Friday, July 13, 2018

7 Quick Takes about Choosing Your Words, Some Grumbling Over Child Labor Laws, and the Agony of Losing Your Secret Peanut Butter Cookie Stash

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

1


You know that song on the radio that says "I'm a rebel just for kicks?" Here's a video clip of some random people I don't know dancing to it for reference:



Anyway, it came on the radio the other day and my 12-year-old asked, "What kind of a song is this? 'I'm disobedient and I break rules because I find it entertaining?'"

Her observation made me think of to the "archaic rap meme" I used to see on the Internet, my favorite of which was this one:

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

Feel free to chuckle silently into your sleeve if you get it.

2


My 6-year-old and I just finished reading the Great Illustrated Classics abridged version of Anne of Green Gables, so we decided to watch the 1985 movie.

Even though my 10-year-old was bored out of his gourd, he did stick around to yell "Make sure to check for ticks!" every time Anne went running through the tall grassy fields. We live in New England, obviously.

Anne was a cuter movie than I remembered, but what I did NOT remember was the male schoolteacher making googly eyes at Prissy Andrews the whole time. Come on, girl, #metoo that creepo so you can work on your penmanship without Chester the Molester drooling on your slate already!

3


I never stop being amused by visual representations of how many people are actually in our family.

Logically I know there are 8 of us, but I forget what that looks like until we pack up for a family bike ride and it seriously looks like the van is about to fall over.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
One kid stayed home and the little kids' bike trailer was in the trunk.

This bike rack was a new purchase, and I was a little worried that the people at the factory hadn't thoroughly tested the "5-bike capacity" claim, thinking nobody would actually put that many on it.

Luckily it held, and we enjoyed a nice ride and some pretty views.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Taken just seconds before the toddler fell in. Just kidding. This time.

4


Our 14-year-old got a job this week, but first she has to fill out a bunch of paperwork to legally work in our state because she's a minor.

"This is ridiculous," I said, paging through the multi-page document outlining everything we had to do to secure my daughter's right to employment. "The 10-year-olds working in the textile mills in 1901 didn't have to do this."

Taking the papers back, my 14-year-old replied, "Mom, the 10-year-olds working in the textile mills are why we have to do this."

Oh. Right.

5


Thinking Putty is admittedly the coolest thing, but we just threw ours away because I'm fed up with finding it in the carpet, in people's hair, and on their clothes. The last straw was when we went to watch a movie and discovered a huge glob of Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty stuck to the couch cushions (technically it was more 'sat on' than 'discovered.')

I'm not a violent person, but in that moment I honestly wished Aaron was here so I could show him what crazy really looks like.

In the process of cleaning up the mess, my spray bottle of rubbing alcohol went missing. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it, and then my daughter mentioned she'd seen the 2-year-old with it.

Cue the panic attack, but bless his heart, he just picked it up and put it away. Not where I usually keep it (which is why I couldn't find it,) but he did place it under the sink with other similar-looking spray bottles and I have never been prouder of anyone.

6


Ever been busted hiding treats from your kids?

A friend brought us two plates of cookies, one chocolate and one peanut butter. I shared the chocolate ones with the kids but conveniently didn't mention the existence of the second plate, which I hid in the pantry behind an economy-sized container of quinoa.

I rationalized that (1) two of the kids are allergic to peanut butter anyway, and (2) peanut butter is my favorite. Mostly #2, if we're being honest.

Anyway, the next day when the kids saw her at a church activity she asked, "So which did you like better, the chocolate or the peanut butter?"

Ugh, I was this close to getting away with it, too.

7


Yesterday when we got to the pool, my younger kids weren't finished with their lunch so I told the others to go on ahead and we'd join them in a few minutes.

I still can't figure out how it can take 35 minutes to eat half an English muffin (that mystery will have to remain for another day,) but I did enjoy watching a familiar scenario play out in the car next to us: mom and daughter came out and while mom packed the trunk, the little girl got in the car and started messing around, climbing over the seats, bouncing up and down, looking in the cupholders, picking things up and playing with them... Warily, the mom looked up at her daughter playing with the driver's side head rest and sighed, "What do you think I want you to do right now?"

And as all kids are contractually obligated to do in that situation, the little girl acted as if she had no idea. Literally none. Like the concept of sitting down and buckling your seat belt when you get in a vehicle is so outlandish that no one would ever in a million years think to do it.

At least she didn't also have an English muffin that her mom was waiting for her to finish before 2024.

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6 comments:

Rosie said...

I'm SO worth you on the Thinking Putty. WHY do they have to grind it into everything imaginable???

happyme said...

My kids wanted thinking putty but after the great flarp episode of 2017 anything resembling flarp, silly putty, slime, etc. has been banned from our house and all I have to do is briefly mention it and the begging ceases.

Rachel said...

#6 made me laugh! You were so close! Why do people have to ask such questions? As the oldest sibling in a large family I have learned many skills related to hiding food over the course of my lifetime...

Michelle said...

Hahaha the cookie bust! That's hilarious. And fear not, I would have done the same as you.

Jenny Evans said...

I noticed at dinner that whenever someone takes food from the serving dish my 2-year-old now yells, "Don't take all of it!" I guess it just happens in big families.

Jenny Evans said...

Ugh. Yes.