I'm home alone with the kids last night as my wife was stuck in traffic on I-95. I'm heating up some leftovers for myself for dinner and the kids are keeping me company. I have given them each a cookie, to their mutual delight. At some point, however, the cookies are gone, and this is what follows:

Boy Child: [Happily burbling along at great volume]

Girl Child: Silence!

Boy Child: [Continues to burble]

Girl Child: SILENCE!

Boy Child: [Abruptly ceases burbling and looks at her intently]

Girl Child: [Looks first at Boy Child to make sure he really is going to be quiet and then turns and addresses me] Pappa, we need more cookies!

Boy Child: [Looks at me and nods head while saying his little word for yes in tone of total agreement] Ah-ta.

More cookies were distributed. A happy and joyful noise returned to the kitchen table.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:05 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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My wife just wandered in late and I give her the recitation of the evening accomplishments and the Girl Child chimes in:

Me: The children have been bathed, teeth have been brushed, milk has been given . . .

GC: And noses have been picked!

Excellent addition. I note that the Girl Child refers to her nose, not mine.

Now, off to read a story.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 TMI.....TMI!!!! It did make me spew coffee on my keyboard, hilarious. Wonder if the IT dept will have the same take on it?

Posted by: Wicked H at May 24, 2005 10:58 AM (iqFar)

2 OMG...That's just brilliant!

Posted by: Jester at May 24, 2005 11:14 PM (yS8Mo)

3 If she ever says THAT again jus' remember to tap her nose with your finger and say "...and you picked a good one!"

Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 24, 2005 11:28 PM (pKu2s)

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The Girl Child hopped out of bed last night to keep her mother and me company as we brushed our teeth. These little visits are usually quite welcome. One of the things the Girl Child likes to do during her time with us is to jump up into our bed and hang out for awhile until we're done. But she's a nice girl and she always asks:

GC: Mamma? Can I go opp i sengen din? [mixing Norwegian and English]

[long pause as Mamma's mouth is filled with tooth brush and tooth paste]

[GC appears to grow a bit impatient with not getting an answer but seems to know that Mamma is not going to respond with a full mouth]

GC: [Tone: Bright and cheerful] Just nod your head yes, Mamma!

Which my wife did as I hid my face so the Girl Child did not see me laugh.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:34 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Okay, I'll bite. What's "opp i sengen din" mean?!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 20, 2005 07:33 PM (PvNxm)

2 Hang out with you. Wild guess. Funny stuff as always with the GC

Posted by: Mark at May 20, 2005 09:39 PM (2Yps7)

3 My bad, guys, I thought it was clear from context otherwise would have translated -- sorry! It means -- up in your bed.

Posted by: RP at May 21, 2005 06:15 AM (X3Lfs)

4 Ya know, if you threw around more Norwegian on your blog, we could all learn it in no time!

Posted by: Mark at May 21, 2005 08:19 PM (2Yps7)

5 I understood it. At least Swedish and Norwegian intermingle well

Posted by: Helen at May 23, 2005 07:52 AM (8wm0s)

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I have been having some crappy days at work so I decided to cure my bad mood by throwing myself into my children and playing and having fun and keeping the Girl Child (4+ years) up late so she could watch some baseball and hang out with me. Incidentally, it worked pretty darn well, too. Actually, the whole night was nice.

My wife was late so that meant I had both kids all to myself. I made dinner for my wife and me and ended up eating with just the kids. The Boy Child (2+ years), according to the nanny, did not eat at all today. Well, he ate just fine for me. Cut up pineapple (which he calls "anna", from ananas in Norwegian) and which he insisted on putting into his mouth himself with the fork, sliced mango (which he shared with his sister), over 1/2 of a huge grilled knockwurst, and quite a few spoonfuls of my very, very spicy black beans (after each spoonful he reached for his sippy cup and then kind of gasped "mor" or more). Tough kid.

The Boy Child was shipped off to bed and we came back downstairs to clean up the kitchen. The Girl Child had aftens, which is Norwegian for a snack you have after dinner -- she had a little bit of melted jarlsberg on bread with oregano on it, one of my wife's favorites. And then we went into the living room to watch baseball and hang out.

Kids, I think, have no conception of honesty/dishonesty. Up to a certain age, they don't seperate fantasy from reality -- it all blends together for them. But when they do talk truth, when they do speak honestly, unfettered by any social conventions or constraints, you get entertaining conversations like the following:

GC: Yum. I just farted.

Me: Why did you say yum?

GC: Because my farts smell yummy.

Me: Why do you think they smell yummy.

GC: Because my poop smells yummy. [pause] Well, my poop doesn't always smell yummy. Sometimes, my poop smells really, really bad [head nodding hard for emphasis and said in a very earnest tone].

See what I mean? Still, so young and already so wise.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:50 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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No time today to give the full update on the D.C. trip (it is now 2:15 and I have been flat out running since 8:30) but I did want to quickly memorialize the conversation I had last evening with the Girl Child (remember, only 4 years old) as we were preparing to go out for an after dinner family walk:

GC: Pappa, are you ready to go?

Me: Not quite. Just give me a second to check the score on the Yankees game.

GC: What, are you going to sit there all night?

Me: Yes. Exactly. I am going to sit here all night.

GC: Mamma! Is that [short pause] appropriate for Pappa to sit there all night?

Her mother opined that it wasn't and I was summarily evicted from the living room. On the plus side, it was a beautiful night for a walk.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 02:22 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The Girl Child and I were standing at her grandparents' pool, looking at it, after we agreed to go swimming. Concerned by the possibility that the water was chilly, we were standing there, waiting for the other one to go first, to take the first toe step, then knee step, then tushie step until you hit the tummy step. She was wearing her little water wings and waiting to get in so I could throw her, and I mean throw her, in the air. While waiting, we had the following conversation:

Me: Do you want me to go get you the inflatible ring?

GC: The ring? That, I could do without.

She's been spending too much time with my father.

And while I remember, the Boy Child graced us with what might just pass for a sentence:

Opp, go, bil [yes, mostly he speaks Norwegian]

Thus telling my wife that he wanted to be picked up and he wanted to go out for a ride in the car. It appears he may be putting the whole language thing together. Which is nice.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 03:35 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I've never really thought that my daughter was given to melodrama, but last night we had the following conversation after I put her to bed, late, and after I had read her three, long stories.

GC: Pappa, nothing in my life is going right!

Me: [actually a little alarmed to hear a 4 year old say that] Why do you say that, Peanut?

GC: Because I never get to have 4 stories!

Oh, the humanity!

Posted by: Random Penseur at 12:22 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 My niece has mastered the heaving sigh and dramatic declaration. Last time it was a "I don't know if I'll ever get over this!"..."this" being that I wasn't making her little brother share his new birthday present with her ten minutes after he opened it. So, did GC get the fourth story?

Posted by: nic at May 04, 2005 05:32 PM (Sx8zO)

2 Heh. Just wait for the melodramatic "I didn't ASK to be born!" Ooh, I just came up with an answer: "Yes, you did. You just don't remember things from when you were that young."

Posted by: Tuning Spork at May 04, 2005 10:52 PM (CsMXV)

3 Please tell me she did the broken wrist over the forehead thing. *giggles* My favorite story is when my eldest (now 17) was just a wee lad -- around the same age -- and he was getting weary of the younger brother following him around doing everything he did. He said: "Ryan's getting on my nervous." To this day, when we're annoyed we say, "___ is on my nervous."

Posted by: Margi at May 05, 2005 01:10 AM (lWAiX)

4 She's so cute. She also needs to pace herself-at this point, the college years alone are going to be worthy of meoldrama and theatrics!

Posted by: Helen at May 05, 2005 02:18 AM (AabhR)

5 Oh, the humanity indeed. How *could* you deprive her of what is rightfully hers? A fourth story. Is that so much to ask?? As for the melodrama, she needs to learn that the definition of the words 'judicious use' goes hand in hand with the melodrama learning curve. Otherwise, it loses its impact rather quickly. Get right on that, ok? :-)

Posted by: Jennifer at May 06, 2005 10:54 AM (jl9h0)

6 Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! Will she grow up to be an actress, do you think?

Posted by: Hannah at May 07, 2005 01:47 PM (0d7ig)

7 Oh, can I relate to this bedtime ritual of being begged, plead to, promised the moon, and cajoled into more stories, only to have my "sorry..." met with total melodrama on any given night. My work around is reading a chapter in a book, like Alice in Wonderland, that will hold his imagination for that night. I was truly surprised to discover he not only follows the story line from night to night but he remembers all the characters and all the major story points.

Posted by: michele at May 10, 2005 12:53 PM (ht2RK)

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