Truth, or Advocacy?

Don claims that this is simply an example of Margot lobbying for a longer bedtime story, and that there's no truth to it. Let the voters decide.

Lindsay: ''Your dad should be here at 7:00, so we can read one more book - but it needs to be short."

Margot: ''Dad’s not so good at being here early – so, can we read a medium one?''

Jane's Latest

Jane's inexplicable announcement of the day: "We don't talk about my bagina, or my puppies. Because that's private."

(Yes, she's modified "bagiant" to "bagina." We assume that her process of linguistic evolution will eventually result in an ability to correctly pronounce the word.)

Mystery Notes

Mysterious Correspondence

Claire has recently taken to leaving small notes around the house, and then exclaiming in amazement at the discovery that "someone" has left a mysterious letter. Sometimes the notes have no particular recipients, and sometimes there is a clear target audience. The two items at the left, although from an "unknown" author, were addressed to Margot. The first one relates to the differing powers of various Polly Pockets dolls ("Animal Girl" being a sort of superhero-esque Polly Pocket creation of Claire's). Margot's "girls," of course, have inferior powers to Claire's Animal Girl. The second note . . . well, we are not really sure what to make of the second note.

What to Do When You Behave Badly

Margot: "Mommy? Sometimes when I get in trouble . . . I pray to Santa."

Rock the . . . Boat?

Naim & Jane on Election Night

Late last week, Margot finally conceded that she would, in fact, vote for Obama and not Hillary. Claire immediately exclaimed, "Margot, you're not voting! Only grown-ups can vote." Margot turned to me in horror and said, "Mommy, is that right?!" She was bitterly disappointed when I confirmed that it was, in fact, true. I reassured her that Don and I would cast votes for our whole family, and she promptly responded, "Oh. So, when you go in to vote, you need to make five marks for Barack Obama, okay?"

On Tuesday morning, we (amazingly) managed to arrive at our polling place by 7:15 a.m., with all three girls in tow. We had, of course, talked all morning about the fact that we were going to go vote, and how important it was. As we waited in line for nearly an hour, Margot grilled the people around us about their voting preferences, while Claire inexplicably spent most of the time trying to peer through a tiny mail slot in the middle of one of the building doors. Jane maintained her usual level of enthusiasm, excitedly chattering to anyone who would listen. At one point, I heard her cheerfully announce, "We are all going to SPLASH!!"

After a moment of confusion on my part, comprehension dawned. "Not BOAT, " I told her, "Vote. We're voting. There isn't a boat here." She looked slightly disappointed when I explained that voting basically involved making some marks on a piece of paper. She came into the booth with me and carefully watched as I marked my choices. After she'd helped me turn the ballot in, I congratulated her on helping me to vote, and she flashed that adorable, wacky grin. As I picked her up to leave, though, she began wailing, "Mommy, WAIT!! Where are the boats? Where is the water? We want to splaaaaaash!"

Caterpillar for Obama (and Vice Versa)

Caterpillar Girl

This morning Jane and I were looking at some pictures on the computer. She first asked to see her "Obama Girl" video (featured in the "Political Shout Out" post from earlier this month), which is now her favorite thing to watch. She then admired some pictures of herself in her caterpillar suit, which she also happened to be wearing.

A few minutes later, I noticed that she was marching around the study, chanting something. I listened for a moment and realized that she was cheerfully repeating, "Obama for caterpillar! Obama for caterpillar!"  Perhaps our political indoctrination has gone too far?

Hillary for President!

As you all know, Margot has had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that Hillary is no longer a contender for the presidency. We've covered this topic countless times since Hillary lost the primary, but Margot continues to believe (to Claire's unending exasperation) that there's still some possibility that Hillary could win. We were in the car recently, and an election-related news story came on the radio. After listening for a minute, Margot enthusiastically announced, "Mommy, I am going to be so excited if Hillary wins!!"

Does That Hurt?

During a recent car-trip, Claire and Margot were in the backseat playing a game that appeared to be called "Does That Hurt?" As you can imagine, the game is played by repeatedly punching your sister very hard on the leg or arm while saying, "Does that hurt? Does that hurt?" The punchee maintains a forced smile, and insists, "No, it doesn't. Nope, that definitely does not hurt." Within minutes of Don's astute observation that "this game can only end one way -- badly", Margot began howling and tearfully exclaiming, "Owwwww! Ouch!! Oh, that was too hard, Claire!" Claire's response? A measured, "Well. It looks like "Does That Hurt?" just ended."

P.S. I realize that you might be wondering why we let our children play this game. To that, I can only suggest that you spend seven straight hours in a car with them and see whether it has a similar effect on your judgment.

Margot on Pop Rocks

Margot (in sing-song, valley-girl voice): "Mom? I was eating those Pop Rocks? You know, that Grandma sent? And you know what happened? They electrocuted my mouth!"

A Political Shout-Out (for Betsy)

Jane gives her own political shout-out to "all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary" . . . and to Delia's mom:

MVI_6878, originally uploaded by Carrie Fletcher & Don Wiest.