Seven Quick Takes: Friday, June 20

1. It was 97% humidity here when we woke up this morning. It was like breathing water. I am not sure how the weather manages to do that without us all being in a cloud. M said it felt like he had spiderwebs all over his skin. Things dried up as it warmed up, but at least it wasn't that humid and 90 out like a certain city is all summer long. Tomorrow is the first day of summer...woohoo! It is time to soak in summer while we can, and get a good dose of heat and humidity before the six months of dry and cold.

2. I took G(5) and L(3) for haircuts today, and the stylists could not get over how cute L was. I mean all the kids are really cute, but L just has that extra cute personality that get to you and then you can't stand how cute she is. It must be something like the charm that the Flyte family has in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. You simply cannot resist it. Her teenage swimming instructor kept on shooting me "your daughter is so cute" glances at the pool this morning. We are lucky that no one has thought she was so cute that they had to eat her up, you know.

3. M has decided that it is really important to make sure that our children do not fit into society at all, even when they grow up. The thing is, I never really felt like I fit into mainstream society, nor do I think I ever could. When I venture places like the hair salon, I can manage small talk about kids, but, nope, I am not really normal. When the stylist asked L about what she wanted her hair cut to be like L responded,

"I want to grow my hair all the way down to my feet!"
The stylist smiled and replied, "Oh, like the girl in Tangled."
L gave her a blank stare.
I chimed in, "How about like Rapunzel. Do you want hair like hers?"
L then smiled and said, "Yeah! Like her! We read about her in a book!"
Yep, we are a little different, aren't we?

4. M has been doing a little a lot more child watching since his break began, and F (19 months) is getting pretty used to him working while watching her. He came up from his study just before dinner the other night, and she had been whining at my feet in the kitchen. When he offered to help, I asked if he could watch F. He asked her what she wanted to do, and she led him down the stairs and into his study. She pointed at his chair and demanded, "Sit down!" Then she pointed at his books on his desks and said, "Do that!"

5. We are starting to get a harvest from our garden this week! I made our first pesto pasta of the season, and am so glad that I planted two basil plants this year. It is nice to be able to make pesto this early in the summer without using the whole plant! We also have been harvesting our lettuces. I read on some random website that you can do a later summer planting and Fall harvest of lettuce. Is this true for Minnesota?

6. I have been working through a couple of things parenting-wise this week. The first is how to deal with screaming children who want to argue whenever I say 'no.' I am learning to be more firm in my 'no' and not debate out the issue. I really do not want to be having arguments with a five year old about things she has no authority over. The second is gently encouraging less daytime nursing with F. She often asks when she is just hungry or thirsty. I have been offering foods and then informing her of when the next time she will nurse (which is usually naptime or bedtime).

7. And there was something I was going to write that I even told M yesterday about, and neither of us can remember. So, if we remember I will update this... if not... here is a really quick take. Take it or leave it...

Linking up to Seven Quick Takes Friday hosted this week by Kathryn.