7 Quick Takes about Admirable Mothering, Shamrock Pancakes, and Nicknames That Aren't Catchy But At Least They Remind My Kids To Change the Toilet Paper Roll

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

—1—

On a remote learning day, I saw my first grader watching a video on the couch about women in history. He then came to me for help with the assignment at the end, which was to say something about a woman you admire and why.

"Do you know what 'admire' means?" I asked. (Sometimes their schoolwork means well, but the vocabulary used goes way over their heads.)

He shook his head.

"'Admire' means you look up to someone. Like, you think they're cool or you think they're good at what they do."

He absorbed that information, thought quietly for a minute, and then yelled, "You! You're good at what you do! You're a good mom."

—2—

We had a few days of 60-degree weather this week! I decided on one of them I should go for a run, since I got into running practically every day over the summer but stopped once it got cold.

I took my regular route, which probably wasn't a good idea since I haven't moved much since November. My body had NO IDEA what was happening. I'm pretty sure it thought I was having a stroke. My blood was in my ears, my limbs were itchy... it was brutal.

Then the weather turned cold again, and I was happy to throw my running shoes in the back of the closet and forget about it until spring arrives for real.

—3—

I wasn't planning on doing anything for St. Patrick's Day. One of the things I love about it, actually, is that you don't have to do anything and no one expects you to.

However, the night before my 9-year-old asked "Are you going to make us green pancakes and milk in the morning, Mom. Are you??"

So I did.

Slightly wonky green pancakes. I did my best.

Green pancakes and milk, as requested. 

Over breakfast my 9-year-old was giving a firehose-style explanation of St. Patrick's Day symbols and traditions to the 4-year-old.

I tuned in just in time to hear her say "...and there's shamrocks and leprechauns who guard pots of gold at the end of the rainbow and you have to wear green or I get to pinch you every hour!"

"Wait a minute," I laughed. "I've never heard about the 'every hour' part."

"Well, I added that."

—4—

Since Phillip had a some free time in the afternoon on St. Patrick's Day, we decided to take a little hike. 

We billed it to the younger kids as "a Shamrock hunt," even though it's too early for shamrocks yet, and brought along a green popcorn treat to have at the end of the trail.

And now we're gearing up for Easter! For Family Home Evening this week we hid plastic Easter eggs with the names of songs the kids learned in church about Jesus, and took turns singing them while eating candy.

Even without the candy, I really do love and look forward to Easter. It's such a hopeful time of the year.

—5—

It's official, the kids are going back to school for sure at the beginning of April. Since September, they've been doing a hybrid model (two days in school, three days learning at home on the computer.)

Returning full-time will be great for them, both socially and academically, but it's kind of bittersweet to know I only have a few weeks left. I'm certainly not looking forward to the craziness of getting everyone dressed and ready and to the bus stop on time 5 mornings a week.

I'll miss watching the 6-year-old riding scooters in the driveway with his little brother on breaks, chatting with the older kids between classes, and seeing everyone pop in and out of the kitchen a million times a day to grab a drink or snack.

Even though I'll still have the 4-year-old and the homeschooled 16-year-old at home, it will definitely feel quieter around here. But on the flip side, maybe now the kitchen will stay clean for more than 5 seconds.

—6—

When Phillip started talking about putting solar panels on the roof, I was happy to entertain the idea. Especially since for tax purposes, this would be a good year for us to do it.

I should've known things would snowball.

Now we're looking into contacting roofers for a new roof, since our current one is approaching the end of its life and needs to be replaced before installing solar.

Then the solar guys who came out here for a quote advised us to remove a few trees, which is a whole other project to deal with on its own.

Last night, Phillip was crunching numbers to see if it makes more sense for us to pay for this out of savings or do a cash-out refinance of the house.

I'm pretty sure if he'd approached me up front saying, "Hey, how about if we simultaneously refinance the house and remove trees and get a new roof and put on solar panels?" I would've hit him with a frying pan.

Clearly, things are getting out of control.

—7—

I can't remember the exact reason, but my 16-year-old recently referred to me as 'Jenny "Take Off the Old Toilet Paper Roll Before You Put on the New One" Evans' and it sort of stuck.

I'm sure they'll forget about it eventually, because it's not that catchy as far as nicknames go, but for now the kids are all referring to it every time they change the TP roll. 

But honestly, as long as they're changing it properly I really couldn't care less. Because we can all agree that this is just inappropriate:

Not the way to change a roll of toilet paper.

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