Friday, July 12, 2024

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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