5 reasons to take your kids to a casino

I know what you are thinking..."ARE YOU INSANE!?" Now hear me out, this will make sense.  I say, if we have the choice, but rule it out because you are thinking there is no way you are taking kids to a casino, then rethink that.  There are serious upsides that I discovered.

1. Your kids won't be the loudest thing there.  In fact your kids might be the quietest thing there.  Screaming at each other?  No one will notice.  In fact if your family likes to scream you will love a casino, its the only way to talk to each other in one.

2. All that walking will wear your kids out.  It might wear you out too, so perhaps you should exercise - just in case. As a result they pass right out at night and you get to stay up.

3. If they spill something on the floor no one will notice.  In fact, if you tried to clean it up you might not even be able to find it yourself. 

4. The kids will keep themselves mindlessly entertained with all the blinking lights, colors and sounds.  Think, if its distracting for adults, how much more so must it be for a child?  I don't think the kids even noticed we walked 3 miles through a casino just to get to the rest room because they were so distracted the whole time.

5. There are no clocks or windows to the outside.  In the Casino there is no time.  There is no day or night.  If they don't know its noon and they aren't hungry you can get away with not eating lunch for a whole nother hour. 

And don't worry you will be the only one there with kids.  I saw more families in casinos than I have at family events!

I'm such a woman

...Or not. 

I had to run to walmart for some briquettes.  I wanted hot dogs, but on wood, not charcoal.  I figured it would be a 15 minute trip. After I started the van, however, I got a little worried it might be a longer trip.  I could tell there was a problem with the battery.  The clock had reset to 12:00 and it felt kinda sluggish. So I figured I would ask the dh about it when I called him to ask about which kind of briquettes to get.

I get there, park at the opposite end of where I need to go, get some good walking in.  Take my time.  I pass the books, decide to look for some Warrior Cats for my daughter, which they had.  Look at some new items, look at the womens products.  Finally, I reach the briquettes and see they have a small variety. I call the dh.

I told him about the briquettes, he conceded that my options were limited if I wanted a smokey flavor.  We talk for a few minutes and then he told me not to come home - while a baby screams in the back ground.  He said, "Stay out, have fun, don't come home yet."  So here I was, done with my shopping, and I was told to stay out and have fun.  I didn't know what to do.  And I like to shop generally.  How can I be in walmart, with no kids, and not know what to do? 

I looked at the clearance.  I looked at the clothes.  I looked at the fabric scrapes and pretty soon I was bored.  And then I realized I had forgotten to tell the dh about the van battery.  I head to check out, and am quickly on my way to the van. I look at the time.  I have been gone all of 30 minutes.  So much for "stay out, have fun."  I don't know how.  I guess I could have picked out the sheets I want for my birthday, or went and poked the lobsters in the tank. 

I make sure I tell the dh as soon as I get home there is issues with the battery.  He went out to check and sure enough we need a new battery.  So it turns out it was a good thing I couldn't shop for hours like other women.  He has now spent 90 minutes at walmart getting new batteries and oil.  Maybe if we had a clothing breakdown I too could shop for 90 minutes.  Or a birthday crisis. 

I know there are men out there WISHING their wives would only spend 30 minutes at the store.  And mine makes me take longer and I can't.   See what happens when the perfect woman and the perfect man get together?!

Pestilence

There is a fly in my office that must be on a suicide mission, it keeps swooping down to attack me.  And its just not today.  Its been here since yesterday.  Swooping in and landing on my hair and face.  Its flown up my nose twice.  What does it think it will find up there?  Is it trying to get to my brain?  I know I look at my nose and think "Wow, that looks like great place to take a break, maybe find a snack."  What a dumb fly.

If you are gonna suggest getting the fly swatter I will just spare you your breath.  The Dh has already suggested that, and I will tell you what I told him:  If I could hit a fly with a fly swatter would we have any flies in the house?  You are asking someone with no depth perception, who can only see out of one eye, to smack something the size of a pea that moves.  But then I saw it land on my camera, and it sat there for awhile.  So I figured, you know, if it will sit still for a little while maybe I can hit it.  So I went and grabbed the fly swatter.  When I came back it was still sitting there, see I must have worn it out.  Then inevitable happened, I missed. So I waited and waited for my chance.  Finally it landed on my chair and I smacked.

I think I hit it.  I could not find the corpse, but my nose has been fly free.  So either its dead or its planning its sneak attack.  Meanwhile, I keep feeling phantom fly feelys on my arm.  Or maybe its the ghost of the fly, coming back to haunt me.  Or maybe I missed.

ETA - I missed.  The fly was back with a vengeance right before the dh arrived home from work.  When he did I put him to the task of killing the fly.  Even the dog had attempted to eat the bugger as it flew close to her nose  - with no luck.   Finally, the dh was able to kill the fly, and I have been annoyance free, relatively speaking. 

Blog Fodder to Book Fodder

Can you take the kids anywhere in the car without a fight breaking out?  If you can I want to know your secret.  And no, I will not drug them, tape their mouths shut or install walls in the van.  Like you haven't thought of it. 

Last night was no exception.  We were headed to \Costco; its the coldest place in the valley.  Who doesn't love to just stand in the walk in freezer when its 112 out?  It takes very little to excite us.  Oh yes, the fighting, got distracted thinking about not sweating.  So my kids were fighting over, of all things, dreams.  You know its just an excuse to fight, they would make something up to fight about it if there was nothing for them to actually fight about.  My oldest ds would not tell his younger brother what his dream was about.  Apparently the ensuing fight did not just bother me and the dh.  My eldest starts in, "O-M-G guys!  Can't you shut up?!  You sound like a bunch of dogs barking at each other.  GEEZ."  She is almost a teenager you know. Nothing like an overly dramatic girly whiny voice telling the overly dramatic boyish growly voices to shut up. 

My oldest ds who started it all, the one who wouldn't share his dream, didn't care for his sisters demands.  So he said, "You should stop talking  to yourself." 

"What?!  I do not talk to myself.  Why would you say something like that?" 

"It was a comeback." Its pretty bad when you have to explain it, a sure sign the comeback is a fail.

"Well it was a lame comeback."

"Yea, well...you're lame."  At this point I am just cracking up.  So I told them its SO going on the blog in the morning.  You'd think they would be embarrassed, no, they are excited.  So I told them maybe I would just write a book about their antics, including all the pee drinking, crack sniffing, snot picking shenanigans they do.  Still, they were not embarrassed,  I see a book deal in my future. 

I'm So Cultured

I've been listening to music while I make out the school schedule for next school year.  I had to switch to classical music because the lyrics of the other music was distracting me.  Nothing like starting out writing page numbers starting with 10 and ending with "10,000 lightening bugs". However, the Mozart Effect does not work so well when you are listening to Kancheli's Morning Prayers.  Instead of forging away at my work I found myself wanting to glance over my shoulder, expecting to see someone standing there with an axe.  Not exceptionally good music to work to.  Listen to actual Mozart, much more calming.

Fighting with the choir

Recently I read a discussion about the difference between Homeschooling and Schooling at Home.  What? You didn't know there was a difference?  Neither did I.  Apparently one is where you use someone elses curriculum and the other one is where you do it all on your own.  I don't know anyone who does it all on their own so there must not be very many homeschoolers out there.  All the rest of us just school at home.  Ridiculous isn't it?  

People who share the same beliefs, whether it be religion or politics or parenting, are not always going to agree with each other 100% of the time.  Especially when you get down to the nitty gritty. The overall basic tenets is what brought us together, but its not what keeps us together.  What keeps us together is the understanding that we do agree on the big things if not the little things.  We are willing to over look the stuff that is minor, the stuff that makes us individuals.  The problem arises when you don't.

Its kinda fun to get together and share a rant session,  to tell each other they are just preaching to the choir.  Its not so much fun when you get together and someone starts ranting about how you are wrong and they are right, even though at the end of the day you two believe basically the same thing.  I don't care what kind of teaching tools you use, if you are doing it at home you are homeschooling...and thus schooling at home.  There is no difference. 

I remember when I had my kids in school and I had this conversation with the teacher.  My kindergartner had homework.  I wasn't thrilled with that.  I sent them to school for 8 hours a day and she had to come home and do more school work?  I told the teacher, 'If she is doing school work at home, then she is homeschooling and I should just not send her to school anymore'.  We, as homeschoolers, can't split fine hairs defining what is and is not a true homeschooler.  If you do that, you are fighting with the choir.  Its not only argumentative and combative, it also splinters a cohesive group. 

What is keeping homeschoolers together is the mutual understanding that our children are learning at home.  Whether you do unit studies or unschooling or k12 or Abeka or Bob Jones.  Its all still homeschooling.  Be confident enough in your decisions about the type of schooling that you do so that you don't find yourself fighting with the choir. 

Now, I am off to find my choir.  I have some preaching to do.  Better take my soapbox with me. 

Stacking them Right

Parents of many oft retort that you must not be stacking your kids right if you're reasons for not having more is lack of space.  I stack mine just right.  The problem is not in the stacking, its in the shape of the room.  I hate weirdly placed windows and odd juts in the wall.  Didn't architects realize I would need to fit 3 beds in one 12x10 room?  Oh, I guess not.  Well they should have, its a 5 bedroom house, who did they think was gonna live here? 

So now I have this problem, I need to figure out how to fit 2 more beds into this room. 

The window is almost flush with the wall, the opposite wall has a closet and a door. 

So where is that bunk bed supposed to go?  Right now there is a cot under the bed and we pull it out when we need it.  Which is cumbersome.  I could go for awhile with just a bunk bed in there cause the baby will be in his crib for another year.  But I will have to face this challenge eventually. 

So how do you handle those odd ball windows, closest and doors?  Maybe my husband had something to the idea of the floor being a mattress. 

Socks

There is no word more dreaded, no chore more avoided than 'Socks'.  We all have that pile of single socks, the one thats mocking you from your closet.  I have one too.  Every once in a while, usually when someone complains they have no socks, I have to go through that pile and match pairs.  This is my system. 

First I dump out the socks on my bed.  Then I sort them by color.  One pile of whites with gray on them, one of all white, and one of colored.  I start with the colored ones cause there is less of those.  Then move on to the ones with grey and then finally the all white.  Whose idea was it to make white socks?  I don't think even 1 sock in that pile was all white. Most were brownish. 

Then after I have them sorted I start to roll them. Then after I can find no more matches I sort them by kid.  In our case thats: Girls, 3 boys, 2 boys, baby.  Oh mine and the dhs is never in there.  Funny how that works.  Apparently the dryer only eats CHILDREN'S socks. 












Whats left goes back into my bucket.  Its an old pretzel container.  We use these things for everything.  Then it goes back into my closet, not to see daylight again for months.  Or until it over flows.  Which ever comes first. 

I hope you appreciated all the thought and effort I put into my system.  It took me like 1 maybe 2 minutes to come up with it.  I know, pure genius. 

At least you know you aren't alone.  And think, I have 16 feet whose socks go in there.  And people wonder why my kids wear sandals 75% of the year. 

Makes Sense

My 4 yr old and 3 yr old were talking the other day.  My 3 yr old stated that he hated flowers, which my 4 yr old loves.  He can go on about flowers for hours.  He wants to be a florist when he grows up.  Hes even been toting around a fake flower in a sippy cup for days.  Hating flowers doesn't sit well with him.  So he asked my 3 yr old why he didn't like flowers..."How can you not like flowers?  They are pretty and smell soooo beeee uuuu ttteeee ful!"  My 3 yr old reiterated that he hated flowers.  So my 4 yr old deduced the problem, "I know why you hate flowers.  Its because you don't like them." 

Speaking of my 3 yr old not liking things, he doesn't like food. Or maybe he doesn't like food I serve him.  At lunch I gave the baby a plate of spaghetti, after he ate what he wanted he did what all babies do.  Tipped the plate upside down on the table.  I let him down and my 3 yr old jumped into his spot and starting eating the spaghetti off the table.  He completely refused to eat his own, yet he will eat the spaghetti his little brother picked through and dumped out on the table. 

We were out of ranch, which in this house is akin to being out of water.  This bode badly for our meal of Empanadas and carrot sticks.  I offered the kids creamy Caesar which most of the kids used, but not my 4 yr old.  He asked for ketchup.  Yes, on his carrot sticks.  The dh told him we had honey mustard if he would rather have that.  His response?  "Ewwww.  Thats gross." 

Yes, it all makes perfect sense. 

Giving

Most people give what they want, some people give what they can, few give what is needed.

I want to give what is needed, I also want it to be what I want to give and I want to be able to give it.  Question is: How do I know what is needed?

When we were going through Hell after the dh lost his business there were lots of things we needed.  We needed food and we needed money to pay bills and we needed a job and the list went on.  We were just trying to survive.  Some people gave us food, some gave us cash, even some odd jobs here and there.  However, what we ended up needing the most was not something anyone could give us.  It was the learning experience.  God was trying to teach us His ways.  If someone had given us a job, a house, food, money, whatever, it could have totally derailed what God wanted us to learn.  But to those who saw us suffering all that was on their minds was our immediate needs. 

Likewise with my kids, I have given them all I could, but is it what they needed?  How will I know?  If my daughter needs to learn patience but I drop everything to answer her beck and call, perhaps I am depriving her of that learning experience.  If my son needs to confidence, but I am always doing something for him, then he has not learned how to be confident in anything.  And when my children need new clothes, new bike, new books to read, it would be simple to throw money at the situation but perhaps what they are learning is not to dwell on the material world so much as the spiritual. 

Give what you want, give what you can, but don't be so proud to think you are giving what is truly needed.  Let God take care of that. 

Monkey Business

I do believe my kids have been using this trick on me for years.



They gang up on me. 2 or 3 of the kids will start fighting and distract me from the 2 or 3 over here who are trying to sneak chocolate out of the fridge. This explains why I never seem to know what happened to the last piece of...well everything.

I'm not old...I'm Vintage

Yesterday I listed some 80's toys on ebay, and each one started with the word "Vintage".  These were things I played with as a kid.  And I must say, they have fared better than I.  None of them have their hips falling out of place or are balding.  Yes, I know its related to hormones but I didn't have that as a kid either! Thankfully my kids found the toys just as cool as I did, so I take that to mean I am cool.  Ehhhh Its my bubble, don't burst it. 

When I was listing them I had to find some information about them in doing so I came across some sites that made me feel rather....whats the word.  Oh yea, Old.  I found this site and realized I was a very spoiled kid.  I owned almost all those toys.  What I didn't own, my brothers did.  The 80's was a colorful time, what was with all the neon?   

The House of Vintage Blog didn't make me feel much better either.  Caboodles are vintage?  What?  I still use mine.  Is that wrong?  My sleeping bag, however, was not acid washed.  I still own that too...and use it. 

If vintage is a selling point I would rather be that than old.

Naming a New Baby

Not because I am having one.  Cause I'm not.  But I know lots of people who are.  We frequently get asked questions about how we decided on our kids names.  I would like to take that as a compliment and not as in "What were you thinking?"  Like most couples we have some rules we like to stick to.

Rule #1 - The initials can't spell out something bad.  Like if your last name is Smith then naming your son Andrew Steven probably isn't the wisest idea.  Remember that girls can change their last names or hyphenate them after they get married.  So words that can go from good to bad should also be avoided.  Corinne Olivia Anderson sounds real cute now, not so much when she marries Mr. Williams.

Rule #2 - Kids aren't gonna be living with their siblings or you for the rest of their lives so giving them sing song names should be avoided.  It might be real cute to be calling Cash and Kerry for dinner, but when they get older and introduce their brother to their newest girlfriend ya'll are gonna look like a bunch of loons.

Rule #3 - Find the Middle Ground. Avoid both ends of the spectrum.  You don't want kids with really common names and you don't want kids with names that aren't really names.   Growing up I was never the only Michelle in my class.  I was Little Michelle or Michelle T. or Shelley to the other Michelle.  If you have a common last name its even worse.  I feel sorry for all the John Smiths out there.  Of course you want to avoid the other problem as well.  Names, as a general rule, should be identifiable in the language the person speaks. Such as in the case of a Swedish couple who tried to name their baby:  Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb111163. I don't think there is a language on Earth in which that name is pronounceable.  And we don't want to go around abusing our freedom and end up with laws like in other countries. 

Rule #4 - Consider the Meaning.  I don't care how nice Jezebel or Lucifer sounds,  you are just gonna give your child a miserable life.  Of course, this is coming from someone who named their son something that means "King of the Green Elves."  It means something to me! 

I will leave you with this article about baby names, in case I didn't stress you enough.  No pressure though. 

Our Favorite Books

Do you like to read?  We do.  Some of us more than others.  My eldest girl and boy read the most, they will be seen reading most of the day and long in to the night.  Whereas my 2nd girl and boy will only read when they get a new Calvin and Hobbes in.  The baby will bring me books all day long, I finally had to dig out more books cause I was sick of reading Poohs favorite things 100 times a day.  My 3 yr old gets upset if the dh doesn't do reading lessons with him at night.

I asked my kids, those who can speak enough to share, what their favorite books are and here is what they said:

My oldest likes Animorphs.  Its a good thing she picked a series with a ton of books in it, the way she reads.

My 2nd daughter likes the series of Warrior Cats.  She made the disclaimer that she has not read the whole series.

My oldest son says his favorite was Goosebumps, but Calvin and Hobbes is good too.  I don't think he could choose if you put one of each in front of him.

My 2nd son said his favorite is any Spongebob. Why can't one of my kids say their favorite book is the Bible or Shakespeare? 

My 3rd son says his favorite books are Scooby Doo.  We were gifted a boxed set of Scooby Doo books years ago and all my boys have learned to read with them. 

My 4th son, who can't read quite yet, says his favorite book is My Good Morning Book.

My 5th son showed me his favorite book today and its a Thomas the Tank Engine board book.  Which is a real shocker there.  His favorite toy is Thomas, his favorite thing to watch on tv is Thomas.  His favorite letter is 'T' because thats what Thomas starts with. 

While my youngest definitely has a pension for Poohs Favorite Things.  He is always bringing me that book to read, more than any other. 

Although I have to say Animal Sounds and 500 words to  grow on would probably be everyones favorite books up till age 4.  I have to keep buying those book over and over because they get worn out and fall apart.

I like to read a wide variety of Non fiction books.  Fiction books, I have found, require too much character development and plot lines to remember.  Whereas the non fiction books are often broken up in smaller segments either in short essays or bylines.  Some recent books I have enjoyed are Uppity Women of Ancient Times and Wesley the Owl.

The dh is a complete opposite and likes fantasy and science fiction books, though you will find Hawking on our bookshelf.  His favorite books are Lord of the Rings.  He probably couldn't pick his favorite.

Whats the favoritest in your house?

Giveaway Anyone?

I have been cleaning out my office closet and noticed I have a bunch of stuff to give away.   If you are up for a give away please comment or email and let me know.  I will only do the give away if I get enough responses. 

I will even give you a choice of your winnings. 

There is the Lady Bug Napkins:

A set of 5 Bonnets:

A set of Plastic Bag holders, one for the house and one for the car:

Or some super cute washies or wipes with Penguins on them:

 So...if I have peaked your interest let me know!  I'd love to give back to the readers who stick with me every day.  Just drop me a line in the comments or via email and let me know you'd like me to do a give away. 

Laundry and Me

I have a new system for laundry.  Thanks to the change in on peak/off peak hours and the intense heat I am finally on top of my laundry.  My on peak hours start at 1 pm and go till 8 pm.  So I have all morning and right before bed to do laundry.  This is much better than the winter on peak which is 5 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 9 pm.  I have a much harder time getting the laundry done from 9-5 because school is in there and I can't start a load till after school has started.  Anyway, I now have this nice routine down and its nice not to be stressed by laundry.

As soon as I get up I throw in a load of laundry.  Even before my coffee.  I know, its hard.  But then I get to enjoy my coffee as I wait for it to finish, and I can get caught up on my blog reading (imagine coffee and the paper just 21st century version).  When its done I start another load and hang that one on the line.  I can hang 2 loads on the line at once.  So as soon as the 2nd one is done I hang that one on the line as well.  I let them sit till after lunch when I do my 3rd load right before on peak starts.  I hang that one on the line and let it sit till bed time.  That way I don't have to go outside again till off peak starts, so I am not letting hot air in the house.  And I don't have to die in the heat getting it off the line.

I used far less electricity this month this year than I did this month last year.  The biggest difference being that I have used the clothes line almost exclusively this year.  I only do about 1 load in the dryer a week.  If you live somewhere it rains alot this might not work for you, but you can get an indoor clothes line.  There is always a
drying rack as well.  I have a huge one I found at a thrift store, its about 6 foot tall.  And if you still have issues you can get a spin dryer. While it still uses electricity it will use far less than a dryer and you can still get the benefits of line drying such as sun bleaching. 

Of course come October I will have to go back to the old On peak/ Off peak but hopefully I will find a routine that works for me then too.  We do have an extra washer sitting in the wings waiting to be fixed,  so I will have 2 washers.  That will cut down on my time considerably as I will be able to get 2 loads on the line by 10 am and will have all day to dry when the temps dip down in the winter months.  You know, under 100. 

They're back...

I don't like spiders.  That would be an understatement.  I think spiders are evil and if you get too close they might eat your head off.  They don't seem to get the message though cause they keep paying me visits.  Todays it was in my bathroom. 

Just as I was about to leave my bathroom my 3 yr old came bounding over to me with a big smile on his face, "Catch it, Catch it.  Its falling!"  He was pointing right next to my head, I thought he meant hair was falling in my face.  I stepped back and came face to face with what he really was pointing at.  A spider suspended from the ceiling ready to land on my head and eat my brains!  No, really, it was gonna eat me.  So I did the only natural thing to do.  I screamed.  After I had jumped back a foot of course.  My 3 yr old didn't have a smile on his face anymore.  In fact he was frozen in place with a look of shock on his face.  He wasn't scared of the spider, he was scared of me.  I yelled for him to get the shoe that was on the floor next to him...just get the shoe already.  He didn't move. Not a muscle moved.  He just stood there staring at me. 

Not to fear my 4 yr old came to the rescue.  "I will get it."  And with that he reached up and grabbed the spider in his hand!  Oh well that just didn't go over well at all.  I screamed again.  "Its a SPIDER!"  My poor 4 yr old thought he was coming to grab a string.  I guess, in hindsight, when I yelled initially I should have included the phrase "Its a spider."  Now my 4 yr old is completely freaked out.  He threw the spider.  At least you know after a spider has been thrown its probably not in the best shape.  My 4 yr old is now bouncing around the room "Is it still on me?  Whered it go?  Whered it go?!" 

I told him I didn't know, he threw it.  Well I guess I am blind cause it was right there on the floor.  My 3 yr old very calmly pointed it to to me.  So I grabbed a shoe and smooshed it.  Thats when my 12 yr old came in the room.  When asked if she heard me screaming she replied she had.  Her reason for not coming to my rescue?  She was downloading something.  "Geez, its just a spider mom." 

When you should take advice

When you become a parent everyone loves to give you their 2 cents of advice.  You will learn very quickly that whatever you are doing, you must be doing it wrong.  Everyone wants you to do what they did as a parent, because they think its best.  After all it worked for them.  But when do you know if its advice you really should listen to?  How can you tell the difference.  One easy way: it does not benefit the giver in any way.  If the person giving you advice tells you that your child's eye is wandering and you didn't notice and suggests getting it looked at - that's advice you should listen to.  Its not like the advice giver is trying to get you to try the latest sleep positioner that they love, or get you to go to their dr because hes simply the best.  The advice only benefits the child and not the giver in any way.

If there is no benefit to the advice giver remember that they are not trying to slam your parenting skills any.  If you have given your baby solids and they start screaming in pain a while later and someone suggests holding off solids because your child might be too young, it might be something to listen to.  Its not that they said they didn't start solids for a full year and their child never screamed.  Its not a reflection of your parenting skills, its simply someone looking out for your baby when you might not know any different. 

Consider the source, if the advice comes from someone you trust, someone who loves you, or someone who has always looked out for you, why would they give you advice if it weren't for the best?  If you are the advice giver try to be tactful.  We all know you are just trying to help, but they don't know that.  They are already on the defensive after listening to crazy lady at Walmart tell you that all babies should sleep with their head pointed north. 

Punch Drunk

Between the heat and the lack of sleep we might be getting a bit punch drunk over here.  For 3 days in a row I could not even let the kids out on the back porch in the shade where temperatures were hovering around 120.  Yes, In the shade.  We have been cooped up in the house all week.  I guess it would be like if you were snowed in, but even when I lived in NY that never happened so I have no one I know to ask.  This week the dh was gone too, and our van was borrowed, and we had no money.  So even if I wanted to go out I couldn't.  And since I was alone I did all the work myself, which meant at least when I couldn't sleep at least I had something to do.  But I do have to laugh at some of the things that were said this week.  Pure comedy. 

I shared some of my Coke with my 3 yr old, you'd think I just gave him a blank check to a toy store.  My 11 year old looked at me and said, "I don't think you should give him any more."  I asked her why, not cause I didn't know cause I wanted to hear her say it..."You will make him hyper."  No need for me to explain myself, my 3 yr old took care of that for me when he said, "I am already hyper!" He is too, without the coke I mean.

Then at the dinner table my 12 yr old and I were discussing the attributes of the various kids.  My 7 yr old in particular.  He has a glowing face, always smiling and has the nicest skin tone, hes very healthy.  My 12 yr old said, "His cheeks are great for squeezing."  So I replied, "He does have punchable chunks."  I meant to say 'Pinchable Cheeks'.  My bad.