Friday, July 14, 2017

7 Quick Takes about Coming Home, Saving the Planet, and Working with One of My Heroes

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

1


Home, sweet home. For the last 2 weeks we've been visiting my parents in Minnesota.

We had a great time. We played on the beach, had fun with our extended family, and the 1-year-old learned to bark like my mom's dog.

The damage total: two peed-on beds, one bedroom door locked from the inside, a screen door knocked out twice, one window curtain pulled down, a few broken toys, and one kid stuck in the restroom stall at a Chinese buffet.

Not bad for two whole weeks!

2


I'll go into more detail on the highs and lows of our trip next week, but one thing I will tell you is that our return flight was not pretty.

When we were planning this trip we debated flying versus driving for a long time, and for various reasons chose to fly this time.

Turns out if you take a 4-hour delay and multiply it by 6 kids, you get infinite regret over that decision.

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

On the plus side, they say boredom is good for kids, and I think they've had enough of it now to last until they're 30.

3


During the first half of our vacation, we stayed at my mom's. She doesn't like the well water at her place, so she was nice enough to buy us some big refillable gallon jugs of bottled water so we had plenty to drink.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Nobody has made me feel this important since Smokey the Bear.

Every time I took this carton out of the fridge,my kids wanted to know why I was singing "Captain Planet, he's our hero, gonna take pollution down to zero!"

All week long.

4


Phillip and I were able to leave the kids with my dad and stepmom to go on a belated anniversary getaway.

We stayed at a hotel in Minneapolis for a few days, eating good food and walking along a very pretty stretch by the river. We visited an art museum and saw a play. But if I'm being completely honest, the best part was getting up late on the first morning, eating the hotel breakfast, then getting back into our pajamas and watching a movie. I don't think I've ever done that before.

And everyone (even my dad and stepmom) were still alive when we got back.

5


The 1-year-old is going through a phase where he screams bloody murder whenever I try to buckle him in his car seat, put him to bed, get him out of bed, or change his diaper. Since we're basically doing one of those four things all day long, I'm having a hard time.

That's an understatement. I feel like I'm trying to parent a honey badger.

Oh, and this behavior is especially for me. No one else.

Maybe he just started to prefer Phillip after having him around 24/7 for two weeks of vacation. Or maybe it's some sort of reverse psychology trick that means he super-loves me. Or maybe he's just trying to drive me insane.

Whatever it is, my plan is to put in some earplugs and ride this thing out. Wish me luck.

6


I looked up the website of a waterpark where I wanted to take the kids.
My original question was whether the park sold swim diapers at the door, but I completely forgot about it when I noticed that under "Emergency Procedures" there were tabs for:
  • Rain
  • Cold weather
  • Lightning
  • Tornado
  • Fecal Incident
The best part was that the 'fecal incident' category was incredibly detailed, to the point of describing the different kinds of poop ("is it solid enough to be scooped out?") and what would happen in the event of each.

Also, from now on I'm calling all horrific poop accidents around here 'fecal incidents.' It makes them sound so classy.

7


I've been a fan of Adrienne at Hedger Humor for a really long time. If you don't know who I'm talking about, drop everything you're doing and go visit her site. Her cartoons are so funny and my life exactly.

I tell you all this because I recently had the chance to collaborate with her on a cartoon, which is a definite highlight of my summer. (Don't worry, I contributed the idea, not the drawing.)

Check out "Battling the Door and the Heat" and then subscribe to Adrienne's blog. Her newsletter is hilarious, by the way.

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7 comments:

Unknown said...

Jenny, every Friday is brightened by your humor. I laugh out loud every single time I read one of your 7QT posts. But I have to say my favorite this week is your damage total for vacation. I'm the oldest of 8 and it seemed like when we were growing up we'd always leave a vacation with so many hilarious stories from people getting locked in bathrooms or some other shenanigan. . . good to know we aren't the only ones! :)

Jenny Evans said...

My kids know how to party!

Ann-Marie Ulczynski said...

Yay! It sounds like you had a great trip. Minus the layover. No fun at all. I'm glad you guys were able to have a little getaway.

Carolyn Astfalk said...

"Fecal incident." I like it. At least better than the alternatives.

Jenny said...

Her drawings are spot on for me too!

AnneMarie said...

Oh man, the 4 hour layover sounds rough! I'm glad you all made it through. The 'fecal incident' racks me up!

PurpleSlob said...

I love Adrienne! But not more than you!!
That's cool that you got to collaborate!!