~Making Conversational Faces~

While making silly faces at each other...

Eamon:  <tiring of the game>  "Stop making faces at me."

Me:  <in sing-songy teasing voice>  "You can't stop me..."

Eamon: <sighs>  "Of course I can."  <gets up, walks over, and tickles my stomach mercilessly!>

Marti:  <after shrieking and writhing>  "Ok, maybe you can...."


I guess that's a lesson for me not to antagonize him when he's sick! ;) 

~Sick Conversations~

After being called to school to pick up a sick boy...

Eamon:  "Mommy, what time is it?"

Me:  "Two o'clock."

Eamon:  "What time does 'Wild Kratts' come on?"

Me:  "Five o'clock."

Eamon:  "So I haven't missed it yet?  YESSSS!"


Hmm, maybe not quite so sick after all...

~Guitar Conversations~

Eamon:  "Mommy, look at my rubber band guitar I made at Science Day!  See, we put rubber bands around a shoe box!"

Me:  "Oh, cool!"

Eamon:  "Watch how good I can play it!" <lots of feverish rubber band twanging>

Me:  "Nice!  You know, your dad has a real guitar at home.  Maybe he can show you how to play some songs on it."

Eamon:  "Nah, I already know how to play this guitar."

~Historical Conversations~

While in the car on the way to school...

Eamon:  "Did you know that my face bone is stronger than my finger bones?"

Me:  "Umm, no, I didn't... How did you figure that out?"

Eamon:  "Watch!" <pokes his cheeks in with each index finger and closes jaw, pushing the cheeks and fingers outward>  "My face bone is super strong!"

Me:  "Ahh, I see!   Well, did you know that your face has lots of bones in it and the one you're using when you shut your mouth is your mandible?  And when you get to high school you could take a whole class called 'Anatomy & Phsyiology' about the inside of your body!"

Eamon:  "Cool!  That would be Science, right?  I love Science!  I think I like History but I don't know any."

Me:  "Your Grandpa John loved History!  And so do your dad and I.  Let's see if I can think of a good History story..." <tells quick story about Alexander the Great>

Eamon:  "That was really good, Mommy.  You should write that down."

Me:  "Umm, well, someone else already did but thanks."

Eamon:  "Well, I guess now I know History."

Me:  "Honey, that was just one story.  There are lots and lots of stories you'll hear when you learn about History."

Eamon:  "Oh."

~Church Conversations~

While driving to swim lessons...

Eamon:  "Hey, mommy, see that place they're building over there?  What's it going to be?"

Me:  "I don't know.  Maybe a store?  Because we definitely don't have enough places to spend our money as it is..."

Eamon:  "I just hope it's not another church!"

Me: "Okayyy...?"

Eamon:  "They just keep building and building them and there are already too much!  There is much more churches here than anywhere else!"


Hmm, I had no idea my 6 yr old was such an expert on the number of religious establishments in each city.  ;)  Just for a little background though, he was slightly traumatized by the recent removal of a large amount of trees at our nearby park in order to make way for a church.      

~Bus Conversations~

While driving to school in the morning...

Eamon: "Hey, I think that's one of my school's buses!"

Me: "How can you tell?"

Eamon: "Because the windows are supposed to go down but they won't.  Curse you, bus windows!  CURSE YOU!!!"


Yes, my 6 year old was literally shaking his fist at the bus windows and yelling, "Curse you!!" I don't know whether to be proud or disturbed. ;)

~Singing Conversations~

For some reason, while leaving the house in the morning, I often have the urge to sing a certain Air Force song, which I did this morning to mixed results...

Me:  "Off we go into the wild blue yonder...!!"

Eamon:  "Augh!  Can you please stop that?!?!"

Me:  "Why?  It's fun to sing in the morning and you like music."

Eamon:  "Actually I like every song in the world except the ones you sing."

Me:  "Well, thanks a lot!" <angry sarcastic voice>

Eamon:  "No, really."


And then we had a discussion about not saying rude things to your mother... ;)

~Cow Conversations~

While at Eamon's school festival

Me:  "Oh, there's the Chick Fil A cow. I wonder if they'll have coupons.  I could use some free..."

Eamon:  "Chick Fil A Cow?! Augh!!" <hides behind me>

Me:  "Um, what is this all about? You're not afraid of people in animal costumes."

Eamon:  "I hope Cocky [the USC mascot] shows up to destroy the evil cow!"

VS.

???

Yeah, I think Cocky can take the cow! ;)

~Conversations with Thor~

Shortly after coming home from school and assuming his identity as the god of thunder...

Eamon/Thor: "Mommy, I can't find my Thor helmet. Have you seen it?"

Me: "Did you check the dining room where you just came from?"

Eamon/Thor: "Oh, yeah..."

A few minutes later...

Eamon/Thor: "Mommy, have you seen my hammer?"

Me: "You know, for the god of thunder, you're awfully forgetful."

Eamon/Thor: *sigh* "I'm not really Thor. My name is Eamon. But I can show you how Thor uses his hammer to fly!"

~Bedtime Conversations~

While sitting together on Eamon's bed reading him a bedtime story...

Me: "Ok, that's a good place to stop for tonight. Goodnight, sweetie."

Eamon: <throws arms around me and snuggles in> "I love you, mommy."

Me: <enjoying this rare display of snuggly affection and thinking that maybe he hasn't grown out of this yet and that I can still expect lots more of cuddling with my baby boy befor he's too big for that and...>

Eamon: <abruptly ends the snuggly hug> "Now get out of my bed. I have to get some sleep."

Aaaaaand I'm back to just having to enjoy those rare displays of cuddliness!

~School Conversations~

Eamon: "When I grow up, I am not going to USC."

Me: "Why?"

Eamon: "Because you have too much homework."

Me: "You'll have lots of homework no matter where you go to go school."

Eamon: "Not if I'm a paleontologist!"

Me: "You'll probably have twice as much homework as me if you're going to be a paleontologist."

Eamon: *pause* "Actually, I'm not going to be a paleontologist.  I'm going to be a mechanic." 

Me: "Mechanics have homework too.  They have to learn to fix and build all kinds of vehicles, new and old."

Eamon: "Well, once I finish school, I am not going back!"

Me: "Ok, well when do you think you'll be done with school?"

Eamon: <with disdain> "After college!" 


I love that he doesn't yet realize college is optional... ;)

~Computer Conversations~

Eamon: *sigh* "You have a lot of homework, mommy.  I haven't even gotten to be on the computer at all day."

Me: "Well, maybe you can get on it tonight while I'm out."

Eamon: "Yesssss!!!"

Me: <chuckling> "You know I'm going out to eat with your librarian.  Are you going to be ok with that?"  [Eamon prefers that I don't socialize with his teachers because in his mind they only exist at school!]

Eamon: "It's ok because Tristan's mom moved to Texas so Ms. Lee can be your friend now.  But you can't have more than one because that's the rule!" 


Along with teachers only existing in school, in Eamon's mind moms can only have one friend. ;)

~Shower Conversations~

<While trimming a few spots of hair that I'd missed the other day>

Eamon: "I know what makes my hair grow so much."

Me: "Really?  What?"

Eamon: "Washing it in the shower."

Me: "Washing your hair makes is what makes it grow?"

Eamon: "Uh-huh. Because I feel it after I get out of the shower and it's longer."

Me: "So you think if you don't wash it anymore, it won't grow?"

Eamon: "Yep. So can I stop showering?"

Me: "Gee, let me think... no."

~Futon Conversations~

<Incredibly loud THUMP and shaking floor>

Me: "What are you doing!?"

Eamon: <totally nonplussed> "I'm falling off the futon. That's what I'm doing."

Me: "Why are you doing that?"

Eamon: "Just because."

Hmm, if that's what this kid is doing for fun, maybe I should get him a Wii... Nah! ;)

~Haircut Conversations~

<While cutting Eamon's hair tonight...>

Eamon: *sigh* "When are you going to get a haircut?"

Me: <wondering how he forgot that I'd just had several inches lopped off today> "Uh, one of these days I guess?"

Eamon: "Good!  And daddy can do it since I don't know how to use the clippers or scissors."

Me: "Why do you think I would let either of you cut my hair?"

Eamon: "Well, you cut our hair.  That's not fair that we can't cut yours!  And how come you get to go to a haircut place and we don't?"

Me: "Because I'm the mom..."

Sometimes it's good to be queen, er, mom!  ;)

~Workout Conversations~

Mark: "Hey, buddy.  Wanna' help me with my workout?"

Eamon: "Sure! Are we going to do 100 crotches?"

Mark: "Um, no, I don't need any more crotches. We'll do crunches later.  Let's do squats."

And this is why you never want to let Eamon plan your workout or you might end up w/ 100 crotches... ;)

~My Little Pony Conversations~

Eamon: "Mommy, do you know what a cutie mark is?"

Me: "Um, like on My Little Ponies?"

Eamon: "Yeah! Well, I should have a cutie mark of tap shoes!" <wildly and without rhythm, beats his feet against the floor>

Me: "You want a tattoo of tap shoes on your butt?"

Eamon: "No!  A cutie mark!"

Me: "Did Rowan show you a lot of My Little Pony videos on the internet today?"

Eamon: "Yep!" <Goes on to describe about two seasons worth of My Little Pony shows in 10 minutes>

Me: "Um, right. So back to the tap dancing. Do you like doing that? Do you want to take some dance lessons?"

Eamon: <with disgust> "No! Dance lessons are for girls!"

Me: *sigh* "Right..."

~Passport Conversations~

Eamon: "Now that I have my passport, we can go to Venice."

Me: "Passport? What passport?"

Eamon: "You know, my 'passport to fun' from Olive Garden?"

Me: "You mean your kids' menu?"

Eamon: "Yeah, now we can go to Venice."

Me: "Wait, I thought you wanted to go to London?"

Eamon: "I do. We'll go to London, then Venice. I like to travel."

Mark: "You do realize that's not a real passport, right?"

Me: "And that even if you had a real passport, it doesn't mean that it's any cheaper to go to those places, right?"

Eamon: "Oh, man!!"

*sigh* If only the Olive Garden kids' menus/passports served as coupons for traveling abroad... ;)

~Weighty Conversations~

<This morning as Eamon was watching TV on the couch, I attempted to pick him up and roll him onto my lap for a quick snuggle and found he was a lot heavier than I expected...>

Eamon: "You can't pick me up, mommy, b/c I'm holding the remote control."

Me: "So...?"

Eamon: "The remote control adds extra weight so now I weigh too much for you to pick up."


Despite the added weight of the remote control, I did finally manage to pick his heavy butt up. ;)

~Sister Conversations~

Before bedtime tonight...

Me: "Eamon, if you wake up w/ a nightmare tonight, I think you should get Rowan up instead of us.  In fact, that's why she's got bunk beds, so you can go sleep in her her room when you have bad dreams!"

Rowan: "And that's why I keep my door locked at night!"

Eamon: "I'll just punch it until it opens. I did it before. I just need to get my boxing gloves..."

~Backyard Conversations~

<While preparing for an early family Easter egg hunt>

Me: "Mark, you really need to go clean the yard [and remove all the 'presents' the dogs have left]."

Mark: <reluctantly> "Ok... Kids you're coming w/ me to help!"

Me: "Eamon, you heard your dad. Go help him look for poop."

Eamon: "Yessss!!! I can look for poop on my rock wall!!!"

Me: <trying not to laugh> "You mean you're going to stand on your rock wall playset and look for poop and tell your dad where it is?"

Eamon: "Yeah! This is going to be so cool!"

Hey, whatever gets him excited about this activity so he'll help is fine w/ me! ;)

~Conversations With Meema~

<While eating out a nearby outdoor shopping center>

Meema: "So what do you want to do today, Eamon?"

Eamon: "Go to the toy store!"

Meema: "Um, I don't know where that is. Let's go do something el..."

Eamon: "You can call mommy. She knows where it is."

Meema: "Oh, I don't want to bother her at work."

Eamon: "I know where it is. It's by a jewelry store."

Meema: "There are lots of jewelry stores here."

Eamon: "Well, we can look it up on the big maps they have."

Meema: "Oh, I guess you're right... <walks over to nearby map> Well, I don't see it on here..."

Eamon: "It's right there in the B section, see?"

Meema: "Oh. Well, I guess we're going to the toy store."

Moral of the story: Don't get in the way of a kid and his toy store! ;) 

~Spring Break Conversations~

<After a long day of work for me and a long day of spring break for Eamon>

Me: "Hey, buddy! Tell me all about your day! Did you have fun w/ Meema? What did you guys do?"

Eamon: "I'm thirsty."

Me: "Wow, not even a, 'Hi, mom, nice to see you. I had fun. How was your day'?"

Eamon: "Hi, mom. I'm thirsty."

~Ocean Conversations~

<While standing firm against the torrential [1 ft] waves at Kiawah Island>

Eamon: <in his best "This is Sparta!" voice> "THIS IS HOW TOUGH WE ARE!!!"

Me: "SPARTAAAAA!!!!!!"

Eamon: "Ok, we're not that tough."

~Hangman Conversations~

<Playing hangman on the way to the beach w/ Meema>

Meema: "Ok, seven letter word."

Eamon: "Is there an 'L'?"

Meema: "No!"

Eamon: "America!  Is the word America?!"

Meema: "...?!? Wha...?! How...?!"

Eamon: <big grin>

I guess that's what Meema gets for being a patriot: it's not hard to guess what word she picks for "hangman!" :)  

~Beach Trip Conversations~

<While trying to get in those last few Z's, I hear a knocking on the bedroom door...>

Mark: "Morning, buddy."

Eamon: "It's Sunday. Can I get on the computer?!"

Me: "Honey, no, we're going to be leaving for the beach shortly and we need to hurry."

Eamon: "Awww, but I'd rather play on the computer!"

Me: "You'd rather stay home all day and play on the computer than go to the beach w/ me and Meema?"

Eamon: "Yes."

<Mark, who was looking forward to having the house all to him self today, quickly put an end to that idea!>