The Bright Side

As the last week of summer vacation was coming to a close, Danny had been dreading the start of school, Katie had been anxiously awaiting it, and James had been rather ambivalent about the whole thing. As we were driving home from a party on Labor Day, James said to me, "I'm pretty happy to be starting school tomorrow. Now I can start looking forward to summer again."  Now that's what I call a true optimist. (9/3/12)

The Bedtime Story Question

In a bedtime story I was reading to Katie, a little girl brought her unicorn to Kindergarten.  It said in the book that the unicorn was very good at counting because everyone knows that unicorns are great at math.  Katie interrupted the story and asked, "Is that true?  Are unicorns really good at math?"  I said, " Well, that's what the story says."  She said, "No. I'm serious.  Are unicorns good at math in real life?"  (7/1/12)

Daddy's Favorite Girl

Katie and I were playing a game of shuffleboard when she turned to Tom and asked, "Daddy, who are you rooting for?"  Tom happily replied, "I'm rooting for my girl!"  She paused for a moment, looked over at me, then turned back to him and said,  "Which girl?"  With a wry smile, he said, "Why, my favorite girl, of course!"  With a look of relief, Katie smiled satisfactorily said, "Oh good, that's me." (6/27/12)

The Go Fish Commentary

James finally gave in to Katie's incessant begging and agreed to play a game of Go Fish with her.  Unfortunately, she did not get a second game from him due to such comments as, "Give me that ace, Mr. Fancy Pants" (6/7/12)

The Mustang

While driving home from track practice, James told me, "When I grow up, I'm going to drive a Mustang.  They are so cool. They have a lot more buttons and technology in them than our van."  I asked him, "When did you see the inside of a Mustang?" and he reminded me of the time he got a ride home with his friend in his dad's Mustang.   I said, "That must've been fun to ride in such a cool car."  James replied, "Yes.  Do you know what I like best about them?"  "What?", I asked.  He said, "I like that they're cramped".  Finding that answer quite funny, I began to laugh and he became very serious.  "What? Why are you laughing?", he asked, "It's true.  They're kind of...um...I don't know how to explain it.  They're cramped."  Unable to contain my laughter, James began to further defend his statement by saying, "This van has too much space in it.  I'm like a fish.  I like things cramped."  He wants a freewheeling life in the style of a Siamese fighting fish.  (5/24/12)

The Ho-mophone

While in the doctor's office waiting room, James and I passed the time discussing lots of different subjects.   In the middle of one of our conversations, he said, "Mom, did you know that the word 'ho(e)' has two different meanings?"  I swallowed hard, and asked, "Oh, really?"  He said, "Yes.  It can be a farmer's tool or it can also be Santa's laugh."  (5/16/12)

The Stupid Question

As Danny walked out of school, he greeted me with, "Can I ask you a question?" I said, "Sure. What's is it?" He hesitated and said, "Oh just forget it. It's a stupid question."  Doling out my words of wisdom, I said, "There are no stupid questions." He replied, "Sure there are.  There are lots of stupid questions!  What if I asked you if one butt cheek was bigger than the other?".  I stood corrected. (4/2/12)