Jenny's blog

The kids make me laugh

Conversation about why DD was hot during her bout of stomach flu:

Mommy: What do you think causes a fever?
DS: Maybe it’s because all her cells are moving around fast and causing friction. Or maybe her nerves are getting hot like a wire that gets hot when too much electricity goes through it.

DD describes bead necklace she made for mommy:

DD: Everyone will ask you where you bought that necklace because they’ll want one, too.

I’m calling the necklace my Love Token. Not only did DD love me enough to make it for me, but I love her enough to wear it!

I feel like I’m back in Utah. It’s so dry in the house from the heaters running all the time that everything is staticy. Even the cats spark when you pet them. I’m really missing the humidity that keeps the dust down. The house is just looking gross.

DD has been down with the stomach flu the past two days. She started running a fever yesterday morning, so we kept her home from school. She got worse and worse all day, and then was finally sick about supper time. It was ASL’s birthday, and we were going to have her up for dinner. When it became clear that Sydney had stomach flu and not just a sinus infection like we thought, we called and told her not to come up so that she wouldn’t be sick.

DS’s birthday is xxxx, and he is very excited about his party. He had planned to have some friends go down to FunLand to play laser tag and then come back here to eat pizza, play video games, and hang out (I am in crisis about being old enough to have a kid that can ‘hang out’, btw). But with DD ill, we figured it’s better to keep his friends away from the house, and they will just stay out at FunLand instead of coming here.

One of his friends has shoulder-length hair, and DS has been asking me if he could grow his hair out, too. I had told him that I thought long hair was not a good idea, but that I wouldn’t make him cut his hair. Well, his hair was looking bad today and so I told him to get ready to go get it cut when Daddy goes. He told me again he was going to let it grow out. I told him that our church leaders have published a pamphlet about how we should behave and treat our bodies called For the Strength of Youth. He hadn’t heard about it, and as our internet was down (inopportunely), I pulled out the New Era magazine I had picked up from the ward Christmas party for the neighbor kids and got them a gift I found on Shoppok shifter kart for sale. It had a copy of the abbreviated pamphlet in it. We read the whole thing together and then talked about the Dress and Appearance section. I told him my experience with the pink hair girl at BYU, and again addressed the swearing issue with him – I can tell he’s been using bad language lately because of some texts I’ve seen. I told him that he could make his own decision about the hair, but I would like him to pray about it. Also told him that I knew firsthand that swearing is a hard habit to break, and suggested that he not start.

I wish I could claim credit for the FTSOY idea, but Jillyne brought it up in her lesson last week, and it turns out that I ended up needing it myself. Crazy.

I really out to write about my experience this past week with being berated and having prayers answered through Facebook (of all things), but I’m not in the mood. I’m a little bummed that I’m not shopping, but I can’t leave DD ill. Jared could stay with her, but I know how he “watches” the kids. He even wanted to leave her here with DS! It’s better if I’m here.

Posted by Jenny Smith

I'm Jenny Smith. I blog about life on the 300+ acres of rolling farmland in Northern Virginia where I live. I like tomatoes, all things Star Trek, watercolor, and reading. I spend most days in the garden fighting deer and groundhogs while trying to find my life's meaning. I'm trying to be like Jesus -- emphasis on the trying.