Friday, October 11, 2019

7 Quick Takes about Joining the 1%, Learning about U.S. History at Breakfast, and Bar Graphs You Just Don't Feel Like Making

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

1


Attention, everyone! This week, I received this personalized congratulations from CVS in the mail:

7QT is a weekly recap of the big (and loud) Unremarkable Files family! Laugh along with us in this week's edition of 7 Quick Takes! #bigfamily #7qt #7quicktakes #lifewithkids #real

You know all that stuff you hear about the elite "top 1%?" That's me now.

2


When Monday morning rolled around, anyone walking by us at the bus stop must have assumed we'd been running a weekend fight club at our house.

My 5-year-old had a black eye from colliding with his brother while they were playing in the leaves on Friday, and my 3-year-old had a cut and a fat lip from tripping while jumping on some cushions on the floor on Saturday.

I've never seen anyone's upper lip swell like his did, by the way. For a few days, he could barely close his mouth and looked a lot like a snapping turtle. As my 7-year-old put it: "His lip is so huge! It's funny but also gross and kind of sad."

3


My kindergartner pulled the oats out of the kitchen cupboard and furrowed his eyebrows at the canister.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Pointing, he said, "Is this George Washington?"

7QT is a weekly recap of the big (and loud) Unremarkable Files family! Laugh along with us in this week's edition of 7 Quick Takes! #bigfamily #7qt #7quicktakes #lifewithkids #real
Disclaimer: not a U.S. president.

He was probably confused because he'd never seen the Quaker logo before; I always buy the store brand of oats.

But I'm in the top 1% now, guys. I need to start living like it.

4


Our house is looking so good right now! 

In the last month we sealcoated the driveway, finished the deck, and had an embarrassing amount of water-damaged trim repaired on our house. Now we're having the house exterior painted and I LOVE how it looks.

They did paint right over our house number, though. When I pointed it out to one of the painters he asked in all seriousness, "You don't like it that color?"

You know those moments when you don't even know what to say so you just make a weird choking noise in the back of your throat?

So I guess I'm off to the hardware store today to buy new house numbers.

5


One thing I love about 3-year-olds is that they're masters of shutting you down with a stinging one-liner.

Phillip was putting our preschooler down for a nap and told him, "I love you to the moon and back."

With a totally straight face, the 3-year-old retorted, "Well, I don't go to the moon."

Fair enough.

6


As you know, General Conference was this weekend. My family had a great experience and I feel really motivated to make some changes for the better.

One of my favorite talks was this one by Stephen W. Owen. I often feel like my brain has been replaced with a hamster wheel and as a result, my priorities are sometimes backward.

Elder Owen told a story about some well-meaning people who put out hay to help a herd of stranded deer get through the winter. Even though they ate it, hay doesn't provide all the nutrients deer needs, so they still didn't survive until spring. He said: "Many of the messages that bombard us in the information age are the spiritual equivalent of feeding hay to deer  we can eat it all day long, but it will not nourish us." Amen.


I also liked Michelle Craig's talk answering the question "How can I tell when God is trying to tell me something?" In it, she gives three excellent tips for recognizing answers to prayers and hearing God's voice.

I already used her talk as the basis for one Family Home Evening lesson and I think anyone, regardless of their age or religious affiliation, can get a lot out of it.

7


A few times a year, I like to volunteer in my elementary schoolers' classes. I went into my kindergartner's class for the first time this week and was so impressed.

I was there for an hour and saw the kids make a craft, play pretend, do math problems with their teacher, free play, do yoga, talk about the calendar, and do a Halloween-themed freeze dance. No wonder my son likes kindergarten so much.

7QT is a weekly recap of the big (and loud) Unremarkable Files family! Laugh along with us in this week's edition of 7 Quick Takes! #bigfamily #7qt #7quicktakes #lifewithkids #real
Very busy doing some serious art.

For part of the time I was at the math rug, where kids were flee-playing with toys. My job was to (1) make sure they didn't throw anything and (2) encourage math-related play (they were playing with things like snap-together blocks, counting puzzles, and interlocking bears with numbers on them.)

At one point I suggested using the snap-together blocks to make a bar graph showing their age, their sibling's age, and their parent's age. Most of the kids were excited about the idea but one boy looked at me pitifully and asked, "Do I have to? My dad's 72."

Yowza.

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4 comments:

jen said...

Your three year old's comment made me think of this comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIq8jLj5TzU

Kelly M. said...

Next step will be buying the brand name cold cereals without coupons! Being outside the 1% means I haven't bought Chex (instead of 'rice squares') for a long time. Also- the Quaker Oats dude has seriously had some work done...he looks about 10 years younger than the last time I saw him.

Jenny Evans said...

Kelly: Instead of Tastee-Os?? Never!

PurpleSlob said...

My PP (6) says I love you to all the planets and back. I don't go to the moon- stinging retort indeed!