Conversations of Note

Just a few funny conversations I had with the kids on our road trip...

In Santa Fe, upon our reunion (in a Target parking lot)...

Satchel rushed right over to me, but Jiro had fallen asleep in Oji's car. I went over and tried to wake him up, but he was out.

"Jiro, wake up, Mommy's here," I said while rubbing his face.

No response.

"Jiro, wake up, Mommy's here," I said a little more forcefully.

No response.

Then Satchel came over, nudged Jiro's leg and said, "Wake up, Jiro, we're at Target."

His eyes popped right open.


On the way to Taos...

"Mommy?"

"Yes Jiro?"

"When we get home, can I have a quarter?"

"Sure..."

"And can I watch Alvin & the Chipmunks?"

"Sure..."

"I lub you."


In Taos at the playground...

"Wow, look at you! You are such a little monkey," I said as I watched Satchel shimmy up the swingset pole and then hang from the top bar.

"Actually, I climb like a caterpillar, not a monkey," Satchel replied.

Observing his form a little closer, I noted that he was exactly right.


Driving through Colorado near the Rockies...

"Look, Mommy!" Jiro excitedly called from the backseat. "The clouds are moving!"

"Cool, huh?" I replied.

"Actually, we're moving," Warren corrected.

"They're touching the trees!" Jiro exclaimed.

Indeed they were.

Satchel asked, "If I climbed those trees, could I play in the clouds?"

Smiling, I replied, "Not really..." and before I could explain why, he followed up with, "Do they feel all squishy?"

"It would just be foggy," Warren piped in.

"Oh," he said, obviously disappointed.


Driving through Kansas...

"Mommy, remember when we broke our legs?" Jiro asked out of nowhere.

"Yes, honey, I do."

It seemed like that was all he wanted to say, but Warren pressed on. (He likes to remind Jiro of the dangerous things he's done.) "How did you break your leg?" he asked.

"I was climbing on the fence..." he said.

"And you jumped on a rock and broke your leg!" Satchel piped in.

"You jumped on a pile of leaves," I said. "You didn't know there was a rock underneath."

(Obviously Satchel and I like to finish Jiro's sentences for him...)

"No!" Jiro said. "I climbed on the fence and I couldn't get down and I called for Mommy, but she didn't come so I had to jump down and break my leg."

"What?" I sputtered. "Daddy was RIGHT THERE. You could have asked him to help you!"

"No, you," he simply said.

"I was busy working on the deck," Warren said, attempting to clear his name.

"No, you were raking," I corrected him.


Outside the ER in Dodge City, Kansas...

Newly bandaged with a small can of grape juice in his hand, Jiro looked at me like we had forgotten something. "Where's the candy?" he asked.

"Candy?" I confirmed.

"I get candy at the doctor's office and candy at the dentist's office, why not here?"

Keep in mind it is almost 2:00am.

"Well, here they give out juice," I said.

"Aw, man," he said as though he had just totally been ripped off.


Driving through Tulsa...

"Keep left...then, keep left," said Mandy. (Our TomTom GPS is set to a female voice known as Mandy.)

"Did you hear that?" Satchel asked Jiro, giggling.

"Keep left...then, keep left," Jiro repeated in his "Mandy" voice.

More giggling.

"Keep left...then, keep left," Satchel repeated in his "Mandy" voice.

Guffaws.

"Keep left...then, keep left," Warren repeated in his "Mandy" voice.

Can't.Stop.Laughing.

This went on for about ten minutes. Mandy was not amused.