She said what? Hahahaha......

My oh my. Kids can have the most wicked tongues in the world. They can talk back, complain, whine, moan and make any person within a 10 mile radius get an instant headache. On the other hand, they can say the funniest, most embarrassing and best things in the world. And believe me, I have heard just about all of them!

I have to relate two very funny, specific moments. Both happened recently.

First, Jessi. A couple of weeks ago Jessi and I were out and about together. Kids like to talk to mom from the back seat of the car, probably because they are bored. Jessi in particular likes to blab. She will talk to strangers, siblings, classmates and even herself. That day she was looking somewhat contemplative. She seriously looked as though she was deep in thought.
"Mom...I have decided what I want to be when I grow up..."
"Yes hon...what is it?"
"Well, I either want to be a teacher.....or a prophet..."
She was so decisive it was just hilarious! Her thought process was complete and her decision had been made. Of course being the awesome mom that I am I happily encouraged her and told her she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up. I believe that too. I would not want to be the one to burst any one's bubble about dreams, and hers are so sweet that I had to take joy in them with her. But I think what was so funny about it was the way she threw out the prophet angle. So matter of fact, so simple, so funny that she just thinks that the prophets of our church just sort of "decide" that's what their going to do someday. Good job Jessi...I have no doubt that you will be whatever you want to be, and be successful at it!

So on to Skyler. To tell about his little funniness I have to go back several years. When Jon's sister and her husband Trevor were in town once they came to visit. Trevor said "watch this" and we did watch. He's funny that way. He called to his son Jared, who was maybe 3 at the time, to come over to us.
"Hey Jared, why don't you show your ding dong to Uncle Jon and Aunt Julie?"
We were appalled and half closed our eyes with anticipation at what he was going to show us. He lifted his shirt, stuck his cute little finger in his belly button and said "Ding dong!". We laughed, hard. Since that day we have taught each one of our kids that same thing. It's a very popular thing among the kids. They love to teach our tiny little ones the "ding dong" trick. Well, one day Skyler came to me and this was our brief conversation...
"Mom...I want a belly button!"
I admit I was confused...
"What? What did you say?"
"I want a belly button mom!"
"Huh?"
By this time he was getting flustered...
"Moooom....I want a belly button!"
I was still confused. One of my older children pointed to the items atop the fridge and said...
"Mom, he wants a ding dong!"
Indeed I had a box of ding dongs on top of the fridge. How he put the two together and figured that if his belly button was a ding dong, then a ding dong had to be a belly button. The logic in his mind made complete sense. I laughed, hard. I told everyone I knew and I admit I am kind of proud at his ability to have a sense of humor without even realizing he has one! Love it!

My kids may say lots of nasty things to me, but they also say some of the best things. Some they say to me, some are things I just overhear. My job is to make sure I am always listening so that when they complain I can tune it out, but when they make a funny I am right there to laugh with them, or at them....whichever works!