7 Quick Takes about Responsible Purchasing Decisions, Playing with Wikki Stix, and Four Minutes of Creativity

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

—1—

One of my 16-year-old’s sandals went missing on his church kayaking trip a few weeks ago, and apparently someone found it and brought it back to church to reunite it with its owner. 

I saw it in the church foyer on Sunday and asked the 16-year-old, “Is that your shoe?”

“Yeah,” he said, and continued walking past it to go sit down in the chapel. Stopping and picking it up didn’t appear to cross his mind at any point.

This is what I’m dealing with, people.

—2—

The laundry hamper that my 8- and 10-year-old share is getting a little ragged, and the other day they decided to pool their spending money to buy a new one. I was on the periphery, listening to their deliberations and wondering if I should step in or not. 

It felt like my kids shouldn’t be using their own money for household necessities like 19th-century chimney sweeps, but on the other hand, their old hamper was still perfectly serviceable so I didn’t feel like I needed to jump in and offer to buy it myself. (I literally heard the 8-year-old tell his brother "Mom and Dad buy us things we need, and this is just something we want", and was that really a lesson I wanted to undermine right now?)

In the end, I decided to keep quiet. Who am I to tell them what’s the “right” thing to spend their money on if they found something they want and are excited about, and It turned out to be a fantastic exercise in teamwork and making smart purchases. Together they went on Amazon, comparison shopped the results, and checked the dimensions against their old one. And I guess now I just have to dispose of a beaten-up laundry hamper that no one else will want.

—3—

I recently learned that Paul Reubens died last year, after a mini-documentary about Pee-Wee Herman popped up in my YouTube feed.

And because I watched it, random episodes of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and clips from the movie Pee-Wee's Big Aventure started showing up, too.

Talk about nostalgia. If you never watched Pee-Wee's Big Adventure in the late 80s then this will probably make little sense to you, but if you did then enjoy this final scene from the movie. It is way more hilarious and wholesome than you remember it being as a kid.

—4—

Last week when my 12-year-old realized she was going to lose her Duolingo streak while at camp, she called home to ask Phillip to do a daily lesson for her. He told her that she "owed him one," which she took as an invitation to bake him a dessert from scratch at the earliest possible opportunity.

He greatly appreciated coming home after a long day at work to a homemade strawberry shortcake waiting for him on the counter. She's very gifted at finding reasons to bake something unhealthy, and I guess sometimes it comes in handy.

—5—

My 8-year-old turned up his nose at a pack of Wikki Stix that someone gave us, claiming that it "didn't look very fun."

They came with a little dot-to-dot of a moose, so hoping to get him interested I pulled it out and started working on it (of course humming "Connect the dots, la-la-la-la" like Pee-Wee Herman because YouTube). 

"Are you going to play with that?" my 8-year-old asked me incredulously.

"Yes, I am."

"Well, I guess you and I have different preferences," he said, pointedly ignoring me and my moose.

He was probably just jealous. This moose looked great.

After I finished, he did get interested and wanted to do the dot-to-dot, and then we started writing words in cursive with the Wikki Stix so it looks like maybe I’m not so dumb after all.

—6—

We spent a day boating with family and had a great day on the lake.

The 10-year-old learned how to drive a boat, the 8-year-old went tubing and on this little wakeboard called a Zup, and my husband hurt his arm climbing a tree near the shore and jumping off on a rope swing into the water.

This was the debut of Phillip’s new bathing suit. He's so tall I've been looking for a while for swim trunks that don't fit him like Daisy Dukes, and I finally found these on Amazon from a brand called Beautiful Giant. He will never let me forget that.

—7—

My 20-year-old just had me take the Divergent Association Task, which is supposedly a quick way to measure verbal creativity.

I got a 94%, which good because as a writer that's supposed to be what I'm good at in life. My daughter got a 96%, but as a neuroscience major I'm not sure how much that helps her.

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7 Quick Takes about the Opposite of Quiet, Youth Group Camping Trips, and My Middle-Aged Fifth Grader's Morning Routine

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

—1—

Usually my 18-year-old just ignores scammy texts that she receives, but she recently responded to one and a hilarious conversation ensued. My daughter drew it out so long, I have no idea why the other person didn't give up and move on.

The funniest part was when the scammer asked my daughter to send pictures of herself, so replied with a text that said "download image" and asked "Did you receive it?" Then she acted like she couldn't figure out why it wasn't working, asked for step-by-step instructions on how to text a photo, sent a few more "download image" texts and "photo.jpg" texts, and finally started accusing the scammer's phone of being the problem and arguing with them that they needed to turn it off and turn it back on again.

It was utterly ridiculous and I loved it.

—2—

Overzealously, I signed up at church to have a dinner group at my house this past Sunday. Not only do I dislike hosting and cooking, I don't have the energy to pull it off right now even if I did like it. I am insane.

Thankfully, I have the best husband in the entire world. On Saturday he wrote out a weekly meal plan, made a shopping list, and took the youngest to the grocery store with him. And while he was there, he not only knew about our dinner plans for the next night, but he had the thought "I wonder if our guests will be disappointed if there's no meat in the curry" and brought home a big package of chicken in case we needed it.

I keep picturing myself telling this to someone and having them turn to me and ask "So what exactly is it that you do here, again?"

Honestly, I don't even know. I feel like Phillip carries so much of the load around here but I still feel maxed out. Lately I've been wondering if I actually have some sort of a physical problem that is causing me to feel so drained, but then I look at my mile-long to-do list and it kind of seems like the problem is called LIFE.

—3—

The dinner guests were all people I knew from church, but one of them brought a friend and his reaction to being with us as we ate and talked was interesting. He said a few times during dinner that he was enjoying it because it was so "quiet."

I assure you that it was absolutely not quiet: we had 16 people in our relatively small house, including kids and teenagers who were the literal opposite of quiet.

But in our church we talk about feeling the calming influence of the Holy Spirit when you're in places or with people who follow the teachings of Jesus, and I think that may have actually been what he meant.

—4—

Part of the reason I didn't have the mental bandwidth to handle hosting dinner on Sunday was because I was planning a camping trip on Tuesday for the church youth group I'm in charge of. Thankfully I have amazing co-leaders who shared the burden of packing and planning and checking the weather obsessively.

The view from the campsite shelter as it was raining.

We hung out at the campsite, played games, went river tubing, took a hike, did a service project, and visited a church history site. I think the girls made wonderful memories and even though it was really hard to put together, all of our prep work was worth it.

Hiking and stopping at a water-filled basin in the canyon.

As we were driving home at the end of the trip, I almost had a heart attack when an LED sign on the side of the freeway said "Accident Ahead: All Lanes Closed." After a moment of sheer panic, though, I realized that we were taking the next exit and we wouldn't in fact be trapped in standstill traffic for hours with three vans full of exhausted teenagers eager to get home.

—5—

I knew this before, but the camping trip affirmed to me that I hate being in charge. I like to be a helpful cog in the machine, not the one who everyone looks at when something unexpectedly goes sideways and asks "Now what do we do?" 

Some people can handle that without letting it turn them into basketcases, but unfortunately I am not one of them.

Ironically, it doesn't show that I often feel like my hair is on fire. I've been complimented numerous times on my unflappable demeanor and been told a few times that it's the reason I was asked to be in charge of a certain project. LITTLE DO THEY KNOW.

—6—

When I came home from the camping trip, my 20-year-old saw how hot and tired I looked and offered me some of her ice cream in the freezer.

I sat on the floor and ate it while listening to her tell me a funny story about the kids at the theater day camp she's helping out with for the week, and it was probably the best ice cream I'd ever tasted.

—7—

You know what's a funny sight? When you walk by your dining room and it takes you a minute to realize that you didn't actually see a middle-aged guy sitting at the table drinking his morning coffee and reading the paper: it's just your 10-year-old, who poured his breakfast smoothie into a mug to drink while he reads. 

And what he's reading is actually a Dogman comic book.

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7 Quick Takes about Children's Entertainment, Being Brave, and Trying to Save the Driveway While Ruining the Driveway

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

—1—

We took the kids to the theater to see Inside Out 2. I really wasn't expecting much, having been conditioned by a decade of Disney ruining every classic kids' movie with a mediocre live action remake, but I was impressed.

Two things that were NOT in it that I appreciated:

1. No potty humor. Yes, it makes kids laugh but they're cheap laughs, and it honestly just annoys me. Believe me, mine do not need to be encouraged to make more fart and butt jokes.
2. No adult innuendo designed to go over kids' heads. Make parents laugh by being clever, not by being a weirdo and putting age-inappropriate stuff in a kids' movie.

Overall, I thought it was well thought-out and entertaining, just a good story. 

—2—

The kids used Phillip's suitcoat as a prop for a silly video they were making, and afterward my 8-year-old was still wearing it around. 

"Don't play with dad's suit, it's expensive," I said.

"It's because of the massive shoulderpads, isn't it?" he asked.

—3—

I was recently shopping online for marshmallow roasting sticks and found the cheesiest promotional video. I was dying laughing, especially if you watch all the way to the end.

I ended up not buying them, but I probably should, because according to the video I would have the funnest camping trip ever if I did.

—4—

My 8-year-old has been doing a rock climbing day camp this week, even though he's pretty terrified of heights. When I picked him up yesterday, he reported excitedly that he'd been brave enough to reach the top of one of the structures today.

"So it's not as scary as it used to be? Good job!" I congratulated him.

He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "I didn't say it wasn't scary anymore, I said I was getting more brave."

I guess he's right; bravery means that you don't let fear stop you, not that you aren't afraid of anything.

—5—

The 16-year-old went on a kayaking and camping trip with his church youth group. I have a lot on my plate right now, so Phillip assumed all responsibility for helping him get packed and ready to go.

The night before my son's early-morning departure, I checked in. Phillip assured me that all the necessary gear was packed and ready to go.

"Okay, good." I said. "What about food?"

The blank stare he gave me in response was not at all reassuring.

Did I mention that it was 11:30 at night, and here was the very real possibility that we had to plan, procure, and pack an entire week's worth of food in the next 6 hours?

Frantically, I started searching through the documents from my son's youth group leader, hoping I wasn't going to have to kill my husband and end up on Dateline.

Luckily for both of us, my son's only food responsibility was some snacks and a bagged lunch for the first day. That, I can handle.

My son had fun and did not starve to death.

—6—

We had our driveway sealcoated, and we are supposed to stay off of it for 48 hours afterward. 

The sealcoat guys roped off the driveway, but as I drove away to pick up my son I realized that it wasn't positioned so that the mailman would notice it before he pulled over and drove on it to deliver the mail — and he would probably be there any minute.

So I called home on my cell phone and asked my 12-year-old to quickly get some construction cones from the garage and place them in front of the area to keep the mailman off of it. She was so focused on her mission that she forgot she wasn't supposed to walk on the driveway and started to march right over it, with the cones in hand.

She tried. I tried. We all tried.

—7—

We finally got our van back into the dealer to sort out some weird error messages it was giving us, and the news was not good. It was so not good we are shopping for another vehicle and considering dumping this one in a ravine when no one is looking. 

Even the mechanic said it would be a "substantial amount of work" and recommended that we don't fix it and just trade it in. I've never heard a mechanic say that before.

But it's fine. Whatever. Money is just a social construct. Who needs it? Not me.

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7 Quick Takes about Hiking, the Human Body Warranty, and an Excess of Pancakes

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

—1—

How was your 4th of July? Unbelievably enough, we managed to coordinate having all three teenagers home from work all day (not as easy as it sounds).

In the morning we went swimming in a friend's pool, and in the afternoon we went for a hike. 

I was too scared to look down into this precipice so I got sort of close, stuck my camera out, and took this picture of Phillip exploring the inside. I did that to distract myself from the disturbing sight of the kids jumping gleefully from one side to the other like mountain goats. 

—2—

That night we went to a fireworks show. It was a fine show but it really wasn't worth the wait to get out of there. 

The police had directed us to park in a parking garage, and since we were at the top level that meant we had to wait in the car for an hour and a half afterward and were the literal last to leave.

We may do it again, but next time we'll bring a movie, sleeping bags, and possibly a 72-hour kit full of emergency rations.

On a related note, here is a fireworks-related clip from a show I love called Joe Pera Talks With You:

—3—

We've been pouring a bunch of money into our van lately and I am not happy about it. It's also taking forever. Remember when my parking brake malfunctioned and trapped me in an intersection in May? We have been in and out of the shop since then, hoping to fix it. 

The last time I was in the shop, it happened again as I drove away. Not happy. Zero out of five stars. I want a refund.

Instead I'm going back next week so they can "fix" it again.

—4—

Right now we also have the broken car of a friend in our driveway, which Phillip offered to fix for a friend who doesn't have the money. 

On top of that, the porch railing and the retaining wall in our backyard are crumbling, the handle of our sliding door broke off, the dryer stopped heating during cycles, the giant crack in the kitchen counter is still there, and both the siding and the deck are chipping and need to be respectively repainted and re-stained. And the basement is still not finished. 

Phillip told me the other day, "I'm thinking we should move."

"Where to?" I asked, thinking he just learned about a career advancement opportunity or something.

"To a place with no stuff."

I understand completely. Every single item you own represents time, money, and energy you have to spend maintaining that item. This is exactly why I'm a minimalist.

—5—

I once heard someone say that the warranty on the human body is about 40 years, and I'm also finding that to be true. 

Recently I've been getting pains in my feet when walking barefoot around the house, so I started doing some plantar fasciitis exercises and got the chunkiest, ugliest house slippers imaginable. 

They feel really good on my feet, though, so I couldn't care less. They're so comfortable that I regularly forget they're not my actual shoes and try to leave the house wearing them.

—6—

The other morning, I walked into the kitchen and my 16-year-old offered me pancakes.

I gestured to the griddle full of pancakes he was making. "You can't eat all those?" 

"I mean, I could." He paused. "But I shouldn't." Another pause. "But I would."

—7—

Out of boredom on a long drive home from another potential gymnastics gym for my son, I randomly spun the radio dial and decided to listen to whatever station I landed on.

I quickly gathered it was a classic rock station, playing first Metallica and then Twisted Sister. And then out of nowhere, three songs in a row come on that I clearly remember being released when I was a teenager in the 90s, and I have never felt so insulted by a radio station in my life.

I was going to vote with my orthopedic slipper-clad feet and change the station, but then I realized I actually liked everything they were playing so why fight it? I guess I am the target audience of the classic rock station now.

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The Educational Summer Vacation: Studying South Korea

Since 2012, my kids and I have been learning about countries around the world during summer vacation. You can read more about how it started here, or you can just jump in with us and read about what we did this week.

This week we picked South Korea, which the kids swore up and down that we'd done already, but I knew we hadn't. To settle the debate, we went through our stack of hand-drawn flags of the countries we do every summer and South Korea's flag wasn't there.

So here's what we learned about this week.

(This post contains my affiliate link, which means that if you use them to make a purchase I'll get a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Monday

We started by reading a short easy reader called Living In... South Korea while the kids found South Korea on the wall map and filled out their passport pages (not fancy, but you can print them for free here.)

The kids have recently pointed out that I could've designed their passport pages better and differently, but in this house you get what you get and you don't get upset.

Then my daughter looked up the flag of Korea and sketched it out.

They had a little trouble with deciding which lines were broken and which were solid, but I think they got it eventually.

South Korea is the most densely populated country second to Bangladesh. Up until WWII it was just Korea, but part of the agreement afterward was the division between communist North Korea and democratic South Korea. 

After finishing the flag, we watched this short YouTube overview of the country. (There's also this video of the history of Korea for older learners.)

At bedtime we read a fun picture book called The Green Frogs: A Korean Folk Tale about some frogs who never listen to their mom. It was a little weird, but told a moral in a way about listening to your parents which I really can't complain about.

Tuesday

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is considered a megacity because it has a population of over 10 million people. For reference, that's 2 million more people than New York City, but Seoul is 75 square miles smaller.

We watched this video to get a sense of how busy the city of Seoul is, but then we also watched some other videos to show how 700-year-old years old, like Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village, are just nestled right in to the city. (On some of these videos you can see the skyscrapers behind them.) 

There are also 3,358 islands belonging to South Korea, and we watched another drone video on one of them called Oedo Botania, kind of like a botanical garden stretching across an entire island.

The most distinctively-shaped building in Seoul is the North Seoul Tower, so when it was time for the kids to follow this tutorial to make a sunset skyline of Seoul, I asked them to put the tower somewhere in it. 

The 8 -year-old.

The 10-year-old.

The 12-year-old.

Can you spot the North Seoul Tower in each cityscape?

Wednesday

I always thought that written Korean looks super-scary, but I never knew it was simpler than it looks. Turns out that I just didn't know a secret: syllable blocks. 

Image courtesy of Fluent in Korean

Each character isn't very complicated. It only looks that way because the characters are combined into blocks of syllables. Once I knew that, it's pretty easy to pick them out. 

We practiced writing English phrases in syllable blocks to get my kids thinking in a different way:

"Unremarkable Files" if English used syllable blocks.

And then we watched some videos to learn how to say "hello," "please," and "thank you," pausing to see if the kids could find the individual characters in each of the syllable blocks in that written phrase. 

(This video might help if your kids are having a little difficulty with the concept.)

Properly speaking, written Korean is called Hangul (han means "Korean" and gul means "letter") and it has a pretty interesting history. 

In the 15th century, Koreans were using Chinese characters which meant that only very educated people could read and write. Hangul was designed to be simpler and more intuitive, where the shape of each letter imitated the shape of your lips or tongue when pronouncing it. (More on that is in this video.)

Reading the picture book The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi was the perfect way to finish off today. It taught the kids about the Korean language and also about friendship and being respectful of each others' differences.

Thursday

Did you know that Taekwondo is Korean? It literally means "the way of the foot and fist."

Luckily, my daughter has a yellow belt in Taekwondo and has been taking lessons at a local dojang for a few years, so she was able to teach us to do a few moves. If you don't have someone like my daughter at home, you might have fun copying these videos on basic forms, front kicks, and roundhouse kicks.

For dinner, we went out to a Korean restaurant.

Starter bowls of bean sprouts, kimchi, and other vegetables.

We made kimchi when we studied North Korea a few summers ago, and I wasn't really a fan. But this place's kimchi was to die for, especially the spicy kimchi. 

Not sure if I thought that because we don't make very good kimchi or because kimchi is a little bit of an acquired taste. Probably both. 

Bi bim bap.

Squid stir-fry.

It was a very good meal, but also pricey. We justified that because it was our anniversary, and we never buy each other presents so this was kind of it.

Friday

Korea has a rich musical history, going from this:

To this:

How that evolution happened, I'm still not sure. But in the last several years, k-pop has become so popular in the United States, even my 12-year-old already knew at least a little about it.

We watched a few videos of both traditional and modern Korean music, and then as a craft, my younger kids made fans inspired by the traditional Korean fan dance. It was super-simple, just decorate a piece of paper with your design, accordion fold, and tape the end.

Ignore my son's orange nebulizer mask in the picture. We were multi-tasking.

We had a great "visit" to South Korea this week, learned a lot, and had some fun. Some of the books I got for the kids and left strategically placed around the house were:

• Banned Book Club by Hyun Sook Kim (graphic novel for ages 13-17)
• When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park (ages 10-12)
• The Red Palace by June Hur (this lady writes YA murder mysteries set in the Joseon dynasty, my daughter liked this one so much she checked out the author's other two books, The Forest of Stolen Girls and The Silence of Bones)

I also got an adult novel called The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness, which I haven't had time read but I hope to get around to it soon.

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