7 Quick Takes about Alternative Places to Pray, Homemade Battle Accessories, and Drawing Exercises that Aren't for the Faint of Heart

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

—1—

Did you make any New Year's resolutions this year? I came across this video on YouTube called "The 5 New Year Resolutions" and started laughing my head off about one minute into it.

"This is you!" I yelled to Phillip , "Ha, ha, the second person in this video is totally you!"

I made him come over to watch and then proceeded to eat some humble pie when #3 was totally me.

(Except for the coffee part. I don't drink coffee and even if I did, I'm way too cheap to ever buy it at a drive-thru establishment.)

—2—

Usually I say my morning prayers in my bedroom, but it happened to be quieter in the living room one day so I knelt down there. I should've known it wouldn't stay quiet for long.

4-year-old: [wandering up] Why are you praying here?

Me: Because you can pray anywhere.

4: Even underground?

Me: Uhh... I guess.

4: Even in lava?

Me: Especially in lava.

—3—

In other cute misunderstandings, I told the 4-year-old we were making a special dessert on Thursday.

"What is it?" he asked, already salivating.

"Mini fruit tarts."

He looked really confused, and it took a few minutes of question-and-answer before I finally figured out why. He didn't know the word tart, and thought I was saying "mini fruit tarps." 

He'd been envisioning the blue woven plastic sheeting we use to cover things outside when it rains. Albeit in miniature form.

—4—

For the first time, I find myself trying to prop up books in a too-empty bookshelf, instead of tearing my hair out because the kids keep trying to cram in twice as many as will actually fit.

My kids are avid library readers, but the library is closed now with the exception of curbside pickup of specific books you put on hold. Pre-COVID they chose most of their books by browsing the shelves, so this has been hard.

However, I recently learned something: our library will assemble an assortment of books based on a survey you fill out about your reading preferences, and my kids were ALL OVER THIS. They all wanted to fill out a survey immediately, the result being that I was summed to the library the next day to pick up 53 books.

Before COVID we probably checked out that many books at once every week, but we did all the work of collecting, scanning, and schlepping them to the car. This time I had to stand there while two librarians went back and forth, back and forth, carrying stacks of books for me, and it was kind of embarrassing.

Maybe next time we'll space out the surveys a little and have one kid per week do one so I'm not to ashamed to go back.

—5—

I finished getting ready one morning and my preschooler told me, "That was a quick shower!"

It hadn't been particularly quick, so I figured he must have been really absorbed in an activity. "What were you doing out there?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"Because sometimes when you're doing something super-fun, it seems like time goes really quickly."

"I wasn't doing anything fun," he said. "Something super-fun would be like... I don't know. Like something with you!"

Cue all of the feelings.

—6—

My kids got a fort-building kit for Christmas. They're busy building structures and covering them with sheets, but lately they've also been constructing these battle objects and trying to hit each other with them when I'm not looking.

The kids claim it's a club, but I think it looks like a coronavirus on a stick.

—7—

The mini fruit tarts from Take #3 were the treat for Family Home Evening this week. 

My daughter had the idea to take a photo, divide it into a grid, have each family member copy a section on a different piece of paper, and then tape them all together to see how it looks. She chose one of me and three of the kids making funny faces.

Afterwards, the kids topped their own mini tarts with fruit slices.

Made by the 6-year-old.

So how did the replica drawing we made turn out? 

Horrifying, thanks for asking.

The ogre in the top right corner is me, by the way, and I'm sorry in advance for haunting your dreams tonight.

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