Friday, March 31, 2017

7 Quick Takes about Becoming Elderly, Buying Stuff You Hate, and Things You Shouldn't Call Your Mother

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

1


I took my girls to see the new Beauty and the Beast. They both brought friends who live in completely opposite directions so it was a whole lot of driving to pick everyone up. Oh, and we removed the baby and the toddler's car seats so their friends could sit, which I don't recommend doing because we found scary things under there.

The movie was good but it made me feel really old because:

1) Movies in the theater are officially too loud for me. It used to be that they seemed a little loud at first but I got used to them. Now I feel like I'm dangerously close to standing on my front porch with my pants pulled up to my armpits yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

2) In the backseat on the way home, I heard my daughter's friend saying "Kids of the next generation are going to think of Emma Watson as Belle, not Hermione!" I laughed because it's funny to hear a 10-year-old talk about "the kids these days," but also because I still think of Belle as a cartoon, and Emma Watson was a year old when that came out.

2


My 5-year-old, who's always thinking about something, told me over lunch that "no one's the prettiest girl in the world."

Naturally, I started my standard mom spiel about how that's right, no one is prettiest because we're ALL beautiful in different ways and

But the 5-year-old interrupted, and gesturing to the wedding picture of Phillip and I hanging on the wall said, "Except you were the prettiest girl in the world at your wedding."

"Gee, thanks," I told her.

Not to be subdued, she continued, "I saw a girl in a book about the pioneers [circa 1840s] who was prettier than you. But you're the prettiest one who's still alive."

That girl really knows how to give a compliment you won't forget!

3


Recently someone in our house destroyed a library book by getting Play-doh all over the pages and then trying to wash it off. Neither of which sat well with the book.

With how much our family uses the library, it's inevitable that books get lost or ruined sometimes. And our library doesn't charge late fees until 45 days past due, which has saved us approximately a hundred thousand dollars already.

So normally I don't mind paying to replace books. Except for this time.

Of course it couldn't be some great work of children's literature. I'm buying a slightly soggy copy of the most inane reader you've ever seen about the DreamWorks trolls. Have you ever read a book with no plot, no moral, and no point? This one is worse. It made me roll my eyes every time I was asked to read it. And now we own it! Yay!

And of course it's hardcover.

4


At our Zumba group this week, a sweet friend saw the harried look on my face as my 10-month-old octopus baby clung to me for dear life and asked, "Can I take your kids for a while tomorrow?"

She volunteered to take my preschooler, my toddler, and even the baby and directed me to go do something frivolous.

It was glorious, you guys. The next morning I fed them breakfast, gave them to my friend, and went back home.

worked out without anybody sitting on me or asking why fish live underwater or inventing a game that involves giggling maniacally while they dodge under my legs.

I decided that instead of showering, I was even going to take a bath. Honestly, I couldn't even remember if I liked baths it had been so long. I had to clean out the tub first because the only thing I've used it for in the last 5 years is scrubbing unidentifiable stains out of the rug.

And then I read my scriptures (entire sentences! verses! chapters!) without interruption and ate lunch without sharing before I drove back to pick them up.

It was the nicest morning, made all the more special by the fact that I'd been having a rough couple of days and I almost never get to do stuff like this. I guess what I'm trying to say is: thanks, Becky. I owe you.

5


Sometimes when your kid comes home from cub scouts and you ask how it was, you don't expect him to answer "Great! We learned how to make bombs!"

Calm down, people Googling the Department of Homeland Security. This is the "bomb" he learned to make:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Structure made out of popsicle sticks that holds together but explodes apart when you throw it at something.

I do wish they would have called it something else, though. I keep waiting for the phone to ring after my son's class fills out an "About Me" worksheet and under "Things I Like" he writes "making bombs."

6


Phillip was getting ready for work in the morning and asked me something like "How did you sleep, Princess?" Our 5-year-old, thinking he was talking to her, answered, "Good."

Phillip laughed and said he was glad, but he was talking to Mommy.

"Mommy's not the princess!" she laughed. "Mommy's the servant because she cleans up after us!"

It was pretty silent for the next few seconds. 

Phillip appeared to be looking for the nearest bomb shelter.

I may have turned green and burst out of my clothes like the Hulk.

Needless to say, my 5-year-old is going to be doing some extra chores around here for the foreseeable future. Wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea about how life works.

After I talked to her about why that hurt my feelings, she surprised me with this to apologize:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

Well, I guess it wasn't a surprise. I knew she was making it because she had to ask me how to spell everything.

7


I'm not going here, but I will be watching it on TV this weekend:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}


Twice a year, I watch General Conference, which is a live stream of a series of sermons given by leaders of my church at the conference center you see above. It's always inspiring and you can watch it with me on YouTube or LDS.org.

Here's a short video about it:



If you're interested, the days and times are listed are here and you're welcome to join in for any or all of it. There's usually something to inspire everybody to come closer to Jesus Christ in one way or another.

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Unremarkable Files

9 comments:

Rosie said...

I had to pay for a new copy of a Frozen novelization 😠😠😠 Then I got blasted by strangers on the internet for daring to call that "fine literature" trash. What can I say, I'm a snob who doesn't think that book was worth the $17 it cost to replace it.

Jenny Evans said...

Well, now that you mention Frozen... I guess I'll keep my trolls.

Robyn said...

Kids are awesome...I love how your daughter said aloud that she thinks of you as a servant. I know my whole family thinks of me as one, but they all know that they better not SAY it. My younger son once told me he wanted to get a butler to cut his meat. Sigh.

It is fantastic that your husband calls you a princess. That's a keeper! ❤️

Jenny Evans said...

In the interest of full disclosure: he may or may not have been calling me a princess because we had a big fight the day before. But yes, he's still a keeper.

Unknown said...

Hey, Cinderella was a princess! ;-)

Julie @ Just the Joy's said...

I had a few good laughs reading this (laughing with you, not at you of course)! Yay for getting a morning to yourself! Seriously though, isn't that the most refreshing thing ever?!

Jenny Evans said...

You know when you're newly in love and you just swoon around humming to yourself all day long? I was totally like that for at least 3 days afterward.

PurpleSlob said...

Wow, Becky wins the best friend EVER award!!

Jenny Evans said...

Tell me about it. We started trading off every other week, but it's totally not fair because she has one fully potty-trained preschooler at home and she takes my 3 including the baby, who's a handful.