7 Quick Takes about Describing Your Dad in Meticulous Detail, Lucky the Leprechaun, and Book Reviews from My First-Grader

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

—1—

I hope all the dads had a happy Father's Day. As is tradition, we vacuumed out Phillip's car and restocked it with gum and a new air freshener. I have to admit, he's definitely cleaned up his act over the years because we ended up hauling a lot less stuff out of there than we used to.

The 7-year-old also presented Phillip with this "All About Dad" page he completed at school.

I don't know if the 7-year-old was just in a hurry to get to recess that day or what, but this wasn't his most heartfelt work, to be honest.

And by the way, Phillip's eyes are bright blue.

—2—

But he shouldn't let his less-than-personalized Father's Day card make him feel bad. In church that day I helped out in Primary with one of the children's classes, and the leader had a little singing and sharing time about dads prepared.

"Now I want to ask you a question," she said in a sweet voice like the one Mr. Rogers used when he talked to kids on TV. "How does your dad make you feel better when you're scared or hurt or sad? Think about it and then tell your neighbor."

The kid next to me turned his head and went "He says 'Suck it up!'"

So I guess all kids are just super-sentimental about their dads on Father's Day.

—3—

Phase One of the mailbox landscaping is now complete!

That is just sand. Next step is to cover it with 6" of topsoil.

After the mailbox area was finished, the rest of the sand went by wheelbarrow to fill in an exceptionally large depression that I hope is just decomposing tree roots and not a portal to the underworld opening up in our backyard.

I don't want to discount the kids' help, but honestly I was the one who shoveled most of the 7 tons. I ended up hurting myself a little pushing the heavy wheelbarrow, but luckily I'm already feeling better. Which is good because the 6 cubic yards of topsoil I've got to shovel on top of this stuff was delivered today.

—4—

On a trip to the grocery store with my daughter, I stopped in my tracks in the cereal aisle and gasped, "What did they do to the Lucky Charms guy??"

I'm a 90s kid, and this is how he looked then:

This is the box I saw the other day:

I don't know why it's so creepy that they gave him irises, but it IS. And they're so maniacally shiny. He looks like he is on drugs. 

And apparently this redesign happened a while ago, because my 11-year-old had no idea what I was talking about and just said, "Welcome to the 21st century, Mom."

—5—

Who remembers Frog and Toad books from when they were little? I remember reading those a lot in elementary school and doing projects on them. 

But apparently they aren't exciting enough for kids today. Here is my first grader's review of The Letter, a chapter from Frog and Toad Are Friends.

Not impressed.

—6—

As always, I feel like I can barely keep up. The kids have been slacking on cleaning chores, the upstairs toilet has an Out of Order sign duct taped to it, and the inside of the microwave looks like a cat exploded in there. So of course when I saw an email from the high school Spanish teacher looking for families to host an exchange student in the fall, I replied saying we could do that. 

Do I honestly think I have the bandwidth to take in an extra teenager for two weeks? No. But I think if I wait until life is less busy, I'll never do anything. So my strategy right now is to just commit, and then I'll have no choice.

When I talked to the kids about hosting a Spanish student, the 11-year-old's eyes widened and she cried "I can't keep my room clean for two weeks! It'll make such a bad impression!"

That's right, my kids are so slovenly that it reflects badly on their entire country, and they know it.

—7—

Phillip and I have now been married for 20 years. We didn't do anything special for our anniversary, but soon we plan to visit a jeweler to pick a new setting for the diamond that I knocked out of my engagement ring in 2021. And in the winter we're planning a trip to Mexico together.

Obviously I've fallen out of the habit, but at one time I used to write a witty/insightful post on marriage every year on our anniversary. If you have time, check out some of the posts from years when I apparently had it more together than I do now!

Would you Spend $5 on an Anniversary Gift? (2015)

13 Funniest Marriage Moments (2016)

The One Thing Happy Couples Always Remember (2017)

15 Things I've Learned in 15 Years of Marriage (2018)

Everything I've Learned About Marriage, I Learned from Two Turtles (2019)

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