Classic

When my Aunt Patti brought up the fact that Meri's birthday is almost here and asked her what she wanted, Jell instantly piped in, "Well, WE haven't had time to think about that yet."

Jell: "Hey mom, ZUMBA!"
Mom: "What's zumba?"
Jell: "Nothing, I made it up. It's a joke."

On Saturday we watched the National Championships, basically the Olympic trials, for Women's ice skating and pairs ice dancing. Every single time there was a lift or jump Jenelle exclaimed, "Wow! I cannot do that." Followed by all sorts of questions like, "Mommy, when will I be able to do that? Can you do that? When will I get my own ice skates ...."

Meri: (totally out of the blue) "Hey mom, I have a happy-pop-osis."
Jell: "No Meri, it's a hy-pop-o-sis."
Mom: "What is your hypothesis Mers?"
Meri: "Dis is my hypoposis." (holds up a weed with a huge grin)
Jell: "No Meri, that is not a hypoposis. A hypoposis is an idea you can test" (Way to go Dinosaur Train)
Meri: "But dis is my hypoposis!" (weed)
Jell: "Okay, it can be pretend, but it's not a real hypoposis ... Mom, I have a hypoposis."
Mom: "What's your hypothesis?"
Jell: "My hypoposis is that worms go deep in the ground in the winter to find more food." (we've talked about this recently and even had to google where worms go in the winter because the girls were distraught that they hadn't seen a worm in months)
Mom: "And maybe to get warm."
Jell: "Yep, that too."

Meri held hands with her friend Sam all during circle time when I taught preschool on Tuesday. She totally initiated at and was very pleased with herself. She just sat there smiling. I had to pull the plug when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Oh boy.

Also, the difference between boys and girls as I've observed it this week teaching Meri's group: Boys try to "kill" the bad guys (pretend ones luckily) by running full speed through the house, yelling, shooting them, kicking, punching, etc. Girls coyly offer their oppponent a poison apple, faint and wait around for true love's kiss. That about sums it up as I see it!

When I taught Jell's school last week, some of the girls came running to tell me that one of the girls, we'll call her Dorcas to protect the innocent, was yelling at them all. I called Dorcas to me and told her we can't yell at anyone. She said, "But I was pretending to be the mom!" Ouch. At least it wasn't my daughter. This time.