Harper's 5th Birthday Interview

This comes a month late. . . on the heels of a raucous girl superhero party. Same questions from the 3rd birthday interview. I did a 4th. I don't know where I filed it. Typical.




Ready to "battack danger" with her lasso of troof.

Your birthday was last month. We should do a birthday interview.

Why interview me? Why? Where? This is late.

 

How old are you?

5 years old

 

Who is your best friend?

Hannah

 

What is your favorite way to spend your time?

doing schoolwork

 

What's your favorite color?

pink

 

Favorite food?

watermelon

 

What is your favorite family activity?

give them hugs and kisses

 

and then the same question again..because 5.

 

What's your favorite activity to do with your family?

draw and play

 

Like what kind of games?

Because those are both healthy things and you have to do them.

 

What's your favorite toy?

Stuffed animals. Elephant*.

*Much grief surrounding elephant's impending loneliness once she starts school, thus requiring daily mention of huge golden lab stuffed animal from Gander Mountain to keep him company. We will probably end up buy it if she persists in her intelligent persuasion tactics, which have included mid-morning calls to dad at the office to lobby on elephant's behalf and the identification and presentation of many other stuffed animals whose welfare will also benefit from said golden lab. 

 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Nurse.

 

Why?

Because nurses* are my favorite, so I want to be like Nurse Nancy.

*It seems pertinent to add that, specifically, Harper wants to be a "snake nurse." She will wear gloves, so the poison doesn't get on her.

 

What makes you happy?

giggling.

 

What makes you sad?

((brow furrowed..hands on hips..stands up)) Being angry. Getting angry. Throwing sticks at me. Some people who are strangers.

Yikes. If only you had a real lasso for those stick-throwing strangers.

 

What is your favorite TV show?

Cinderella. I mean Lucky Duck.

 

What is your favorite book?

Snuggle Buddies*.

*A step reader about the Disney princesses and their pets. Also, no day is complete without a solid 45 minutes of role play. Harper is a "palace pet," while I am the protagonist, antagonist, and all supporting roles following her dictated script. Her contribution: barking and meowing in response.

 

What do you like to learn about?

Science.

 

What was the best part about your birthday?

Pin the tail on the donkey.

Really? That was your favorite part of the party that I spent weeks Pinteresting? $1.98 from K-Mart? Harp. You're the only one who played.

 

Where do you like to go?

To the beach to play in the sand and water. The beach is my favorite place!

 

What is your favorite treat?

jelly beans!

 

What do you think about at night before you go to sleep?

My dolls. I think about my plastic doll Jessie and her plastic horse, Peppermint.

 

Who is a famous person you'd like to meet?

Aunt Kristen. She looks famous when she wears her clothes.

Well now.

 

What's your favorite thing about being 5?

Playing nurse and helping my stuffed animals.

 

Do you feel different than when you were four?

Yeah. I feel like I'm much taller than short.

 

Happy Birthday, Baby.

Mom. It's not my birthday anymore.

manly essentials.

"Mommmaaa, I'm suck."
"Stuck, huh? How'd you get up there?"
"Cwimbed dis cabinet."
"Whatcha need?"
"Deese boots and a protein bar. Kiss me befoe I jump."

10 ways to horrify a 2.5 year old.

1. Assume he wants his banana peeled.
2. Pick up a sibling. Ever.
3. Sing along with him.
4. Help him put on his shoes.
5. Suggest he has a last name.
6. Buckle his car seat.
7. Gently recommend he not approach an ice cream cone bottom first.
8. Embark upon any painless endeavor of his basic hygiene which must be repeated multiple times per day, including, but not limited to: face wiping, diaper changing, tooth brushing and hair combing.
9. Pick him up.
10. Put him down.

Defying physics and other talents.

By now, y'all know I'm always game for a gimmicky diet or workout. It should come as no shock that I'm nearly done with T25 and headed for P90X. It is for real. I can do push-ups again. Real ones.

Admittedly, I am somewhat concerned that if I maintain this sort of ..manly Jazzercize, our ceiling downstairs will collapse, because.. high jumps. Hopefully, I will land on the couch.

As usual, I've gained weight. It's just what I do. It's a gift. I like to think that I'm built for survival. I would survive as long as any teenage heroine in any popular young adult literature series on which I've binged this summer.

But since I'm not trying to climb out of the Grand Canyon carrying a boat, eating only apples grown by long gone farmers of the Rising, my jeans are tight.

It's a delicate balance, jump squats and coffee cake.

Today, I bought a bag of chocolate Shakeology.

I read a lot about it before I did, because the price is unspeakable.

In the end, I decided to try it because eating healthy food is expensive, anyway.

 Concerned it would be like.. chocolate water (that's how it looks in commercials).., I mixed it with 12 oz. of coconut milk, a half cup of crushed ice and, much to Henry's annoyance, pulled out the immersion blender.

I say all of that - even the anecdotal rambling - to say, it's really thick. Maybe because of the chia seeds or one of the many other fancypants ingredients. I don't know. I know coffee cake made with cream cheese. It's what brung me.

So..

I struggled through the first half, feeling somewhat defeated. ..but then, in a texture-driven near heave, a moment of clarity prevailed over beer-bonging strategies of yore:

It's like drinking chocolate pudding.

WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO DO THAT?

And lastly, I read somewhere that good photography is essential for successful blogging. Ha!

This is after the ice melted. . . I stuck my phone in and tilted the shake down, so it's slowly lolling its way down through Brandon's Phil Robertson Happy Happy Happy Tervis tumbler, looking like the mouth of Hell. But in a good way.

on breaking the first rule of fight club.

..commercial district of Raeford Road, 8:30 a.m...

Henry: Where we goin', Momma?
Me: I can't decide between Walmart and Target.
Harper: Walmart!
Henry: Yeah, Walmart!
Me: ((huge Walmart-hating sigh)). Ok. But you know they don't have many kid carts and you'll have to get in a regular one together. And Harper, you have to ride since you have a splinter in your foot. Can y'all do that without fighting? In the same cart?
Henry: We not fighting.
Harper: We can fight nice.
Me: Impossible. No fighting. Understand?
Harper: Yes.
Henry: I don't need to be in duh cart.
Me: You will be in the cart. No fighting.
Henry: ((sigh)) Can we listen to Puff Daddy?


....Pause....


Harper: Can we go in another store after Walmart so we can fight?

In defense of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Harper's Book Club currently recommends:

There are more life lessons than you can shake a stick at.

Bless her heart, she even understands some of them.

I feel a stab in my heart when I realize she's old enough to "get" it and I spend our discussion probing for understanding and marveling at surprisingly apt answers.

I will the time to slow.

..just then,

 

Harper, why is this your favorite book?
Harper: His NAKED BUTT! ((attempts to moon me, Henry falls down laughing)) 

 

The end.

On horrifying the nearly 5-year-old.

Suggest she jump into the pool in a cotton dress rather than spend an hour unearthing her bathing suit, goggles, coordinating towel and flip flops. "NEVER!" ((hysterically, throws self on bed))

Attempt to explain the concept of a word scramble. "BUT WHAT DOES THE MESSED UP WORD SAY?"

Play the video of the real Macarena from 15 years ago. "Who are these grandpas?!"

Explain that Puff Daddy is a real person. "When I'm 10, I'll have a big cat named Puff Daddy. Puffy if I'm in a hurry."

Verify that the Ninja Turtles are not of this realm. "Are they in our land? Will they ever attack danger at the grocery store when we're there? The grocery store does have pizza."

Admit that you don't know who Santa's mom is. .."But Mom?.. Mrs. Klaus.. She's not his mom, she's his lady, right?"

never trust a wayfarer-wearing hipster.

After an especially tantrum-filled morning, Henry earned the rare nap.

He didn't sleep. Like usual.

After 45 minutes of boisterous play plus some intermittent rage straight into the monitor, walkie-talkie-style, **YOU KNOW I DON'T NAP. OVER.**, I gave up.

I found him pantsless, diaperless, but nonetheless, bePolo-ed.

"Haaay, Momma!"

Hey bud! Where are your pants and diaper?

"Over there. Diaper just flew off!"

I forgot my Blogger password.

That's how long it's been since I've thought about sticking my toe in this water. I had to search for the "write a new post" button. What.

Food, kids, sporadic bursts of dedicated exercise. The gang's still all here...

So.

food:

Did you know that if you mix two cans of pumpkin with a box of Betty Crocker butter pecan cake mix and bake in muffin tins for 20 minutes that it creates magic? When you eat it, think "pancake." Don't dare think "maple" because it will ruin your life. I don't know if it's healthier than the real thing, but.. pumpkin. That counts for something.

Today, I ruined a soup with the wrong cheese. With the wrong cheese that cost $11. Which I almost put back, because.. $11. FOR CHEESE? And now it's a fibrous, stiff $11 blob in the bottom of the pot, which I forlornly abandoned. I had to walk away. I'm shunning it and hoping it turns into something else, but it won't*. Because I bought the wrong cheese.

kids:

So I walked upstairs with the very last Reese's Egg...to drown my sorrows about the soup. Henry heard me opening it.. He asked what it was, and with some fumbling and hesitation, I blurted out, "Toilet soap."

...toilet soap?

I feel 1% guilty. Both kids have been sick, anyway. At this tender juncture, a Reese's might still be ill-advised.

Last Wednesday night, I heard Henry cough a few times. I casually fumbled my way down to his room to give him a little cuddle and some water. As I gently caressed his blonde hair, it was... wet. And chunky.

Just as his load of laundry was finishing up, the power went out.

About 15 minutes later, I heard Harper cry out, and I thought, "Oh.. her nightlight. No posse of projected ceiling Disney princesses to protect her." Except when I fumbled my way down to her room, barf also.

The power came on around 4 a.m. The good news is, I was already awake, cleaning up the hurl that happened every hour on the hour, to turn off all the random appliances that come to life and normally scare the wits out of people in such a situation.

It was the world's longest stomach bug. Today is the first day they've even mustered the energy to be annoyed by each other.

 

I've been letting them watch some TV while they convalesce. This is how Henry watches TV. It's relaxing for everyone involved.

Maybe the end of blogging directly correlated with his being confidently mobile. Or being Batman. Because this is how Batman looks right before he unassumingly steps backwards off of a skyscraper. Which Henry did, without warning, about 5 seconds after I took this.

exercise:

I've done the first month of T-25 three full times. Most recently, I had to take a three week hiatus because I fiercely kicked a solid wood Melissa & Doug alligator push toy and am now minus one big toenail for sandal season. Eh. It's not a race, mostly because it's just jumping up and down. I know all the choreography by heart. Like Britney at the 2007 VMAs.

*The soup was fine. The cheese totally dissolved. Excellent soup. Excellent cheese. Amen.