Family Time

You probably don’t want to tear your hair out as often either but I think it’s worth it for the laughter.

Earlier this week as we were walking to the bus stop to pick up Laylee, Magoo got an eyeful of a group of burly construction workers who had paused for their lunch break.

Magoo: Hey MOM! They’re having a snack time.
Me: Yep. Snacky time for those guys.
Magoo [leaning his whole body forward to scrutinize them]: Nope. I think they’re just having a tea party. I want to have a tea party with them!

Laylee and I recently got into a long and involved discussion about the election. Every answer I gave was subjected to a followup question. She wanted to know who I was voting for, why I was undecided, what I liked best about each of the guys. We even got into details about whether or not I thought Bush had done a good job and why. And what were some more reasons? When I tried to cut off the conversation after about a half an hour, she said, “Mom please! Tell me more. I really like this story.”

Hmm. Strangely I don’t. Anyhoo. As we were finishing up she got very serious.

Laylee: Mom, which one has the name that’s easiest to remember?
Me: Well, probably John McCain.
Laylee: Then you should probably vote for that guy.

Sweet. All my problems solved. And I should have thought of that myself because that’s exactly what I did when I chose to marry Dan Thompson. See that? Easy as pie. That’s part of his charm.

To hear about some not-quite-so-funny-but-more-violent times with my kids, check out today’s Parenting Post.

Laylee had plenty of people to watch at the hospital on Tuesday. And she had commentary. What’s the most embarassing thing your child has ever said about another person within earshot?

Read more of our experience at Parenting.com.

When describing a mind-bogglingly huge number some people might use words like MILLIONS or BILLIONS but Magoo uses the number SIX. It’s a lot like “six” only a little different. [read more at Parenting.com]

At the RNC Wednesday night, Rudy Guiliani said that no one would ever ask questions about a male candidate’s ability to juggle work and family. He cried sexism. Lots of people are pointing out the sexism inherent in these questions about McCain’s VP choice. And they’re right. It’s unbalanced. It’s sexist. But it’s valid. When a mother of young children enters a presidential race for the first time, these questions cannot be avoided.

Join me at Parenting.com to share your thoughts on Sarah Palin.

What strange names do you call your kids’ food so they will eat it? We’re talking about creative nomenclature over at Parenting today.

Join me at the Parenting Post today where I ponder the question, “Why do these delightful young people have such a fascination with all things gross and disgusting?” [read more]