Favorite quotes (compiled in 2004)

One day my three-year-old, Rachel, wanted me to play Dominoes with her,which meant my lining the dominoes up in long lines so she could knock themover. After I said I couldn't play Dominoes with her just then because Iwas busy, she lifted the directions out of the box and pointed to the wordswith her finger, pretending to read what it said. "DO DOMINOES WITH YOURMOM. NOT BY YOURSELF," she "read" very loudly and slowly to me.My seven-year-old twins become concerned with the important issues of lifeat times. One day Mary asked me in a worried voice, "Mommy, is it okay tosay no when someone asks you to marry you?" Her sister Madison quickly pipedin, "Yes, but it would be embarrassing."
When four-year-old Rachel went to the dentist for the first time, she was soexcited to pick out a new toothbrush. But even better was the little toyshe received from the prize box at the end of her visit. When Daddy camehome from work that night, Rachel ran to him so proudly and squealed inexcitement, "We went to the dentist! I WON and got a prize!"
Halloween and pumpkins can be so fun for children! But I had no idea howheartbreaking the pumpkin-experience could be for my seven-year-old, Madi.Madi picked out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch and named it Harold. Sheconsidered it her pet. I enjoyed how a pumpkin is easier and quieter than apet kitten or puppy, but the disadvantage of a "pet pumpkin" is that Madisure got upset when I tried to boil the pumpkin to make pie. She criedabout how I cooked "Harold" and wouldn't forgive me for my brutality, formonths. In October, my four-year-old Rachel loved reaching into pumpkins andpulling out the slime and seeds. As we cleaned out a few pumpkins, Rachelwatched closely and evaluated each pumpkin. She was trying to decide thegender of each pumpkin! She looked inside the biggest pumpkin and said, "Ican tell that's a boy." "Why?" I asked in surprise. "Cuz the boy ones arebig.and cuz girls have more hair (strings) than boys."One of the first things I learned about motherhood was that the warm fuzzymoments I saw in parenting magazines (such as a smiling mother rocking asleeping baby in a clean house) do not last all day long. Those moments arescattered here and there between many messes, endless errands, dirty dishes,whining, screaming, bickering, and the list goes on. But of course thosemoments of joy are what make all the drudgery worth it. One day when MaryElizabeth was 5-years-old, she ran to me with a big smile while holding outa handful of wildflowers. "Save them! I'm going to put them on your gravewhen you die!" she exclaimed.
ANIMALSOne of the best things about childhood is ANIMALS - whether it's pretendingto be animals, visiting animals at the zoo, or making farm animal soundswhile reading books about a farm. While visiting the zoo, two-year-oldJoshua loved to find tiny baby animals in the cages with their mommies."That's ME!" he squealed when he saw a baby sheep. But while feeding andpetting goats, a mean goat kicked Joshua. Joshua's feelings were hurt, andhe yelled at the unkind goat, "IS YOU NICE?" One day four-year-old Mary Elizabeth was walking around our front yardcollecting wildflowers and pretty rocks. Suddenly she came bursting throughthe front door, breathless with excitement over her latest discovery. "Wesaw LION POOP on the sidewalk!" she exclaimed. Then she added, to reassureme, "But no lion." I was excited for her but also grateful that she'd leftTHAT great discovery on the sidewalk instead of adding it to her collectionof treasures. Another time Mary Elizabeth was helping me tape boxes with silver ducttape. "What is this made out of?" she asked suspiciously. "Is this madeout of gray ducks?" Two-year-old Joshua is a different animal every day. "You mommy seal, Ibaby seal," he informs me. Though we have to be careful because some dayshe's a tiger that chases people and actually bites them, or a kitty thatlicks anyone in his path.Nine-year-old Isaac is fascinated with birds. He stares at bird fieldguides, watches birds with his binoculars, and identifies the feathers andbirds eggs he finds. However, I can only tolerate certain aspects of thisintense interest in birds. I discovered my "limit" one day when he raninside with a pile of bird droppings he had dissected. My budding scientistoften asks me dreamily, "Mom, tell me the truth. Do you think birds areflotsam and jetsam of the animal world or spectacular winged wonders?"
The Creative Arts of ChildhoodMy children love to express themselves creatively with crayons, play-dough,and rubber stamps. I love their drawings and creations, though I'm LESSexcited about artwork that doesn't stay on the paper or table or chalkboard.When five-year-old Rachel had decorated her body with ballpoint pen, sheknew she'd get in trouble so she explained that she was decorating her bodylike the Indians she saw in a book. "I saw an Indian write onitself .Little papooses draw on them." Another time, Rachel had stamped herarms over and over with our return-address rubber stamp. "This is so if Iget lost, people will know where to send me," she explained. Two-year-old Joshy enjoys scribbling all over a paper with as manydifferent color crayons as he can. But when he first tried using the whitecrayon, he looked up at me so sadly and said, "This doesn't work." Joshy's favorite color is green. When he was drawing with a greencrayon, he showed me his picture and asked me, "Do you like green?" "Yes, Ilike green," I replied in a monotone voice, as I was thinking aboutsomething else. The poor guy wanted his mother to show a little moreenthusiasm for his drawing. "Say, 'OH! I LOVE IT!" he prompted me in a highvoice. Joshua also loves to make worms with his play-dough. He rolls out wormsof all lengths and widths, then lines up all the worms and shows us who'sthe mommy, daddy, baby, sisters, and brothers. One day he worked very hardon a large worm but was very disappointed at how lumpy and smashed his wormlooked. So he tried to make another worm and was so pleased with how bigand round it turned out. He held up his smooth fat worm and squealed inpride, "Now it's not a DEAD WORM! It's a HAPPY worm!"
New babies.After I gave birth to our fourth child, three-year-old Mary Elizabeth cameto visit our new baby Rachel and me at the hospital. She was verydisappointed as she watched the sleeping baby lie there doing nothingexciting. "I WISH we had a baby that CRIED," Mary Elizabeth said with ascowl.A few weeks later I took newborn Rachel on a walk with the other children.When three-year-old Madison noticed that Rachel was sitting in the stroller,Madison was upset at losing her place in the stroller. After glaring at thenew baby, Madison scowled at me and demanded, "Put her BACK in your tummy."When I was expecting our fifth child, my other children were very excited tosee what kind of baby would join our family. Three-year-old Rachel kepthoping I'd give birth to a baby BUNNY. Seven-year-old Isaac asked with bigeyes, "Wouldn't it be surprising if a DOLLY came out of Mommy's tummy?" One day when I was very pregnant, Rachel lay down on the couch, takingquick sharp breaths. I looked at her, wondering if she was sick, and shesmiled at me and explained, "My baby's kicking!" Then she lifted up hershirt to show us how her tummy was going up and down. One night as I was tucking Rachel into bed while holding fussy newbornJoshua, I told Rachel to say her prayers. Rachel looked at me in confusion."Heavenly Father can't hear me cuz the baby's crying," she explained. Because she had practiced so long with her dollies, Rachel felt veryconfident in picking up Joshua. Once when I heard the baby crying, I raninto the living room, where I'd left Joshua lying on the floor. "I almostmade the baby do ballet---stand on his head," Rachel explained. It'samazing babies survive their older siblings!
Because my husband is an Air Force doctor, our family has been able totravel all over the world. When we found out we would soon be moving toEngland, eight-year-old Isaac's eyes lit up in excitement. "I CAN'T WAIT toask the British how they feel about LOSING the Revolutionary War!" heexclaimed.In England, five-year-old Rachel was very sad to be left at home while Iwent to see the musical of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" with her older brotherand sister. After I explained the story line and the reasons behind theFrench Revolution, Rachel broke down in tears. "IT'S NOT FAIR! I've nevereven SEEN a guillotine!" (as if "seeing a guillotine" is one of those ritesof childhood, right along with "eating an ice-cream cone" or "playing at thepark.") After touring one of Henry VIII's castles near London, Rachel was veryinterested in where all the heads were (from the beheadings) and keptlooking for them as we walked through the beautiful gardens. And inScotland, our family visited Stirling Castle. As we entered the town, Itold the children a brief history of Stirling and described the battles thathad been fought on these very grounds. Rachel peered out the window andscrutinized the bright green grass for signs of past battles, but wasn'timpressed. "Not much blood," she reported.BAD GUYSWhile we were on a month-long cross-country family trip, four-year-oldMadison prayed daily that, "No bad guys will break in our house and stealall my dollies."One day our neighbors came over to tell us some scary news: their house wasbroken into through their unlocked kitchen window while they slept throughit upstairs. They awoke to discover muddy footprints all over the kitchenand to find that things had been stolen. It shook our family up andsix-year-old Rachel was scared and worried all day. She said with so muchemotion, "I WISH robbers were only in FAIRY TALES."
Children & ReligionMy children attend church each Sunday and it's fun to see their knowledge ofGod developing. Seven-year-old Madison asked her Dad a challengingquestion: "Here's the hardest question in the whole world: who do you lovemore, Mommy or Jesus?"When our family was talking about how God knows everything and can doanything, four-year-old Rachel had a great idea: "He could make cars not goso fast so they WOULDN'T CRASH!" she exclaimed. After saying her prayers one night, Rachel began wondering about how shewas born with blonde hair, whereas her parents have brown hair. She asked,"Did Heavenly Father make me?.Your hair's root-beer flavored and my hair'speach-flavored cuz it's yellow." While looking at all the photos of herself in her scrapbook, Rachel had agreat idea. "You should take a picture of clouds, and put it in myscrapbook on the first page, because it would be me in Heaven," sheannounced.Two-year-old Joshy was very excited when he tried to say a prayer all byhimself. He even made up a new ending to replace the "Amen". "Pees bess mego to church. We not fight. We be nice.The end," he prayed so proudly!GRANDMOTHERSMy children's favorite times of the year are when grandparents come tovisit. Is it because the children love the fact that Mom is no longer theultimate authority? A few days before my parents came to visit,five-year-old Rachel told me: "Your mom is coming! She can tell you whatto do! Like, 'Make the dinner' and 'Go to your room.'"While playing at the beach with Grandma, Isaac and Grandma were careful notto go past the buoy lines that marked off the swimming areas. When GrandmaLinna asked why the rope at the beach was placed where it was, Isaac repliedthoughtfully, "I think this is the line where the last person died."While Isaac was playing checkers with Grandma Linna, and she had jumped mostof his pieces, he began losing hope. "It's really looking grim for thefuture," he announced sadly.And when eight-year-old Mary Elizabeth received warm fuzzy penguin jammiesfrom Grandma, she was ecstatic. As she danced around in her new p.j.'s, sheexclaimed, "I just LOVE Grandma Linna. I wish she was MY mom." Thenrealizing that I was listening and that I might have hurt feelings, sheturned to me and assured me, ".And YOU were my AUNT who lived with us."
Be it Ever So HUMBLING, There's No Place Like HomeIf I ever start to think I'm doing a good job as a mother, I can be surethat my children will say something to humble me. One day while playingwith five-year-old Isaac, I remarked happily, "It's fun to be a mommy!"Isaac quickly replied, "Because you get to yell a lot?"Another time when Isaac was displeased with me, he glared at me andannounced, "I WON'T keep you in my memory."While reading Hansel and Gretel to three-year-old Rachel, I commented onwhat a mean mother was in the story-- a mother who wanted to lose herchildren in the forest. To my surprise, Rachel seemed to feel that shecould relate to the poor children. "I wish I didn't have a mean mommy," shesaid sadly. "You are mean since you make me take a nap."Rachel thinks she has it tough. "When I grow up, I'm going to give mychildren candy a lot.I'm not going to let them like oatmeal. I'm going tobuy my children everything they want. I'll do all the work and let mychildren play. I wish YOU would be the kind of mother I will be..." she saidsadly, as she dreamed of the happy future HER children would have.A week before my birthday, six-year-old Rachel told me in great excitement:"You can scream and yell at us all you want on your birthday!" Does shethink I do that for FUN??When I jokingly said, "Mommies can do ANYTHING", five-year-old MaryElizabeth wasn't fooled for a minute. "Mommies can't balance on thehelicopter when it's driving as fast as it goes," she pointed outmatter-of-factly.One day while wearing my favorite old comfortable overalls, six-year-oldRachel asked me, "Did YOUR mom wear those overalls when YOU were a littlegirl?" (I guess they're looking TOO old.)Dads can also receive the same humbling treatment. When seven-year-oldIsaac was mad at Daddy, he told me through his tears, "I'd rather have aBURGLAR for a dad."When I said, "Daddy knows EVERYTHING!" Mary quickly corrected me: "Daddydoesn't know how to spell zucchini without your help.Isaac, Mary and Madi were discussing how much they love Mrs. Webb and howthey wish she was THEIR mother. I was enjoying listening to thisconversation from the next room but had to laugh when 11-year-old Isaacpointed out Mrs. Webb's best mothering quality. "She ONLY gets mad whenlives hang in the balance." Hmmm... isn't there more to motherhood than justkeeping your children alive?? Maybe someday they'll appreciate all thecharacter-building I inflict upon them. But until then, I guess they canhelp me stay humble.One day I was watching four-year-old Madi swinging so happily on our tireswing. When she saw me smiling at her, she called out, "Did you wish YOUwas a kid so you could do this?" It DID look a lot more fun than washingdishes...
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOODSeven-year-old Isaac had quite a sweet tooth and informed me, "I'm likeyeast. I only do well when I'm fed sugar." When two-year-old Joshua was caught trying to get into his big sister'scandy bag, he pretended that he was protecting the candy from others."Monsters can get candy," he explained (with a mouth full of chocolate).When Joshua couldn't open a plastic egg and he knew there was candy in it,he held it out to Rachel and called desperately for help, "HEP! HEP! Dachel,hep open!" as if it were a matter of life and death.When four-year-old Mary Elizabeth didn't finish her meal and as a resultdidn't get a cookie, she didn't take it too hard. (And she didn't want anysiblings gloating to her about their cookies!) "I'm kind-of tired ofcookies. I don't LIKE to get fat and eat too much junk food. I'm glad you're not forcing me to eat it," she announced as she watched everyone elseeating cookies.One night, four-year-old Madi helped me make dinner to take to awheelchair-bound woman who had multiple sclerosis. As we arrived at thewoman's home, Madi asked, "Is this the house of the lady in thewheelbarrow?"When I asked two-year-old Joshy if he was a little bit hungry, he replied ina deep voice, "I BIG hungry."One day Joshy was eating his noodles when suddenly his full bowl was lyingupside down on the floor. Joshy looked so surprised and tried to explainthe mystery tome. "I was eating it, then it FLEW off the table!" he sadly cried.Joshy LOVES "Land Before Time" movies, especially Chomper ("Chop-oh") thedinosaur. When we were getting ready to peel hard-boiled eggs, Joshy pulleda chair over to the counter to stand on and was so anxious to see what wasinside the eggs. "Chop-oh might hatch out of the egg!" he said anxiously.When we were eating broccoli with dinner one night before Daddy arrived homefrom work, four-year-old Madison told me not to save any for Daddy so thatthe children could be stronger and beat Daddy at wrestling. Then they atethe whole pot of it!One day four-year-old Madi was helping me in the kitchen and was excited tobreak eggs. As she slowly watched a cracked egg's contents fall into thebowl, Madi squealed, "I'm making a runny nose!"When four-year-old Mary was helping me make tacos, I sent her to the pantryto find the taco shells. She came out a few minutes later and happilyannounced, "Here are the taco buns!" (like hamburger buns, I guess!)One evening, four-year-old Rachel ate only bread and oranges for dinner.She ate so many oranges, I commented that she might turn INTO an orange.The next morning, as soon as Rachel woke up, I heard her happy (and veryrelieved) voice call out from her bed, "I DIDN'T turn into a orange!"When I told Mary Elizabeth that she was a good eater at lunchtime, shereplied sweetly, "I want to grow as big as the tree so I could pick a leaffor you."Eight-year-old Mary Elizabeth is a hearty eater and was excited to go to herBritish friend's house for "tea" (dinner). When her friend Amy's motherasked what she liked to eat for "tea", Mary Elizabeth promptly replied,"Anything. Except seaweed and fish eyeballs."
LOVEAny normal day with our five children consists of messes to be cleaned upand disagreements to be settled. But if I watch carefully, I can catch theheartwarming moments in which one child shows love to another family member.Those moments make all the hard work of raising children worth it. When I told three-year-old Mary that I loved her so much, she repliedemphatically, "I love you even HARDER." One day four-year-old Madison had one precious gumdrop. She wanted toshare her treasure, so she gave Daddy a nibble of her gumdrop. Then sheheld her gumdrop up to me, for me to take a nibble. When I hesitated, shelet me know that it was perfectly sanitary. "I licked Daddy's germs off,"she reassured me.Two-year-old Joshy loves it when his big sister holds him and "babies" him:"I sad. If you cuddle me, Madi, I be happy," he told her.When we lived in Guam (near the Philippines), Rachel showed me how much sheloved me. Holding two fingers close together, Rachel told me: "I love youthis much when you're mean, but I love you to the United States and backwhen you're nice."When we read about a couple falling in love, five-year-old Mary observed,"Daddy and you get grumpy at the same times. That's why YOU fell in love!"When 2-year-old Mary Elizabeth was stung by a bee, 3-year-old Isaac felt sobad for her that he cried even harder than she did while he told me with allthe feeling of his little heart that he wanted to poke that bee with a pin.One night I was tucking two-year-old Joshua into bed and was so anxious toget him to bed so I could go to bed and try to get rid of my bad headache.When Joshua asked for extra bedtime stories, I told him my head was hurtingtoo much and I was finished reading to him. He looked at me so sweetly andasked, "You need a band-aid?" I laughed and told him no, it wasn'tbleeding. "Poh (poor) Mommy. Poh Mommy," he said sadly. Then hebrightened and asked, "You need a HUG?" So I told him that was JUST what Ineeded. I live for moments like that.
TWINSTwins are truly double the fun. I was blessed with identical twin girls onChristmas Day, nine years ago. Their younger sister, six-year-old Rachel,often wishes she too could be a twin. One day while sitting in our parkedminivan, we saw cute twin toddlers walking along the sidewalk with a parent.I said, "Oh! How cute! Look at the twins!" Then I patted Madi (one of mytwins) and said, "I have a special place in my heart for TWINS!" From theback seat, I heard Rachel's worried voice calling out hopefully, "Do youhave a place for ONLY CHILDRENS??" I assured her I have a special place inmy heart for her too!My twins (Mary and Madi) are the best of friends but at times they can bethe best of enemies. While tucking four-year-old Mary into bed one night, Iasked what her happiest time of the day was. "Kicking Madison duringdinner," she quickly replied.When Madison was crying after being put to bed, Mary said heartlessly,"I don't like the noise. Lock her outside." If Mary wanted something Madi had, Mary insisted, "We're twins. We shareEVERYTHING!" But that was a double standard, because Mary didn't like toshare her own things. Once when Madison wanted to trade shoes, and MaryElizabeth didn't want to, Madison began to feel upset. Mary tried to calmher down by saying, "Remember, we never fight."While trying to fix Mary's hair one morning, I found sticky spots that werehard to brush. When I told her she must have honey in her hair, Maryexplained what REALLY happened. "I heared Madison tangle knots in my hairwhen I was sleeping," she said in disgust. And when Madi had messy tangledhair one morning, Mary couldn't handle Madi's appearance for long. "I feellike I'm in a witch's house when I see Madison's hair. Please fix it," shetold me desperately.One day Mary Elizabeth hit Madison, and Madison was on her way to tell onher. So Mary tried to reason with her. "What matters? Tattletaling orhitting?" Mary asked. "TATTLETALING. That's what matters," she answeredherself decidedly.
SIBLING RIVALRYSibling rivalry is a part of life in any family that has more than onechild. One day when four-year-old Rachel was mad at seven-year-old Mary,Rachel told us what was in store for Mary. "She's going to be a BAD GUYwhen she grows up. She's going to be a thief. I can tell it cuz she'sbeing MEAN." Another time, Rachel was caught whacking Mary on the back. Hoping to avoida consequence for her unkindness, Rachel explained to Mary: "If I hit youon the back, it's a PAT!" After Rachel hurt people with a sharp stick, the stick was taken away fromher. When she wanted her stick back, she tried to show how useful the stickcould be. "I will only kill BAD GUYS with it!" she promised. When I remarked in frustration to Isaac one day that there's too muchfighting in the house (his three sisters couldn't seem to agree onanything), he gave me a new insight. "There's a lot of fighting going intoorganizing anything. There was even a lot of fighting going into the makingof our nation." What a REVOLUTIONARY thought!When Isaac couldn't get a word in edgewise during dinner, he suggested infrustration, "My sisters need a doctor appointment to get their vocalchords smaller because they aren't giving me a chance to talk." When Isaac was six, he thought of a way to get back at his sister. "I knowwhat Mary deserves for Christmas-RATS," he decided. And when tired of beingteased, four-year-old Mary told Isaac passionately, "You hurt my feelings asHARD as you COULD!"FLIESWhile living on the tropical island of Guam, we couldn't keep the flies outof our house. Every time we opened the door, a few flies sneaked in. Oneday, four-year-old Rachel decided she'd take over the fly-control businessand sat on the back of the couch with a fly swatter, waiting for flies toland on the window sill so she could smash them. After catching severalflies this way, she spent a good part of the next few days sitting quietly,watching the window, and waiting for flies. While hiking through the jungleto the beach one day, Rachel couldn't wait to go home; I was very surprisedto hear WHY she wanted to go home: "Catching flies is SO FUN," she saidenthusiastically. "Why?" I squeamishly asked her. In an excited voice, sheanswered, "Cuz you get to, like, smash them dead!" Months later, Rachel decided she liked the flies. When I was trying to getrid of a fly in our house, Rachel stopped me. "That was my pet fly!" sheexclaimed. She began listing off the names of all her "pet flies", tellingme I was killing Louis. One day when my twin girls were four-years-old, they were eating lunch whentwo flies landed on Mary's sandwich. She was so excited. "I saw TWINFLIES!" she squealed. After hearing my rants and ravings about the annoying flies, eight-year-oldIsaac asked me a thought-provoking question: "If WE were flies, would wethink flies are bad?"On Thanksgiving Day, flies kept getting into the house and attacking thefood I was setting out for our feast. I put Isaac in charge of keeping theflies off of our food, but he seemed to feel sorry for the poor little guys(or was he just trying to get out of the job?). When I asked him to killthe flies that were attacking our Thanksgiving meal, he replied, "Oh,Thanksgiving is a time to be nice to EVERYONE, because pilgrims let theIndians come. Everyone knows the Indians have big appetites." What athoughtful guy!
CHRISTMASHaving children around brings so much joy to the Christmas season! After wesang "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" to our children, three-year-oldRachel thought about the song. "Reindeer did run over grandma," sherepeated. Then in a worried voice, she asked, "Was it OUR grandma?"Rachel loved to wrap Christmas gifts, but when she ran out of gifts to wrap,she began grabbing her siblings' toys from their rooms, wrapping it up, andputting it under the tree early in December. Her older sister Mary said infrustration, "Rachel keeps wrapping up my favorite stuff." I assured Maryshe'd get it all back on Christmas. Then Mary said in despair, "But I won'thave anything to play with while I WAIT for Christmas."When two-year-old Joshy opened his big dump truck on Christmas morning, helooked at it and announced, "I want MUD in here."When nine-year-old Madi (who loves to shop) opened some slippers onChristmas Day, she quickly ripped the tag off: "Now you can't take it back," she triumphantly told me.Children also contribute to the stress of the busy Christmas season. OneDecember evening I left our children with a teenage babysitter and returedhome to chaos. While climbing onto the couches and jumping onto the endtables, two-year-old Rachel had broken most of our glass nativity set. WhenRachel saw how disappointed I felt, she tried to cheer me up by pointingout, "But Baby Jesus isn't broken!" When four-year-old Mary was unhappy with her mother the week beforeChristmas,Mary added a new item to her wish list. "I want a NEW MOMMY from Christmas," she said with a scowl.Then after the long weeks of waiting and waiting for a Christmas that seemedlike it would NEVER come, Mary Elizabeth asked in a pouty voice on December26: "How come the Christmas was SO SHORT?"
CHORESWhen I hear my children groaning about their chores, I assure them that theywouldn't be normal children if they LIKED chores. If I didn't teach them tobe responsible, I wouldn't be doing my job properly. If I neglected toteach them well, I could be put in jail for being a bad mom, I explained.Later when nine-year-old Isaac couldn't handle the injustice of all hisresponsibilities, he told me sadly, "All life is, is working for you andmaking sure you aren't put in jail." And another time poor overworked Isaacmuttered, "Life is just a jumble to scramble for free time." Isaac has tried over the years to think of new alternatives to chores, suchas when he didn't like sweeping a few years ago he suggested, "We could letants come in our house and eat up all our little crumbs!" And when I triedto declutter his room of all its many treasures, he said with his 4-year-oldscowl, "I'll get a tow truck to tow you out of my room." He tries to pointout that whatever job he does involves killing something. He explained, "Ifyou vacuum, you kill dust mites. And if you clean the bathroom, you'rekilling germs."Five-year-old Rachel has a perennial unsolved mystery: "A few secondslater, my room gets TOTALLY messy, after I've cleaned it." She just can'tfigure out how that happens.Working with children can often be a fun experience to talk and sing withthe children. One evening, Lyrad reminded eight-year-old Madison (who wasstaring off into space while twisting her hair into a bun) to stay on taskand get busy wiping off the table. She came out of her daydream and quicklyresponded with shining eyes, "But first can I tell you how I want to have myhair on my wedding day?"When two-year-old Joshy was helping me fold laundry, I referred to hisshorts as "pants". He sweetly corrected me: "They're just SHORTS rightnow. When they grow bigger, they're PANTS."One morning I was doing a quick clean in our bathroom that has no windows.Joshy had the strongest desire to shut the door so I'd be in pitchblackness, but I kept my foot in front of the door so he couldn't close it.He wouldn't give up, but tried to talk me into it: "You might be safe inthere! The toilet will be your friend!" he said enthusiastically.
GROWING UPChildren love to daydream about growing up. The day after Rachel's fourthbirthday, we went on a scooter ride and she pointed out how her shadow is somuch bigger now that she's older. Rachel spends much of her free time lostin thought about what to be when she grows up. At first she wanted to be astorekeeper and sell lots of candy, but then one day she announced shewanted to "work in an x-ray" when she grew up. When I asked why, shereplied with a smile, "So I can see peoples' chewed-up food in their bodies". While touring an old castle in England, we climbed up dark staircases andexplored old rooms with vaulted ceilings and huge fireplaces. Becausethree-year-old Joshy thought he was one of the big kids, he started beingvery brave and acting like a monster, saying, "I'm a NIGHTMARE!" Then whenit was time to walk down the dark, very steep spiral staircase, his scaryvoice changed to a little boy voice and I heard him frantically say, "I'mnot a nightmare anymore. I'm a little boy who needs to hold his mommy'shand. Nightmares DON'T hold their mommy's hand." Being young can have its advantages. When I was impressed with all thatseven-year-old Isaac could remember, I told him he must have a better memorythan I have. "Maybe I'm more fresh from being born," he pointed out.SPORTSSeven-year-old Isaac was so excited to begin a boys' gymnastics classincluding plenty of stretching and tumbling. When we asked him what hisfavorite part of gymnastics was, he replied, "Becoming more like spaghetti".When Isaac began his first baseball season, he was ecstatic when all hispracticing paid off and he caught a pop fly. A few hours after the baseballgame was over, Isaac was still walking through our house carrying hisbaseball mitt. When I asked why he was still holding the mitt, he repliedalmost reverently, "This is the mitt that caught the pop fly that made thebatter heartbroken."
OUTDOORSNo matter the weather, Madison loves the great outdoors. When she was threeyears old, I told her about somebody who held a beautiful wedding ceremonyin a backyard. But Madison was not impressed. "That's SILLY. Cuz when youget married in your backyard you might get all dirty in the mud!"A few years later, I was bundled up and freezing cold while watching Madisonand her sisters play in short-sleeved shirts outside. When I commented onhow cold it was, Madison explained why she didn't feel cold. "You believein winter, we believe in spring. Whatever you BELIEVE is what it feels liketo you."HOMESCHOOLINGWhile home schooling five-year-old Rachel, I often tried to save time bypracticing math facts while driving along in the car or listening to herread aloud while I washed dishes. I soon noticed that the desire to take"shortcuts" had rubbed off onto Rachel. As we drove by the Air ForceBase, she enthusiastically told me that she saw a plane taking off ("FROMTHE GROUND", she kept pointing out). Then after a pause, she askedhopefully, "Does that count for my science today?"A few weeks later, we were studying the human body. While eating lunch oneday Rachel asked, "I'm thinking about how my food goes through my body.Does that count for my science today?"
HEALTH/SICKNESSThough children love putting band-aids all over their bodies, they don'talways know how to describe what's wrong when they're feeling poorly. Whenthree-year-old Madison had a headache, she said sadly, "My forehead iswiggling." When she had bug bites all over her body, she called out infrustration, "My tickles don`t stop tickling!" Madison doesn't like herheadaches and bug bites, but she doesn't feel too bad about OTHER people'sinjuries.such as when her daddy was returning from a long trip, she was soexcited and said, "I`m sorry that I will knock Daddy over when I hug him.Then I will crack his head open. I`m sorry that`s how I hug." Then shepointed out happily, "But then we can sew it back together!"When two-year-old Joshua fell asleep in his car seat, he sat on his feet andhis feet fell asleep. He woke up crying, "My feet are buzzing! The bees inmy feet keep buzzing!" Seven-year-old Isaac certainly reads his cereal boxes. One day his dadcame home from working at the hospital, and he told Isaac about a patientwho died of cancer. "Did he eat Cheerios?" Isaac asked suspiciously.

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