Wise sayings

I tend to avoid overly-used, common proverbs, simply because I get tired of hearing them and I figured my kids would too.  So when my oldest spilled some milk just now, I shrugged and told him to just clean it up. Then, in a silly voice, I said, "There's no use crying over spilled milk."

"Have I ever said that to you before?" I asked.

"I don't think so."

"It's an old saying to help people understand that once the milk is spilled, there's not much point in crying about it because crying doesn't unspill it.  So, you might as well just get over it and clean it up."

My boy, nodding, "And that's just what I'm doing."

Thinking a bit more about wise sayings, my 11 year-old continued the conversation.  "You know, a wise man once said, 'What's for dinner?' Wise men don't always say wise things."

We don't have a drum set, so there was no rimshot.

He also pointed out that one could say to another, "Wise things!" and still not be incredibly wise.

I have quite the philosopher/comedian on my hands.

Fun Moments

A couple snippets from the last couple days.  I want to write these down so we can remember them and laugh at the fun we had.

Geeks

Girl, looking over my shoulder at an article about "geeks": Mom, what's a geek?

Me: Um, well, someone who doesn't just do what society tells them to do. They do what's interesting to them.

Girl: Oh, okay!

May we all be geeks in this house.  (I don't think there's any fear that we won't be!)

Colonel Mustard

I was reading to the kids recently about the War of 1812. I read this phrase: "They mustered troops to defend the fort." My kids, listening, dissolved into fits of giggles as they imagined the yellow condiment being sprayed all over some British soldiers.

Of course, we paused for a vocabulary lesson.

Nothing new under the sun

The kids were reading the biographies of "kid reporters" on a news site that they visit. My daughter read one reporter's favourite movie, Dodgeball. "What's that movie about, Mom?

Her older brother jumped in with a grin and asked, "Is it a movie where we watch other people play Dodgeball for an hour and a half?"

I started explaining, "Well, this one group of people has a gym and another guy wants to take it from them and he has a lot of money so he can do that. So they have to enter a Dodgeball tournament to win the money to keep the gym."

My girl interrupted by stating authoritatively, "The Muppets."

"Huh?" I wasn't sure where that came from

"So... It's The Muppets, but about Dodgeball. Right?"

Yep, I guess so.

There really is nothing new under the sun.

Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma Comedian

My daughter has been writing a story, based on her favourite characters from the Gregor the Overlander book series by Suzanne Collins. Every so often, I will sit down and help her edit her work. This morning, I tried to show her how to know when she needed to add a comma. Her dialogue needed quite a few commas. After adding several to just a few phrases, she protested, "We're going to run out of commas!"

Her older brother looked under the keyboard and declared that she had three commas left. She decided she had better use them wisely.

I love laughing and learning together.

Mysterious Whispers

He breathes beside me 
On the bed
His pillow neatly lain

His lungs inflate
And fill with air
He lets it out again

It's silent now
For apnea reigns
But I know what comes after

His snore begins
At decibels
That convulse me in laughter

I love this man
Who wears my ring
Our love runs pure and deep

But buy me earplugs,
Please, and soon
So I can get some sleep!