Friday, January 6, 2017

7 Quick Takes about Banking Letdowns, Kids Who Do Manual Labor for Fun, and Good Theme Songs for Babies

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

1


Having kids get older means you do responsible things like take them to open their first bank account. I don't know why it blows my mind that my baby now belongs to a federal credit union, but it does.

While we were waiting in line I realized that my daughter may have never even been in a bank before. I do everything online, and when I occasionally need to visit an actual branch I do it while she's at school.

"Have you ever been in a bank before?"

"No."

"So what do you think?"

"It's less interesting than Gringott's."

Well, yeah. The wizarding bank from Harry Potter is a vast marble hall staffed with goblins and protected by enchantments and fire-breathing dragons. Our bank just has fluorescent overhead lighting and a jar of Dum Dums for the little kids who come in.

2


It's been several months since I needed to start supplementing with formula to feed my 8-month-old.

At first I was using up the samples of the brand name formula I brought home from the hospital, and when that ran out I went to CVS and got some of the store brand.

Around that same time he started turning up his nose at bottles. I didn't make the connection until I was given some more name brand samples by a friend... and he drank them happily.

My baby is a brand snob! How did that happen?

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Says right here on the label: "all infant formulas sold in the U.S. meet the same FDA requirements."

I've raised 5 other babies before and I've never seen anything like this. Store brand was always good enough for them. Next thing you know he'll be demanding designer onesies and an iPhone 7 to play Peekaboo Barn.

3


I'm not sure what happened, but the other day the four oldest kids decided to clear the entire driveway of snow. Nobody asked them, they just did it. And I certainly wasn't going to stop them.

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

As Phillip and I sipped hot chocolate and watched them out the window, we may or may not have agreed that this is why we had children.

4


Have you ever used an online photo site to make a picture into a puzzle?

This Christmas, the baby drew his 10-year-old sister's name for our family gift exchange and decided to make a photo puzzle of the first time she held him in the hospital. (Totally his idea, I just helped.)

Turns out that the puzzle was really hard, especially her polka-dot sweater and her long, loose hair.

As we were struggling with the puzzle she kept saying "Why didn't I wear a different shirt? Why didn't I put my hair up?"

I pointed out she didn't know then that we were going to turn a picture from that day into a puzzle.

Her older sister answered, "When you get ready in the morning your first thought should always be, 'What if someone makes a puzzle out of this moment?'"

That's probably advice that is applicable to all of us, really.

5


Over here, we are also having frustrations with girls' workout clothes. Honestly, who decided that LITTLE GIRLS need to look sexy when they exercise?

We went shopping and it seemed like everything in the activewear department was either skin tight or had a microscopic inseam. Or both. My daughter tried a bunch of stuff and said she was just uncomfortable in all of it.

We ended up finding a pair that at least went mid-thigh and hit up the boys' department for a second pair  proving that it is, in fact, possible to play sports in something that doesn't look like a bikini bottom but apparently only for boys.

6


I watched the new Ghostbusters movie and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Read this review instead of watching the trailer to make your decision; somehow they made the most boring and un-funny trailer ever out of the most fun movie I've watched in a while.

Go see it, and tell them Jenny sent you. (That won't do anything, by the way.)

On a related note to the last take I noticed that even though they were female, the Ghostbusters were able to do their jobs in serviceable jumpsuits that weren't so tight they were painted on or so short their buttcheeks were hanging out.

Still trying to reconcile this with the situation in the girls' activewear department at JC Penney.

7


The baby has started getting around with an army crawl, and boy is he fast when he sees a chance to do something he's not supposed to.

Yesterday he clawed his way over to the giant block city the 2- and 5-year-old had built earlier that day and wildly began knocking it down before I could stop him.

My 12-year-old came in just in time to see him scoot over and start smashing, and sang "I came in like a wreeeee-cking baaaaall!" and now I will never hear that song the same way again.

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11 comments:

Unknown said...

My girls wear their older brother's hand-me-downs for sports practices for the most part. They have a couple of the much too short girly ones, but they hate them.

Michelle said...

I do not understand the little girl clothing situation sometimes. I was at Old Navy the other day, and the toddler dresses for spring ALL had a huge cut out in the back or just a totally gaping back. I don't understand. It's just not something I want my almost 2 year old wearing.

Rachel said...

"What if someone makes a puzzle out of this moment?" -- important thought to consider.
Girls clothing is an endless phenomenon, and possibly why my mom hates shopping and assigns all shopping for my sisters to me. Interesting news is that when you live in a Muslim country, it's very easy to find swimsuits for girls with long pants and sleeves and attached headcoverings... All of us wear swimsuits with sleeves because it's the best idea when you're white and live in the tropics. My parents are a lot more okay with the girls wearing shorts for appropriate occasions now, but when I was growing up we weren't really allowed to wear shorts and I played any sports in jeans and considered it pretty normal.

Queen Mom Jen said...

Yes Gringott's vs the real bank. Bummer indeed. Although I like visiting my safety deposit box without the dragons and all...

Jenny Evans said...

I remember clear as day the first time I picked something off the rack at the store and realized I couldn't just grab anything, because some skirts were way shorter than I wanted to put my daughter in. She was 4.

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

I am an empty nester but I get such a kick out of your blog Jenny! #4 - the puzzle question - made me laugh out loud - David too!

Crystal Green from Sharing Life's Moments said...

Ahh, such a wonderful memory of the wrecking ball. I can understand your desire to NOT go to the bank. I'm not a fan of going anywhere I don't have to either.
I love the puzzle aspect.

PurpleSlob said...

Girls' clothes are ridiculous!! At least we can go get board shorts from the boys!
The puzzle consideration- aha! That's what it's called!! Thanks for naming what I do every day! Not! lol

Julie @ Just the Joy's said...

Were your kids shoveling snow in t shirts?! Send them my way next time! ;) We have 3 bathrooms and I always tell Michael that cleaning toilets will be first learned chore! Hah!

Jenny Evans said...

My #1 parenting tip is to learn to outsource. Well, maybe not #1. But it's up there.

AnneMarie said...

The dilemma of clothes for women drives me crazy! I'm just grateful that 1. I know how to sew, and 2. The boy's department exists. I can't count how many times, during the summer Olympics, my husband heard me rant about the oversexualization of everything involving women. Like beach volleyball. It's such an amazing sport, and clearly, since the guys wear tank tops and shorts, you'd think it's possible to play it while wearing clothes. But no, the only way that women can compete in it seems to be while wearing bikinis. Sigh.