a bit more specific about what others shouldn't see.

Overheard

I enjoy listening to the kids play, especially when they don't know I can hear them.

Today I heard them hold an auction. "We'll start the bidding at a quillion dollars. Who will give me a quillion?" Samuel asked. I don't know how much that is, but I think it's out of my league.

When the auctions ended, Benjamin said, "Harry Potter, I'm your identical twin. I was born yesterday and grew up fast." Even with magic, how does that work exactly? And then, how on earth did they jump from auctions to Harry Potter?

Lisy at Morro Bay

We ate lunch at Morro Bay before heading back home this weekend. While I brought Lisy to the bathroom, the boys were outside enjoying the sights. They found a HUGE brown beetle. The beetle was about four inches long.

Lisy came up to it, and tried to make a decision on her feelings towards it. She stood over it, pointing at it while stuttering:

"I.......I........I... HATE THAT!"

It started out calm, but quickly became a very emotionally charged statement, once she hit the "hate" part.

It really was hilarious - apparently she doesn't like large creepy crawlies.

-Dom

Lisy's birthday

Here are my favorite Lisy quotes about her birthday.

We gave her a zhu zhu pet that looks a lot like our guinea pig, Thor. Samuel named the guinea pig after the super hero from The Avengers. When I asked Lisy what she wanted to name her zhu zhu, it only took her a second to say, "Sor, God of Sunder." Have I mentioned that she can't pronounce the 'th' sound?

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All morning long Lisy has been asking, "Is it still my birthday?" She had a lot of fun yesterday. Since we'll go shopping later to use her gift card, I'm sure it will feel like it is still her birthday.

Samuel's day

Samuel usually follows instructions promptly. Today, however, we were constantly repeating ourselves to him. In frustration Dominic demanded, "How many times do I have to tell you?"

Without skipping a beat Samuel replied, "two." That response lightened the mood, and we all laughed.

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After finishing our dinner of Chinese take-out, Samuel wanted me to read the fortune from his cookie (I'm not sure why he wanted me to read it - he's perfectly capable of reading it himself).

" 'At this moment, someone is thinking good thoughts of you,' " I read.

Gasp. "Is that you?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes," I said. How could I say, or think, otherwise?

Lisy and the gazebo

Dominic put up our gazebo this evening. While he was working on it, Lisy told me that "Daddy is making a tent!"

Then the boys and I had to go inside to do chores, but Lisy stayed outside until Dominic finished. "Did you have fun being Daddy's big helper?" I asked her when she came back in.

"No, I was Daddy's little helper," she corrected.

Elisa playing under the half-constructed gazebo last summer.

It's not always their fault

Lisy dropped something down the drain, then I shoved it beyond reach while trying to retrieve it. "So anyway, I made a bad situation worse," I concluded my tale to Dominic.

"Isn't that what parenthood is?" he asked.

"It sure feels that way sometimes!" I said.