What Do You Say?
As my husband and children and I sat around the dinner table, we chatted about our days. I talked about the beautiful fall leaves I enjoyed on my walk to and from the school. I think I said "Those leaves on the trees were real purty." My husband shared about his day. "It was fine. I had a sandwich for lunch."
Communication skills are A-Okay in this family!
Then we began our systematic debriefing of the kids. We learned that they are both learning nothing! And they don't remember anything! And that someone flicked someone's nose, but we aren't sure if it really happened or if it was even one of our kids.
I love these family discussions. I think it brings us closer. To insanity. But together, you know. It's nice.
My kids have a kindred spirit in my friend's daughter K. K likes to impersonate animals as much as my houligans. Every walk to and from school (when we get our timing right and meet up) includes much galloping and growling.
This morning, as K and her mom approached our corner, I heard her mom say "Hey! There they are!" K responded by tossing her 'mane' and busting out with a deafning "nei-ei-ei-ei-ei-gh!" which my oldest answered with her own "nei-ei-ei-ei-ei-eigh!" and foot stomping. Then they galloped the mile to school, whinnying and nickering the whole way.
So, back to dinner:
During a lull in conversation, I brought up the morning horse-noises. My son suddenly bounced in his chair and began making chimpanzee noises and occasionally shouting "Bananas!" His voice well above the polite decibel level.
"Use your inside voice, please." I gave him the stink-eye.
"Mommy! Wanna hear me be a horse?" My oldest started up with head tossing, eye-rolling, snorting and neighing at top volume.
"Yo, Mommy has a headache." I theatrically pressed my fingers to my temples.
"Mommy! I chicken! Bawk! Bawk!" My youngest begins flapping and pecking beside me.
By some unspoken consensus, all three children rose to their feet and balanced on the seats of their chairs, while flapping and pawing the air and scratching their pits and making noise like a zoo in, oh, I don't know, HELL.
My husband kept his head down, smirk hidden as he ate some rice. The kids were red-faced, beaming with glee as they carried on. My youngest broke off mid-cluck to shout joyfully at me: "Mommy! What do YOU say?"
I reared back and brayed like an ass. And then I excused them from the table.
:
Add the following code to your "Journal - Entry Content" template (for more instructions, see the following guide):
Replace the { Insert your URL here } below with the URL of your page:
|
Comments
Oh, Jenny. You make me laugh. But, only because it sounds SO much like my house. Apparantly all my son does at preschool is eat snacks. No reading, no singing, no pictures. Just fruit snacks and meditation, from what I can tell.
The Zoo form hell? Yes, that's us precisely!
Posted by: buffi | September 26, 2005 10:02 PM
That was hyterical. I think I miss those days when they were all little. Oh wait a minute...no, I don't. LOL.
Great post!!!
Posted by: Kate | September 27, 2005 3:47 AM
some of my favorite moments are those where I'm trying to maintain order, it all goes to hell, and the kids are being funny and real, and I have to give in to it. What a great story. Bawk!
Posted by: amy | September 27, 2005 6:48 AM
My kids used to have a book that went through various animals and what they say... The cow says MOO! The sheep says BAA! The last page was: Mommy says "I love you!"
Chickadee would always interrupt me when I got to the end. "No," she would say, shaking her head and smirking just the tiniest bit at what was coming next, "Mama says BE QUIET! My head hurts!"
Posted by: Mir | September 27, 2005 7:21 AM
Too cute!
I had to tell you... Got a Spiced Pumpkin Latte.... OH BABY! Like drinking a hot piece of pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream and none of that icky crust.
I had to get another one. Two of them in less than 16 hours. I can see how you could be addicted.
Some people shop. Some people drink alcohol, smoke, binge or use religion as a tool to get through their day.... If a twinkie or pumpkin Latte or buying a bottle of nail polish keeps you from strangling your children when you are having a rough day or week, its not a bad thing -- your preserving your sanity and their self esteem!
So in other words... You OWE yourself one! :-)
Posted by: Lisa B | September 27, 2005 8:01 AM
Too funny! Sounds very much like my household.
Posted by: Lujza | September 27, 2005 8:48 AM
And you see, when me and my friends do that over pastries at the local diner we get the police called on us. Kids have all the luck.
Posted by: Elaine | September 27, 2005 9:19 AM
Lisa B., don't tempt her! :)
Posted by: Kari | September 27, 2005 10:43 AM
Believe me, I would much rather here assorted zoo noises than the boys and their dad competing to see who can burp the loudest!
Posted by: Elizabeth | September 27, 2005 11:39 AM
I swear, if I had the time - I would refer you to the post about me having a migraine and Faith coming and setting a dueling banjos toy on top of my head. It was like deliverance, but nobody squealed... I just whimpered and prayed for the end.. or my head to explode.
Posted by: Holli | September 27, 2005 11:58 AM
Such clever, multi-lingual children!
Posted by: EverydaySuperGoddess | September 27, 2005 2:32 PM
That was a terrifically funny post. And too true - man, why is it when you ask them questions, they clam up? Yet when you mention animal impersonations, you can't shut them up?
Posted by: Melanie Lynne Hauser | September 27, 2005 5:47 PM
hahahah!!! I love that you brayed like an ass! hahaha.
Posted by: cmhl | September 27, 2005 7:47 PM
ya pidoras, pizu chujie doors, zaabuzte moi url - http://greatpharmacies.com/ a suda pishite pisma i spamte - admass@pisem.net
Posted by: ya pidoras | July 26, 2006 8:57 PM