Family Adventures

Party of Five

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Rose: “Mom, how do you spell Latin?”

Jane, looking up from Sunflower Houses: “Mom, look at this! It’s a bunch of riddles about flowers…hmm, ‘The name of a boy and an old-fashioned weapon…’ “

Beanie: “Did you know O has a brother?”

Rose: “How do you spell Japanese?”

Beanie: “The brother of O is Q!”

Jane: ” ‘A state in the South and a one-year-old child…’ Virginia creeper!”

Rose: “How do you spell Gaelic?”

Wonderboy: “Mommy help!” (points at stacking cup under table)

Rose: “How do you spell Chinese?”

Jane: “Do you say PEEanee or peOHnee?”

Beanie: “Peony peony peony! I like that name.”

Rose: “How do you spell German?”

Wonderboy: “Mommy help!” (different cup, now under couch)

Baby: “Meep.”

Jane: ” ‘The child of a suffragette known in our land…’ I know about the suffragettes but I don’t know their children’s names.”

Beanie: (sings) “Oh we were sufferin’…until suff-er-age…not a woman here could vote no matter what age…”

Rose: “How do you spell Irish?”

Beanie: “Until the nineteenth a-somethin’ struck down that ra-structive rule….oh yeah!”

Jane: “Amendment.”

Wonderboy: “Mommy count!” (All stacking cups are now lined up in a row.)

Jane: ” ‘A pleasant expression, and one sharp-edged tool…’ The only thing left is smilax, which fits, but what is it?”

Wonderboy: “Ee! Oh! Eye!” (This is how one counts sans consonants.)

Beanie: “Peony. Penny. Penny Knocknutter. When I have a child I’m going to name her Penny Knocknutter.”

Baby: (noisily fills diaper)

Rose: “How do you spell…oh, no, wait, I know that one. G—R—E—E—K.”

Wonderboy: “Boom!”

(Intersperse responses from slightly dizzy mother as appropriate.)

9 thoughts on “Party of Five”

  2. I love it! So sad that these days will ever end, isn’t it? What will we do for entertainment? I really want to give Beanie a big kiss—her joy is contagious! Please tell her I think Penny Knocknutter is a very fine name.

  3. I am laughing soooo hard.
    I don’t have quite that many kids to keep up with in conversation at one time but the 2 I do have-and 1 needy puppy–can sound/be just like that most days!! Glad we are normal(?).
    I recently decided I have kid induced ADD 🙂 I can only concentrate in short spurts due to my current career. Your example is the main reason.
    Anne
    Still giggling…..

  4. I know how you feel- my 2 year old is always into something while the baby is nursing(or one of them is on the changing table), inevitably my 4 year old has just done his “business” on the potty (needing to be wiped). This usually happens while the phone is ringing and my 7 year old is looking for something (usually his shoes or backpack). Our “party of four”.

  6. Each individual in that party of five is brilliant! I’m loving the name Penny Knocknutter, btw.
    Hmm, would Beanie mind if I used it for my next, I wonder . . . .

  7. I’m dying laughing over here, experiencing much the same thing. It’s precious, truly, but every so often I say, “go out and jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes”, just so I can hear myself think….although there’s not much thinking going on these past few sleep-deprived weeks! Thanks for sharing!

  8. I cannot tell you how hard I laughed when I read this! Especially the baby diaper part. They are so explosive and hilarious when they are breastfed in those early weeks!
    When my house sounds like that my eyes glaze over and I shout “Calgon take me away!” I love the noisy, joyful chaos of a big family! You are truly blessed.

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