Days of Yore

Katie was writing her name and the date on her homework when I heard her sigh and say, "I miss the old days."  I asked her, "What do you consider the old days?"  She replied, "2012."  (2/21/13)

Would You Rather...

After James spent the afternoon asking his sister "would you rather" questions, Katie eventually fell asleep on the couch and James then directed his odd questions to me.
"Mom, would you rather have a disco room, own a Dunkin' Donuts, or have a talking golf ball?"           
 I said, "I guess I'd pick the Dunkin' Donuts".  
"Would you rather own Disney World, own Hershey Park, or own a hat that says 'Foxy Grandpa'?" 
 "I'll pick Hershey Park"  
 "Would you rather own a private jet, a rocket ship, or a 1000 bottles of milk?"
 "Private jet".
"Would you rather own a new hot rod, a monster truck, or an exploding pineapple?"   
"I"ll take the exploding pineapple"
He abruptly stopped and sternly said, "Mom! Really?!  You can pick a hot rod or a monster truck,  and you're saying you'd REALLY pick the exploding pineapple?!  I'm not going to do this anymore if you're not going to take it seriously!"
(2/1/13)

Casual Conversation

Our family recently went upstate to enjoy some winter fun in the snow.  While Tom and Danny went skiing, James, Katie and I decided to stay behind and wait to go snow tubing later. Katie and James were happily playing together in the other room when I heard an excerpt of their conversation:
James: "What last name would you rather have: Butt, Butt face, or Pooing Butt-face?"
Katie: "Butt."
James: "What last name would you want the least out of those names?"
Katie: "Pooing Butt-face "
James: "Good choices. That's what I'd pick too."
(2/1/13)

Diplomacy

     On the ride home from school, Danny asked me, "Mom, you know how countries can be hostile, neutral or pacifists?" I said, "Yes."  He continued, "And you know how a hostile nation is one that attacks other countries first, and a neutral nation doesn't attack, but will defend themselves if they're attacked, and pacifist nations only want peace?"  I said with a laugh, "I guess you paid attention in school today."  He said, "Well, I was thinking.  James, Katie and I are like countries.  James is a pacifist country, because if you hit him or do something to him, he never hits back.  He just runs and tells you about it.  Katie is the neutral country because she doesn't really hit you first, but if you hit her, even  by accident, she'll go crazy on you and attack you really bad.  And I'm definitely a hostile nation, because I  always attack James and Katie."  After one Social Studies lesson, Danny was able to give me the abridged version of 10 years of sibling diplomacy. (2/14/13)