Snow Pics 2009

I started to write this post last week when it snowed but must have gotten distracted because I never posted it. So here's the update:

First it snowed, and Margot and I took a snow day:



And then by the weekend it was 60 degrees and we didn't need to wear coats:

Jurassic Park

Margot's class is learning about dinosaurs this month. She's amassed an impressive vocabulary of dino-types (mine is limited to T-Rex and Brontosaurus, which I think doesn't even exist anymore, kind of like Pluto is no longer a planet.)

Here is our conversation during our ride home this evening, after I picked her up from school:

Min: "Mommy, do you know how the dinosaurs died?"

Me: "Well, I don't think anyone really knows. How do you think they died?"

Min: "I have my theories." [She honestly said that. I stifled a guffaw. She has theories?]

Me: "Oh yes? What are they?"

Min: "Well, maybe a big meteor hit the earth and covered all the food with dust and the dinosaurs couldn't find anything to eat. Or maybe it got really cold and the dinosaurs' food died so they died too."

Me: "Those are good theories. And do you know what a meteor is?"

Min: "Of course. It's a carnivore."

[Get it? She thought a meteor was a 'meat eater!']

I just about died myself but kept my laughter inside (she's so sensitive to laughter these days).

Amen to that!

Despite our crazy work/life schedules, we almost always eat dinner together at the dining room table. Still, occasionally, we will break from that pattern. Tonight, circumstances made me feed Margot early this evening. (Circumstances also made me feed her a dinner of Kraft Mac and Cheese and a bowl of peas, but that's why she takes a multivitamin every day.)

While she sat at the dining room table, spoon poised to dive into the peas, I suggested she say a quick grace before her meal. She lowered her spoon, and this is what she said,

"Dear God. I love you. I love you even though I can't see you. [Pause.] Thank you for helping Santa to make my mermaid doll and the fins for my Dora toy. Thank you. Amen."

Not bad!

The Lyricist

Margot really likes to hold onto the Christmas season. Even though the tree has been down for over a week, and we stopped turning the lights on after New Year's Day, she still listens to Christmas CDs several times a day. (Last year I am fairly certain she was still listening to Christmas songs in March.) She especially likes to listen to music while she's falling asleep. If she awakens in the middle of the night, she pads over to her CD player (no, she doesn't have an Ipod yet) and presses *play*; the music keeps her company until she can drift off again.

This morning I was lying in bed, still waking up, when Margot approached me with a serious look on her face.

"Mommy. I was listening to Hark the Herald Angels Sing last night, and they were signing about baby Jesus' butt. That's not a very good word to use, is it Mommy." (That last sentence was a statement, not a question.)

Some background. After Margot started pre-school this past October, she came home laughing her head off at the word 'butt.' This is something she heard regularly at pre-school, and I understand it's funny to her and her friends. That said, I think there are more endearing words for a pre-schooler's backside, like tush or heiney or bum. I told her 'butt' wasn't a bad word, but there were better words that she could use.

So, where was I? Oh, yes. Rubbing sleep from my eyes and trying not to laugh at her. "Margot, are you sure? I'm not sure that's what they're saying." I was racking my head for the lyrics, trying to figure out where the problem lay.

"No they definitely said it, Mommy. I'm sure. And it's not nice to talk about baby Jesus' heiney." Of this, she was sure.

"You're right, Min. It's not nice. But I'm certain that the song doesn't talk about that at all."

She didn't believe me.

We forgot to listen to the song today, and now she's in bed. We'll see if she brings it up again tomorrow.

Musings....

I wonder how I - a person who rarely, rarely throws up when sick - could have birthed someone with such a propensity for projectile vomit in the car.

Sorry, was that TMI (too much information)?

Margot really does have an uncanny tendency to only throw up in the car, though. This time, it's not her usual car sickness, but a bona fide virus. Hopefully, it's only a 24-hour bug; she seemed better by bedtime today.