How am I Raising a California Valley Girl in Iowa?

I was talking with my oldest daughter the other day--one of my favorites, because every day when our family of seven is together is a favorite day. She was telling me a story about her work. These are the best.  

I digress here a moment. Mommas of young kids, you have something so fun coming! When your kids get jobs, they are going to tell you stories about their days.  Coworkers, bosses, clients... It's endlessly entertaining to listen to them talk about incidents, personalities, and their own reactions and responses. Both my grown kids have always worked in fields where they are caring for others, which seems inevitably to earn some riotous stories about outlandish behavior and/or bodily fluids. Best shows in town!

Back on track. So, we are listening to a story. She was not at the end of the story, but paused after quoting a request made by a coworker. A younger sister was in the room with us, seemingly engrossed playing with a stuffy in her lap. She took the pause to mean it was her turn to help end the story. So she did with this:

"And you were like, 'no!'" 

The tone and inflection was spot on with an 80s Valley Girl. Where'd she pick that up? 

The Ultimate Girl Brother

I spent some time with my adult kids. I was shifting toys, clothes, and bedding between rooms, and the place was a mess.  I asked my kids to help me find a top sheet and described it as sparkly. My son said sparkly in a weird baby voice. Then they looked at each other and knowingly chuckled. Ok, I clearly missed something.

They explained that they were quoting a Barbie sidekick. But--plot twist! They didn't name the same sidekick or same movie. They stared at one another in consternation. And then I sat back for the best show ever. I can't actually replicate it because I am just a mom of four girls.

My 25-year-old son proceeded to school my 23-year-old daughter on the polar bear and other cutie sidekick from some Barbie and Mariposa. He gave detail after detail until light dawned on my daughter's face. Ah, yes! Of course! The cutie little thing is the one who said sparkly in a weird baby voice!

If there is another scenario that better exemplifies the ultimate girl brother, I don't know what it is. Although, seeing as how he IS the ultimate girl brother, these scenes happen on the regular.

Guest Blogger

When I started blogging again, I asked the girls' permission to share about this life of ours. They were all on board. The oldest gave me a few forbidden topics with her blessing.

I was chatting with a friend on Marco Polo about topics I would like to cover on this blog. My girl was listening. She asked if I had convinced anyone to adopt. Actually, she asked if my blog is helping 'adoption people' know what might happen. She has ambition for this little project.

I said I think the readers are the people who love us already. She was aghast!

"That's bad. We want to be good. I feel like your blog will make everybody feel safe adopting and adopt children who need adoption and help the world be a better place."

I wasn't sure what to say. She smiled and continued.

"I have a sentence. Obey God and everything will nice." Blog that!

My sweet girl.

Even in Summer

I realize this is the second story of its kind in less than a month, but this is what I've got.

I'm writing on my blog and my girls are playing dress-up in the playroom.  One comes down every five or seven minutes to ask for something, report something, or to show off something.  It's working.

It wasn't a terrible surprise to see a little girl come down wearing nothing but a safari vest asking for help to zip it up.  I asked why she wasn't wearing any other clothes.  She explained that she was going exploring.  I asked again why she wasn't wearing clothes; explorers do wear clothes.  She answered plaintively: "It's summer!" (We'll ignore that an hour ago I said that I thought this was the coldest day that ever happened anytime, anywhere.)

Well, baby, even in summer, we wear clothes.  We just do!

How Many Times Do We Have To Do School?

 Our first week back to school after the holiday break didn't go poorly.  It was made more challenging by the anti-naps our four-year-old pulled on Monday and Thursday nights. I didn't mean to sign up to be up for an hour or two in the middle of the night!

Tuesday morning, Litte Miss crawled in bed with me all cute and snuggly.  I kissed her good morning and said, "I love cuddling with you, Sweet KitKat, but it's time to get up."  I made my way to the bathroom and heard her little voice from deep in the bed, "WHY?"  I told her that we need to do school.

I stifled a chuckle when I heard her incredulous, "Again?!"

For a Laugh

 I was running the kids through their bath time.  I was looking down at one daughter's head getting her hair done after asking another girl to please get undressed.  After a bit, I realized that the undressing one's feet were really still for too long.  I looked up to find her excitedly striking a pose.  I mean, she was nearly panting while holding as still as a kid can hold for a whole 60 seconds; she couldn't wait for me to see her.  And she was naked. 

I asked her to go get in the bath, adding that we don't need to pose naked.  She asked why not. How do I get into these conversations?? She said that we should, at least in our family.  "You know, for a laugh."

My nearly-nudist big sister would delight in this one. 💖