7 Quick Takes about Advice for Sixth-Time Moms, House Rules, and Looking Forward to the Weekend

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

—1—

On the way out of a back-to-school meeting for parents at the elementary school for my youngest child, a lady in the hallway must've mistaken me for a first-time mom and said: "Enjoy them when they're in third grade, they grow up so fast!"

"They do," I agreed. "How old are your kids?"

"My oldest is 15," she answered. 

And I, with my six kids, the oldest of whom is 20 years old, was like:

No, I'm just kidding. I was nice. But I did tell her this wasn't my first rodeo. 

—2—

Speaking of those older kids, they're doing great in their freshman and junior year of college. 

When she's not making fancy turkey, tomato, and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, my 18-year-old is in the music building all day and regularly texts me pictures of the string indents in her fingertips. She's busy but I'm happy to say that she's also having a lot of fun; this week she went out with friends to a place off-campus that makes nitrogen ice cream.

My 20-year-old recently made lasagna with her Nigerian roommate who loves the Garfield comics and has always wanted to try it. She's also auditing a literature class that she loves so much she skipped a different class to visit her professor's office hours and they talked about the novel they're reading for an hour and a half... did I mention that she's a neuroscience major? Just like her dad, she has way too many interests for one lifetime.

—3—

The 16-year-old had an eye appointment first thing in the morning, but it wasn't until we were in the car on the way to the appointment that he remembered something important. This morning in school, he was supposed to be making up a presentation that was late from when he was out sick a few weeks ago, and he already felt like this particular teacher was mad at him for not getting it done earlier so he really couldn't miss it.

So we forgot about the eye doctor, rerouted and dropped him off at school instead, and then after all that it turns out the teacher was out sick that day anyway. Oh, the irony.

He arranged by email to do the presentation with her the following day, when — you guessed it — he woke up sick and couldn't go to school.

—4—

When he stumbled downstairs, with a stuffy nose and headache, my 12-year-old slammed her fist on the counter and said, "Again?! It's like watching every member of our family get picked off by monsters!"

And it sort of is. We've been sick so much this school year already! Being sick triggered my 8-year-old's reactive airway disorder and he had an asthma attack over the weekend, too.

—5—

One of my kids has gotten into the habit of yelling, throwing something, or stomping upstairs and slamming the door when mad, so a little while ago, we talked about appropriate and inappropriate ways to react when we're angry and posted a list of "House Rules" on the fridge.

I noticed a few days ago that one of the siblings added "No clapping really loud." That's not an anger reaction, just an absentminded habit that apparently someone finds really annoying and wants to surreptitiously correct.

I really appreciate the attention to detail here. The addition was written in the same marker and in my same handwriting so I wouldn't notice the addition.

—6—

I went to a local fall fair with my 8- and 10-year-old boys. There were bounce houses for the kids to jump in, live music to listen to, and a lot of art and craft booths selling everything from organic goatmilk soap to crocheted bikini tops. 

One of the booths was for a boys' private school in the area, and the recruiter targeted us from a mile away. When we got close enough, he called out to my 10-year-old with a friendly smile, "What grade are you in?"

"Fifth grade."

"Do you like sports?"

"Yeah!"

"How often do you have gym class at school?"

"Once a week."

"Well, how does four days a week sound?"

Oh, he was good. Ultimately, though, my son wouldn't be the one footing the $50,000-a-year tuition, so he'll just have to learn to live with disappointment and Monday gym.

—7—

This weekend you're invited to join me as I watch general conference, a semiannual gathering of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which I belong to. 

I'll be watching online, but a few members of my family will actually be at one of the sessions in person! I doubt we'll be able to pick them out during the broadcast, but I'll let you know if I see them.

photo courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

For me, general conference is always a time of recalibration and now that my kids are older, I can even sit down for most of it instead of pacing with a baby or getting up a million times for snacks. Actually, we still have snacks during conference but the kids are old enough to serve them to everybody, including me.

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