Out of the mouths of someone else's babe

We had two boys this weekend staying with us while their parents were off dealing with life. Ben is 13, and Henry will be 11 in November.

The first night they were here, we played Fibbage, an online game with our Amazon Firestick. Your controllers are your phones, and there are several games, one of which was a lying game in which one person is told they will be the liar.

The rules go like this: The liar is notified while the rest of the players receive a message and must answer honestly by raising a hand or not. The liar does not receive the news and has to decide whether or not to hold up his hand because he is trying not to be caught. All players have to pick the liar by holding a discussion. Of course, the liar is going to try to prove he isn't the one.

The message was: Raise your hand if you've ever had a long-distance relationship.

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Tom, Madison, Ben, and I did not raise our hands, but Henry did.

Ben: "Ha, Ha, it's Henry!"

Henry: "It is not me."

Madison: "Really? You've had a long-distance relationship?"

Henry: "Haven't you ever heard of online dating?"

We still voted him the liar, but we gave him props for trying.

After we had stopped laughing.

Out of the mouths of someone else's babe

Spotted at a rest area stop on the way back to San Francisco.

Me: "Whoa. I bet none of you even know what these things are."

Anya: "Please, Cara. I've heard the song."

Thank you, Adam Levine and Maroon 5.

Out of the mouths of someone else's babe - Sydney

Sydney: I want ice cream now too!"

Me: "Whoa there. Look at this plate full of food."

Sydney: "So?"

Me: "You haven't even touched it. There are starving children in Africa. They would give anything to have this food and here you are throwing away an entire plate of good food."

Sydney: (raising her brow in a 'like that is my problem' look, she puts her arms out, palms up): "Well, if those kids in Africa don't know where this place is..."

Out of the mouths of someone else's babe - Sydney

Today was spent with SueG who has younger children, Sydney who is four and Alex who is eight. We started out at the local pool by the beach but a storm rolled in and so we ended up at the pool at my house where it was not storming. Before we entered the house I spoke to the young children.

Me: "Now listen up, guys. Miss Cara has some stuff in the playroom that is not to be touched. It is messy in because I 'm working on a project and I had to leave the stuff out. Leave it alone and don't mess with it."

Sydney - "What is it?"

Me: "It's a bunch of crap, but I don't want you to touch it."

I unlocked the door and let them into the house. Immediately both went right to the entrance of the playroom. I came up behind them to reiterate again the importance of not messing with my items. Instead, I heard the following exchange:

Alex - "There it is right there."

Sydney - "Yep. That's the crap."

Fruitcakes in the car

Whenever we traveled during my childhood my mother would always tell us to look out the window at the scenery. We traveled out west with my grandparents and my cousin and the only thing my cousin remembers is my mother yelling, "Put down those Barbie dolls and look out the window!" 

Now it is my turn to tell that to my own children.

I am forever telling them to check things out their window.

Me: "Look, girls. Can you see the crops? There are the soybeans. The grass is so much greener than Florida grass, don't you think? No palm trees."

Me: "Cows!"

Me: "Corn in the field. High as an elephant's eye!"

As we left the farm and headed toward Evansville, we passed The Big Peach, a farmer's market where you can get fresh food right from the fields. As a child, passing this peach meant that we were almost to the farm, and I passed this little tidbit on to the disinterested girls in the back seat. I kept driving.

A few minutes later, Susan spotted this out the window.

Susan: "Girls! Look! A Big Strawberry!"

Gabby: "What's next? The Big Banana?"

Out of the mouths of someone else's babe

I'm teaching swimming lessons at my old place of employment for a free program called, Every Child a Swimmer. There are two instructors and five volunteer helpers for 16 kids in my first class.

Today was our second day. The children were all sitting lined up on the side of the pool. I went down the row and named each kid (with the help of the first letter in their names). When I was finished I asked:

Me: "Alright, who can remember my name?"

A sea of blank faces stared back at me.

Me: "It begins with the letter C."

Dylan: (raising his hand) "Oh, oh, I know. I know!"

Me: "Dylan! Great, Dylan, remembers my name. What is my name?"

Dylan: "Tinker Bell!"

I was Miss Tinker Bell the rest of the class.