Household Convos

CONVERSATIONS AROUND THE HOUSE THIS WEEKEND:

Last evening, shortly before dinner
JULIA: Daddy?  Can we eat dinner outside tonight?
ETHAN: Uh, I don't know, honey.
JULIA: Mom?  Can we eat dinner outside tonight?
ME: Uh, we'll see.
JULIA: I really wanna eat dinner outside!  Dad, CAN we?
ETHAN: Maybe.
JULIA: Auntie Shannon?  I wanna eat dinner outside tonight!  Mom?  Do you think we CAN?
ME: I said we'll see.
JULIA: Is dinner ready Daddy?
ETHAN: I'm just waiting for the rice to finish cooking.
JULIA: When it's finished, can we eat outside?
ETHAN: We said maybe.
JULIA: But Dad? CAN we eat dinner outside?
ETHAN: (in exasperation) Julia.  If you ask me about eating dinner outside one more time I'm gonna...cut off your head and roll it down the street!
JULIA: (retreating to the dining room and bursting into tears) But DADDY!  I wouldn't even be ALIVE if you did that!
ME: Exactly, honey.  So do you think that Daddy is being serious when he says that? 

Silence for a moment.

ETHAN: Well, you can try asking me again and find out.


On the way to the ice cream shop after dinner tonight
MADELEINE: Mama!  I see two clouds in the shape of a CROSS! (pointing at two intersecting white lines of jet exhaust)
ME: Ooh, I see!  It's perfect for Palm Sunday!  Maybe Jesus is sending us a message from up in Heaven!  (under my breath) Or maybe two airplanes crossed paths.
JULIA: (enthusiastically) Yeah, like, maybe Jesus is giving us a SIGN that we're gonna have REALLY GREAT ice cream!

Yup.  I'm sure Jesus is taking the time to assure us of that.  I mean, why send a message from Heaven unless it's going to be about something REALLY crucial like ice cream??


Walking to the car after the ice cream shop
MADELEINE: Mama!  I see a BUST of clouds again!
ME: You see a what of clouds??
MADELEINE: A BUST!  (pointing up at the sky at a streak of clouds with a look of reverie on her face)
ME: Oh.  A bust of clouds?  Uh, okay.


In the car, with Julia reading "Harry Potter" silently to herself
JULIA: Hey, Mom!  Dobby just said 'tis!
ME: Oh yeah?
JULIA: Yeah!  Like in "Felicity!"
ME: Oh, wow!  Well, maybe Dobby used to live in the olden days like Felicity!
JULIA: (pragmatically) Well, Mom, this book is from, like, the EARLY 2000s.  So if Dobby lived in the olden days, he wouldn't really be ALIVE anymore.
ME: Well, I was thinking more like, maybe elves, because they're magic, can live for a really long time, or can travel to other times or something.
JULIA: (skeptically) I don't think so.  Besides, Dobby doesn't really SEEM like he's very old.

Yes, I see.  Because the idea of an elf having a non-standard human lifespan is the part about Harry Potter that is unrealistic and unbelievable.  Got it. 


Preparing to go play outside
MADELEINE: Julia!  You have to put on a SKIRT like me, so you can be a princess too!
JULIA: (wisely) Madeleine?  There's something I need to tell you.  Once you get to be a kid who's, like, around MY age?  You're not really that INTERESTED in princesses anymore.  Like, I bet when YOU'RE my age, YOU won't really be that interested in princesses.
MADELEINE: (completely unphased) So Julia, what's YOUR princess name gonna be?

That's right, Madeleine, don't give Julia a choice in the matter.  Shove your princess game right in her face anyway!


And on a final note, I bought Madeleine a pair of pink sparkly flip-flops today to replace the pair that broke yesterday on our walk to the playground.  Madeleine is INSANELY thrilled over these flip-flops.  Can you tell?:

Flip flops to bed!  It's the new slippers!