Oh The Things They Say

I wish I was better on keeping up on the funny things Seth and Sam say, especially with how horrible my pregnancy brain is these days. They are so funny, so full of hilarious questions and stories. At least I’m keeping up on some of them:

-On very hot days, the boys just hang out in their underwear. The other night we were eating dinner at the table (the boys in only their underwear) and Seth exclaimed, “Hey, there’s something in my underwear!” (Just what every parent wants to hear, right?) After some exploration, he cried out in a surprised voice, “Ah, it’s my missing lego. That’s where it went!” Ben and I are still laughing about this!!!

-Speaking of underwear, the boys and I were outside on a morning that was getting steadily warmer, so I told them I was going to go inside to change into shorts. “You can just wear your underwear, mama,” Sam told me. My reply, “Well, son, I don’t think the neighbors would appreciate that much.”

-It’s been a bit of a mental adjustment that we are having a boy, instead of the girl that we were hoping for—especially for Seth and I. “But we really wanted a girl, mama,” Seth will tell me. He is very concerned that now there will be FOUR boys and only one girl in our family (me too, ha ha!). The other night at dinner he asked, “Why didn’t God make me a girl?” Ben and I spent some time assuring him and teaching that God knows just what our family should look like, and that He knew exactly how to make both Seth and Sam. “So, he made you a boy,” we concluded. “Kind of like he made me a snuggler?” Seth asked. “Yep,” we replied with a smile. “And he made me a kisser?” Sam piped in. “Yep, Sam, definitely.” Sweet boys!

-Some (ok, most) days the questions continue to bog down my mind. I told Ben that these boys are asking questions about things I’ve never even thought about! For example, “How does our car stay up when we’re on a hill?” Hum. Don’t know quite how to answer that. Or, “Why is the exhaust on jets fire?” On one such day where questions were coming at me continually from both kids, I said kind of exasperated, “You guys have SOOO many questions today!” “But mama,” Seth asked so sincerely, “Don’t you have lots of questions in your heart?”

-As a parent, on certain subjects you try to strike a balance between being open and giving information, but protecting your children’s minds and hearts. Subjects like armies, soldiers and wars are coming up a lot in our house because of the soldiers in the Easter story, air craft carriers, and fighter jets. I have such a hard time explaining simply and protectively questions like, “What’s a bomb, mama?” Ugh. Another such subject is dying. We’ve been very open about death, especially after Grandma Great passed away last fall, and Grandma Minnie this spring. We want our boys to know that they’re in heaven with Jesus, and that that’s a great thing! However, it’s hard to know what to do when they flippantly talk about, “Oh ya, and then daddy will die.” Hum. I’ve tried to tell them that we don’t want to talk a lot about dying, because it’s sad for the people that are left behind. But then I get responses like, “But Grandma Great died, and we’re happy because she’s with Jesus,” or I heard this the other day, “But I want to die because I want to see what God looks like.” Oh, the childlike faith.

-Speaking of God, the other day Sam asked me how God was made. Good luck answering that one people.

-Of, course, with me being pregnant, we’re getting the wonderful question of, “How’s baby going to come out?” The first time I got this question, I told the boys to ask their daddy. Ben, the master of non-confrontation, simple told them in a round-about way, “Well, baby will grow and then it will be time for mama and daddy to go to the hospital. And then you’ll come visit us and baby will come out.” Great, for the time being. Thanks a lot, Ben, that answer did not suffice for long and now I’m getting peppered with that question weekly. Finally, I’ve just said, “Some day when you’re a daddy, you’ll get to know all about how a baby comes out.” Of, course that led to, “When will I get to be a daddy?” "Who am I going to marry?” “How old will I be?” Really, the questions are daunting…

-Seth found me to tattle that Sam was “licking the toothpaste lid.” I went in to investigate and found Seth licking the toothpaste bottle. Ironic perhaps? I then asked Sam if he was licking the lid. “Naw, I was just sucking on it.” Ben LOST it laughing out loud. How am I supposed to parent that logic?

-Ben told me the other night as they were playing baseball, “We really need to get another glove. Seth just ran off to get his butterfly net so that he can play the netter.” (Netter is their word for outfielder). For some reason this really tickled my funny bone.

That’s all for now. Here’s some pictures of those silly little boys! (and yes, they’re doing exactly what this looks like: using the chairs to pretend to drive cars) Sam Seth Love this expression!