Friday, April 27, 2018

7 Quick Takes about Prose for Moms, Honest Dishwashers, and How the Kids Today Commune with Nature

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

1


Even though we've never grown anything successfully, we decided to try tomatoes this year. We started them indoors and they're in a pot in a sunny corner of our bedroom.

So far, it's going well: the plants are sprouting, and my toddler is delighted we've been leaving out a huge container of dirt for him to play with for some reason.

This weekend he made a huge mess flinging wet dirt all around the bedroom with a curtain rod. As Phillip pulled out the Shop-Vac and started to clean up, I was reprimanding the toddler by telling him, "There's dirt in your hair, there's dirt everywhere!"

Phillip says I've been doing this mom thing for too long, since I inadvertently talk like Dr. Seuss now.

2


It was recently brought to my attention that the 'd' in the 'dry' cycle on the dishwasher has worn off and now it just says "cry."

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
My dishwasher totally gets me.

Is it weird that I feel totally validated by my dishwasher now? I knew washing dishes for our full house day in and day out was a legitimate reason to start sobbing.

Speaking of which, I should check my washing machine for a 'cry' cycle, too. There's definitely one on there. Laundry for 8 people is even worse than dishes.

3


One thing about youngest kids in a big family is that they copy their siblings' every move, so they seem older than they are. They learn a lot by just watching, meaning that my toddler isn't even 2 yet and appears to be potty training himself.

I didn't think much of it when he went to the bathroom, took off his pants and diaper, and sat on his brother's training potty because he does that sometimes (again with the copying.) But then he actually went, emptied the potty into the toilet, and flushed it

I've heard about these unicorn children who teach themselves how to use the potty, but I didn't think they existed until now.

Since the age-accelerated things he learns are usually more on the order of figuring out how to crawl out of his crib or how to escape from a 5-point harness (yes, he has already done both,) this is a nice change.

4


When we came home from running errands, I unbuckled the 1-year-old's car seat in the garage but he refused to get out. In the time it took me to walk around to his side of the car to get him, he grabbed the keys, shut all the doors, and locked himself inside.

Like I said, he's a smart kid but unfortunately he's chosen to use his powers for evil.

Luckily, someone had left a rear window open a crack and I was able to coax him back there and convince him to hand the keys to me through the sliver of space.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Perfectly sized for avoiding a very expensive visit from the locksmith.

5


Finally, we've had a few warm and sunny days that have almost convinced me spring might come this year, after all.

I went out to rake yard debris from the winter storms while the kids were playing outside, and I can't describe how good it felt to be outside on this gorgeous day after the Neverending Winter. At one point I paused to just close my eyes, feel the sun on my face, breathe in the fresh air, and listen to the birds singing in the trees. It was magical.

Then I looked down to see the 6-year-old, who was also enjoying the beautiful day. By hiding under my coat so she could see my phone.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Away, foul sunlight and birdsong!

Don't worry, she was probably watching a nature video on YouTube.

6


My kindergartner has this three-foot fall stuffed doll named Dolly. Dolly has been up in the attic with our out-of-use toys for a while, but my daughter wanted to get her down this week. She was so excited to see and play with her old friend again.

Then she noticed Dolly needed some repair work done. The seam between her legs was split and stuffing was spilling out. You can imagine how hilarious a 6-year-old thought it was that her doll was, um... eliminating stuffing.

And I added an item to my to-do list that I never thought I would: sew together a doll's buttcrack. Motherhood, you are so weird.

7


I don't know why I've been thinking about this lately, but a few months back I remember seeing a story about some YouTuber kidnapping a baby at the request of the dad to teach his wife a lesson about how easily something could happen if she wasn't watching all the time.

And you know what? I'm tired of the fearmongering about stranger abduction, as if we should seriously be worried someone will steal our kids if we close our eyes to sneeze. Yet we do things like drive them around in cars and let them go swimming and sledding all the time, which is statistically way more dangerous!

I've never thought of myself as a "free-range parent," more like someone whose parenting decisions are based on realistic risk and my child's own capabilities versus paranoia over the worst-case scenario. But I guess that's kind of what "free-range" means, so maybe I am.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

5 comments:

Kathleen said...

Cry cycle! That is perfect!

PurpleSlob said...

#3-WOW!! That's a biggie!! ChunkChunk did about the same, but she was only a week away from being 2, and their toddler class had started working on it.

Rosie said...

My younger kids have shown their early learning best by throwing epic tantrums far earlier than the older kids. SO MUCH screaming at the drop of a hat. It's so great...

Jenny Evans said...

Well, there's that, too. One of my youngest's first words, I'm not even kidding, was "STOP!" in the exact same inflection they use when someone is bothering them.

Jenny Evans said...

Isn't it? I can't make these things up.