Friday, September 21, 2018

7 Quick Takes about Picking Other People's Noses, Thoughts on Pirates, and Where to Go If You Need A Hundred Styrofoam Heads for Some Reason

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

1


My middle schooler loves to write, and she just came up with the idea to do a weekly writing challenge where we both use the same writing prompt to create a few pages and then compare.

I haven't done any fiction writing for years, but I think this could be fun. She found a site that is so off-the-wall called Writing Prompts That Don't Suck and pulled some ideas off of there.

We'll start this weekend. I just hope the first prompt we get is easier than: "Make this the first sentence of your story: 'Sonia walked into the office with a vague feeling that the new copyeditor was, in fact, a lizard person.'" Seriously. It's right there.

2


The other day I was — how shall I put this delicately? — grooming my 2-year-old when I noticed a booger in his nose. Without consciously thinking about it, I removed it with what I had on hand. Which was my hand.

"EEEEWWWWW! That's so gross!" the older kids chorused.

"I'm never going to pick my kids' boogers," the 12-year-old announced.

Oh, really. Well, I want to get that in writing because she 100% will pick her kids' boogers someday (and probably their crusty little cradle caps, too) and when that day comes I'd like to present her with a framed copy.

3


I don't know how it slipped my mind, but Wednesday this week was International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Luckily, this poster at the library reminded me just in time:

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

Now, I love a good sea shanty from time to time. Who doesn't? But did you ever think about how it's kind of strange that preschoolers run around pretending to be pirates and we're like "that's so cute!"

It's not like pirates were mostly nice guys and in light of that we forgive the extra bit about the plundering and pillaging. That's literally the definition of a pirate.

They're like, really bad guys.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Actual pirates getting busted by the Navy. Yo ho ho!
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Not that my kids don't have a pirate steering wheel from Home Depot attached to our playset in the backyard at this very moment.

It's just weird when you think about it, that's all.

4


In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, the kids had a holiday from school.

Just kidding, I'm pretty sure it was because of Yom Kippur.

Though the school district did leave it intentionally vague so I guess we'll all need to draw our own conclusions.

5


My 12-year-old daughter celebrated the holiday by going to the dentist to have a cavity filled.

Meanwhile, my 2-year-old celebrated by having tantrums at the train table in the waiting room because the magnets kept repelling each other and life is meaningless.

At the end of her appointment my daughter politely refused taking something from the "prize box," but our pediatric dentist convinced her to take a look before making her decision and she ended up coming out with this:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Meet her new keychain, Poopsie.

I'm normally not a fan of poop emoji merchandise, but I have to agree if there ever was an appropriate occasion for a poop emoji it's probably having some guy poke around in your mouth with an electric drill.

6


I wasn't looking for blogging material when I went to the thrift store this week, but they found me.

My son was less than impressed when I suggested we buy him this size 10 bathrobe that said #DUDE on the back, probably because we're not a bathrobe family.

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

Then my 6-year-old asked about this bin full of styrofoam heads. I told her they were for displaying merchandise like hats or wigs, but then I got to wondering just how many small business owners are actually shopping at Savers for their office supplies so really, what ARE they for?

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
If you would buy one of these, please comment below with why.

Hanging over the Halloween costume accessories at the register was this sign, which I don't even know why but I loved it so much.

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

On a side note, Phillip's mom just bought tickets to come visit us the week before Halloween.

I'm looking forward to her being here with all her crafting and seamstress skills to bail me out of the mess I'll probably get myself into promising to whip up a functioning R2D2 costume from scratch using lint I found in the dryer.

7


While playing a board game with my 4- and 6-year-olds, my 4-year-old randomly said "When I grow up, I'm going to be a grandpa!"

I laughed and said you have to be a dad before you can be a grandpa.

"Okay," he said, amending his list, "When I grow up I'm going to be a dad. And a policeman. A policeman, a fireman, a dad, an artist, and a science teacher."

Then my 6-year-old piped up with "I'm going to be a gymnast, a ballerina, a vet, and a pianist."

"And a mom, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed quickly, "Because I want to have four kids and name them Billy, Jilly, Billy, and Joe."

"Wait  you're going to have two kids named Billy?"

Nodding, she explained "They're gonna be twins."

My life plans were not nearly so specific when I was 6. This girl is going places.

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6 comments:

StorkWatcher said...

The styrohead thing? Not sure, but my sister bought 2 a few weeks ago so my niece could use them as a form to make her school project: One she laid clay on top to shape it for a model of a BRAIN. She carved and poked in all the little folds and painted it - looked SO cool. Our mom was a little miffed she cut the top half of the other model's head to work on the second portion.... A little lobotomy, anyone?

Karen said...

oh goodness, if my mom had a list of things I said I was NEVER going to do as a mom.... well, she would be a happy person to prove just how wrong I was!
thank you for the laughs
blessings
Karen

Unknown said...

Ha, enjoyed reading this as always. I just saw my first styrofoam head used on TV yesterday, on Nailed It as the form for icing to be added to make a bust of Donald Trump.

Jenny Evans said...

That sounds very cool. I never would have guessed that as a use! Tell your mom there's more at Savers if she's still upset about the one getting the surgical treatment.

Jenny Evans said...

Motherhood is a strange mix of unconditional love, wanting your kids to fill their potential, and giddily waiting for just the right moment to yell "I TOLD YOU SO!!!"

Jennifer said...

My Mom has a styrofoam head to store her wig from when she had Chemo. If that store was near us, I would probably get a couple for the kids to decorate for Halloween.