1. “Mama, Mama! Look! Mama! Mama! Window. Window.”
Anthony pretends the chair back is a window.
2. “I aim to misbehave”
Lucia got this t-shirt from Grandma Pat, a diehard Browncoat.
3. Self portrait by Bella.
Look what I found on my phone.
She also took one of Anthony:
They just can’t seem to remember that the rule is “Don’t Touch Mama’s Phone. Ever.”
4. In related news: Yesterday Anthony broke the new lamp in the living room. The glass shade shattered all over the living room carpet. Fortunately it missed Lucia in the swing. The one we just bought from Ikea two weeks ago. That kid is a force of nature.
5. This morning Bella was telling me about a game that she and Sophie play called “The Wiseman’s Ghost” which she says will help Sophie to learn the Gospel. I’m not sure what exactly it entails except tha tSophie pretends to be Jesus and Bella tells her what to say. When asked if there’s a ghost in it, Bella says no. “It’s a little funny,” she says. And something about how “ghost” sounded better than “crucified.” I’m still not sure where the wise man comes in.
She has a remarkable gift for coming up with great titles. I still fondly recall the story she told me about The Singer of Popcorn Park.
6. Today my three big kids all went outside to stomp in the puddles. Barefoot. It was 41 degrees out and there was snow on the ground. But I didn’t stop them because they were OUTSIDE.
7. When she saw me taking pictures, Sophie asked me to take a video of her.
She explains that they are pretending to be Egyptians. The mud is from the flooding Nile.
“I’m playing in the mud. And so. So. So. So. So. Everybody else is getting their feet dirty. Hee hee hee hee hee. And so… there still… the snow hasn’t melted I know that. They’re still walking in the snow. There’s still bits of grass in the snow. Even… In fact, in fact, in fact… [singing] (to Ben) Mom’s taking a video of us. All right? So you have to make noise. [Ben screams] Muddy, you’re all muddy, you’re all muddy… We’re being Egyptians. We’re playing Egyptian outside. The mud on our feet is the mud from the Nile.” [more screaming]
And then there was this:
I can’t decide if her extemporaneous poem here is more hip hop or beatnik. “Mud feet, mud feet, mud, mud I have mud feet. Truly it is true. I am not lying. Boo. Boo. Boo. Boo. Boo. Goo. Goo. Goo. I am not lying. Which I’m really saying that. What. No I just don’t want to sing. I’ll talk. All right. All right. Mitmittyatkasight. All right. Shhh. Baby’s sleeping. Shh. Someone else is sleeping. Someone. Someone. He is a king. Shh. Someone is sleeping. Shh. Someone is… Quiet. Shh. Guess who it is. Shh. Guess right now. I do not bow. Vow, vow, vow. Bow, bow, bow… I do not bow. Bow. Bow. I do not bow. Bow. Bow…. I do not bow. Bow. Bow. Bow. …. Are you still taking a video?”
8. I was going over their catechism with the girls when Anthony wandered in. I asked him, “Anthony, who made you?” Not expecting an answer really. But he did reply, “Jesus.” Well then.
For more quick takes visit Conversion Diary
+JMJ+
Melanie, the idea of teasing as good for children seems related to the discussion we’ve been having elsewhere about Santa Claus. I really think that teasing is another form of play that is good for children and adults. Not mean-spirited teasing, of course, but something more playful meant to encourage bonding.
I have a relevant story from a few months ago . . . I was in a training seminar with a man from New York who started teasing one of the other women in our group. She was confused about why he was picking on her, so he explained, “In New York, when we give you a hard time, it means that we really like you.” Then he continued to tease her some more. LOL!
It showed me firsthand that teasing can be just another level of communication, where words’ literal meaning does not matter so much as tone of voice or body language. And if you understand when you are being teased and can play along, it like the difference between walking and dancing. =)
I love that essay on the value of manual labor. It reminds me of one of my favorite chunks of children’s literature from Wise Child where Juniper observes that when people lose touch with performing the necessary manual laor of living, they lose touch with other important things as well.
…And because we spent all weekend assembling new bookshelves and shelving books, I could actually get the book off the shelf and look it up. How wonderful!
Enbrethiliel, Yes. It does mesh rather nicely. It’s all about playfulness. Speaking of which… Bella lost her first tooth today and so we enter for the first time into the Tooth Fairy play. Sophie is already skeptical: “Is the Tooth Fairy really real?” Dom is doing a Facebook poll to determine the going rate for teeth but I think I’m setting the price at two quarters looking ahead to five kids and a whole lotta teeth.
I have become much more self conscious about the teasing we do and the kinds of play.
GeekLady,
Oh yes, Wise Child has many great insights into the value of manual labor. I loved that about it. A great novel about education in many ways. Juniper is a great pedagogue.
5 kids and twenty baby teeth at 50 cents a tooth is $50.
That would be Charlotte of Waltzing Matilda.
I love the teasing article. Tommy is very good at lovingly teasing and at first I was in the “they won’t understand, they’ll think you’re mean, why would you do such a thing” camp. But as usual, he was totally right. It allows us so much more intimacy, rather than the stilted, professional sort of relationship that a waiter might have with his customers that I had sort of been suggesting.
Wow, the article about the Magdalene Laundries is important, and chilling, though not surprising. People made up stories about how bad the church was? Say it ain’t so!
Thanks for your linky goodness. I haven’t found it hard to stay off Facebook in Lent, but I miss having friends draw good articles to my attention.
Geek Lady, That’s no small chunk of change. Some people were telling us one or two dollars and suggesting special dollar coins and the like. That seems like a recipe for disaster. I liked best Charlotte’s suggestion that they grabbed random handfuls of change. The kids had fun looking for patterns and trying to determine why a particular tooth might have merited 84 cents, say.
Dweej, I suspect fathers are the more often promoters of that kind of playful teasing than mothers, though of course both can do it well.
Random handfuls of change sounds like the most fun ever. I’m absolutely stealing this idea. Thank you, Charlotte, whoever you are!
On the contrary, special coins or dollar bills sounds like it would only be fun for the parents. The fun in having a little money as a kid is in getting to spend it, not in collecting fancy silver dollars you’re guilted into saving.