Monthly Archives: April 2009

Happy belated Easter to everyone!  I will be posting some pictures from our wonderful weekend in NC shortly, but for today, I thought I would share something that arrived in my inbox.  I really get a kick out of the funny things that kids say (who doesn’t?) and this is an aspect of parenthood that Drew and I are particularly looking forward to.  I’ve been told that I was a very (overly) talkative child, so I’m sure that there’s quite a bit of payback headed in our direction–sorry Drew–so we will hope that at least the majority of the embarassing stuff  will occur with family and not in front of the ladies who lunch etc.  Anyway, with that in mind, I thought I would share the following:

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1.  She’s the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2.  Mostly to clean the house.
3.  To help us out of there when we were getting born.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2.  They had to get their start from men’s bones.  Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1.  We’re related.
2.  God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1.  My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2.  I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3.  They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1.  His last name.
2. She had to know his background.   Like is he a crook?  Does he get drunk on beer?
3.  Does he make at least $800 a year?   Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1.  My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world.  And my mom eats a lot.
2.  She got too old to do anything else with him.
3.  My grandma says that mom didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?
1.  Mom doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
2.  Mom.  You can tell by room inspection.   She sees the stuff under the bed.
3.  I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What’s the difference between moms and dads?
1.  Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2.  Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3.  Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power ’cause that’s who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4.  Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1.  Mothers don’t do spare time.
2.  To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1.  On the inside she’s already perfect.   Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2.  Diet.  You know, her hair.   I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1.  She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean.  I’d get rid of that.
2.  I’d make my mom smarter.  Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3.  I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Drew had another weekend in the hospital, and I ran up to DC to see our friend Katie that moved up there recently.  It is cherry blossom time in DC, so we got to see the infamous trees in full bloom and generally take in the bustle of the Nation’s capital.  Our hope was to go to the National Gallery of Art (one of my all time favorites) and the Newseum, but in the end we only had enough time to check out the Newseum.  This is one of DC’s newest additions, and Katie and I were both really excited to spend some time poking around in it.  The Newseum is dedicated to the history of journalism in all its forms, and also includes studios where current broadcasts (such as Inauguration coverage) are taped.  We didn’t get to see everything, but some of the highlights were the Berlin Wall exhibit that has pieces of the wall on display, an extraordinarily moving exhibit about the 9/11 coverage, an actual armored truck adorned with bullet and shrapnel scars that consistently (and safely!) delivered the journalists inside to the front lines in Rwanda in the 90s, Ted Kaczynski’s cabin (very creepy), unique artifacts from the Lindbergh kidnapping and trial, a wonderful display of political comics, a huge exhibit about Hoover’s FBI and his hold on the media, and…so much more.  Our stomachs eventually drove us back into the bright sun to find a late lunch, but already I am so excited to go back with Drew and take it all in a second time.  That night we went to a really great show, Mates of State, at the 9:30 club and I like to think that the baby enjoyed his/her 1st concert.

For his part, Drew had a busy weekend at the hospital that included having to get pretty firm with an older gentleman that was bullying his family from his hospital bed.  Drew finally put his foot down much to the relief of the man’s frazzled wife, and was widely thanked by the rest of the hospital staff.  Although I’ve always had a sense of the intensity of the Intensive Care atmosphere (pun intended?), I am still always awed and impressed with how multifaceted Drew’s workday is.  He is not only responsible for keeping people comfortable/alive/clean/fed/safely medicated etc, but he is also often working closely with the families of the patients which can be equal parts rewarding and frustrating.  The family side of things has brought him everything from gifts of Godiva chocolates to having to work with police to physically restrain hysterical bleeding sisters after they punched through a glass window in their grief over their mother.  Through it all, Drew maintains his wonderful sense of humor and a level head, and more than that, he’s able to compartmentalize his work days and walk through the front door of our house with lots of stories, but rarely any negativity from his work day.

So, pictures.  Not surprisingly, Drew didn’t have any pictures of offer of his weekend (haha) but here are a couple from the Newseum.

Sections from the Berlin Wall

A little girl who was more interested in the world outside of the museum than the things in it…

The antenna that was on top of the World Trade Center

The Neweum walls are adorned with quotes (even the bathrooms) including the 1st Amendment reading 74 feet tall on the exterior of the building.

After all the seriousness, we had to goof off some!  Here’s Katie with her new friend.