Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Sneaky Kids

Beta thought he found a loophole. He started asking us questions, but he would quietly and quickly slip the word “not” in the question, so what we heard was the opposite of what he asked (in his mind). Stuff like “Do I (not) have to finish my dinner?”

Well, his brothers caught on and they found it equally amusing as he did. Pretty soon, I had 4 boys asking me a variety of inverted questions. Then they added the wrinkle of saying the “not” out loud, but saying many of them. “Dad, can I not not not not not not have dessert?” So I had to not only understand the question but count whether the number of nots was odd or even.

Around that point, Beta gave up. Shortly after, I gave up. I told the boys I would not answer any more yes/no questions because I couldn’t trust what they were asking.

Beta, though, helped me out: “Dad, just answer them with a full sentence.”

Oh.

That was simple.

“You do have finish your dinner.”
“You may not have dessert.”

Just because it’s phrased as a yes/no question does not obligate you to respond with only yes or no.

Unless you’re playing 20 Questions. (Which Gamma has changed to Unlimited Questions).

Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.

Proverbs 26:5

Leaning Tower

Gamma made me a craft thing out of adhesive-backed foam that he cut into shapes and stuck together.

image of leaning tower of pizza

image of leaning tower of pizza

It is, of course, the leaning tower of pizza.

The temple servants living in Ophel made repairs as far as the front of the Water Gate toward the east and the projecting tower.

Nehemiah 3:26

Writing Efficiently

Delta got himself in trouble the other day. That doesn’t really narrow it down, as he gets in trouble every day. But my wife took the opportunity to combine his punishment with schoolwork, so he had to write “I will do what is right” 5 times.

image of paper on which a child has written I will do what is right

He admitted afterwards that he wrote it more than he was supposed to because he cheated.

While drawing one straight line for the Is, the Ls, the Ts, and the Hs was an admirable display of efficiency, I must say my favorite was the Gs – one continuous curly line.

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.

2 Thessalonians 3:13

Future EULA Writer

My son wrote something on a piece of paper and then showed it to me:

image of paper saying you owe $2 for looking at the paper

He has a bright future as a EULA writer.

They were glad and agreed to give him money.

Luke 22:5

Field Trip

I’m on a field trip today. Technically, I’m a chaperone. But it’s all in how you look at it.

Either way, I don’t have a blog post today. Go outside and enjoy the weather instead of reading this.

A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

Genesis 37:15

Botanical Gardens Early Spring

We had a nice spring day last weekend, so we took the family to the local botanical gardens. They are not a scenic as they would be during the summer when more things are in bloom, but it was still good for the kids to get out and about.

Here are photos of the various paths, ranked from best to worst for walking with kids.

image of river at botanical gardens

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Balloon Faces

For no reason at all, here are some balloons that my kids drew some faces on.

image of a face drawn on a balloon with marker

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