Amanda, with sudden curiosity:  “What is cilantro?”

Mama, hoping to be helpful: “It’s an herb.”

Emily, in a completely dead-pan tone, straight-faced: “Italian parsley, 4889.”

Talking to Emily about biology lab, and she tells me: “… and sometimes [the instructor] looks at our answers and laughs, because we were just completely grasping at straws, and that wasn’t even a straw– that was a pickle– but we put it in there anyway, because we had no idea what we were doing.”

But, Emily also scored a 101/100 on her 2nd biology exam, so I’m not going to sweat the pickles.

As usual, I took my rings off before our family hike, since my fingers tend to swell when I get warm. When we got back to the car, in preparation to walking into town for ice cream, this happened:

John: “Are you going to put your rings back on, or do I need to keep my hiking stick with me?”
Me:  “Of course. Why would you need your stick either way?”
John: “Well, if you didn’t have your wedding ring on, I’d need to be prepared to beat off all the guys sure to be after you.”

This after 21 years of marriage and a particularly sweaty hike. I love my husband!!

Me:  “Too bad I’m not made of money.”

Emily:  “But isn’t that what mom stands for?”

Me:  “If only…”

Filed under “things you don’t want to hear from someone looking through your dining room cabinet”:

“Oh look!  It’s my science experiment from 3 months ago!”

Daughter 1: “Why are boys so boyish?”

Daughter 2: “Duh. Because they’re boys.”

(both sigh)

Me:  “Well, look at it this way: the alternative is for them to be girlish.”

Both girls:  “EWWWWWW!”

OH: “I get to do science in the bathroom today!”

I’m not entirely certain that I really want more details, but as the teacher, I suppose I should investigate.

(It turns out she was doing an experiment with light, and needed a room with no windows that she could make completely dark.  In our house, that’s the only room that works.)

John:  “I think parenting a teen girl is a game– if you both make it through, you win.”