Saturday- Things I can't believe I'm saying February 5th

"What's your sign?"

Don't you just love the random little questions asked by curious and uninhibited minds?  They don't hold back and some can be quite odd, and you wonder what is going through their little minds as they land on the need to know that particular tidbit.

"Do Rhinoceroses have toenails?"

"Has anyone ever been on Jupiter?"

"Why did Lady Gaga's mother name her Lady?"

My girls are currently enthralled with the "Signing Time" Videos.  We check them out from the library, renew them until the end of time, and almost always end up paying late fees too.  We finally drop them back off, and head immediately to the DVD section to see what has landed on the shelf.  Old favorites, or new volumes to devour?  I know the "Signing Time with Alex and Leah" theme song by heart, and I feel as though I know the child actors who star in the shows, and I marvel at "how much they've grown." 

It's not unusual now for the girls to use sign for their requests, and often they have learned signs that I have never even seen.  Even Bethanie is getting into it, and when we played a board game, it was common for her to use the signs for "My turn" and "Your turn" while we played.  It's pretty cool to see that the girls have found a language they love to learn, and that we can all use as a family.

Except that yesterday, the girls wanted to know the sign for vagina.  This subject is not covered in the DVD series.  Evidently the host, Rachel, doesn't feel that stars Alex and Leah (cousins) need to discuss anything below the neck, and I understand that.  But now I have a houseful of little girls who apparently would all like to discuss their private parts via Sign.  So Mom and Dad can't overhear the conversation, I imagine.  Even Bethanie, pretending to be horrified, was interested in finding out if I knew the answer to this question.  For the record, I didn't.

Also, in a moment of spectacularly unenlightened and unprepared parenting, I think I said something like: "Oh, I don't think there is a sign for that.  It's a private area, so there's no need to discuss it."  I am normally nonchalant about things like body part names..and we are a potty-humor type of family...so this would typically not be an issue.  But I admit they took me by surprise, and as I could still remember my friends teaching me the signs for "Shit" and "Sex" back in high school, I suddenly had an image of my adorable little daughters running around doing inappropriate signs, and I cracked.  Couldn't do it.  So therefore, "Vagina" has no sign.  At least not right now.

But, I DO know the sign for Rhinoceros now, and could stumble my way through telling you via Sign, that I have no idea if Rhinoceroses have toenails or not.

PS.  www.signingtime.com.  Pretty great videos.  We want the whole set (hint hint for the holidays and birthdays coming up!)

Saturday- Things I can't believe I'm saying

We're going to try a new Saturday feature here at Spilt Milk.  "Things I can't believe I'm saying."  Every Saturday, I'll try to update with a quick post that will detail some item from the week that made me stop and go "hmm."

To start us off, I have a little nugget from this afternoon.  Today, we have a houseguest.  Casadie had a gymnastics workshop this morning, and when I picked her up, she and her friend Andrei pleaded for a playdate.  He's the gorgeous and charismatic son of the owner, an extremely talented young man, 9 years old.  Casadie has had a little crush on him for a while, and honestly, what red-blooded little girl wouldn't?  He's ADORABLE.  So, we get permission from his parents, and off we go!

Once home, they go upstairs to play.  The cleanest, most organized room right now is Alex's room, normally locked and off-limits since he's at college.  I decided to let them play in there while I was doing laundry.  Casadie kept trying to shut the door, and Andrei wanted it open.  I had to step in and say "Casadie, when we have boys over to play, the door should remain open."   Casadie said "Why?!",  and in an effort to avoid an uncomfortable conversation that could actually make them THINK about doing something inappropriate, I just shrugged and said "Because I said so."  Andrei looked at me for a moment, and looked at Casadie, and said "Thank goodness I'm a boy!"  I had to turn away quickly before they both caught me busting out a laugh.

Later, my policy on the open door became very prophetic..but not because Casadie got any wild ideas, but because my 5 year old, Delanie decided that Andrei WILL be her future husband, and was trying to seal the deal with a kiss!  Andrei had to ask (ever so politely..I LOVE that boy) for some assistance, and I had to go up and tell my 5 year old that kissing playmates is not acceptable.  Hopefully, there will not be a repeat with her or any of her sisters today.  I can only have this conversation once.