Embarrassed (once again)…

I am not sure which is more embarrassing — Ginger3 announcing (in the grocery store check-out) we’re camping for spring break because “we’re a bunch of hillbillies,” or Ginger4 asking, after a dip in the pool, “Mom, do we need to take a shower after this, or does this take care of it?” (For the record, “this” took care of it).

Misery

We’re in Florida, celebrating Spring Break, and Ginger3 is complaining about a hiking “adventure” I decided we would take. He maintains, “We live miserable lives.” I am sure he is simply perfecting his craft of sarcasm.

Ummm….

I am playing against Ginger3, and he is doing the guessing. He concludes, “You can’t love me because I don’t have an ‘o’ in my name!” Paul and I enjoyed a good laugh, failing to realize I had spelled ‘you’ incorrectly.

Unpredictable Disappointments

The Littlest Ginger has had his fair share of disappointments recently, but the biggest one happened last night when he had his first ever soccer practice (Thanks, Mother Nature!). We were thrilled for him– he has been waiting for this moment forever. When he arrived, he discovered that there was no goalie in his instructional age group. Tears ensued, and Jack was angry that we had signed him up to play in this league, saying, “It’s not real soccer if there’s no goalie!” I thought his disappointment would subside with time, but I thought waaay wrong. He is still upset, a day later. I think it’s humorous the number of times I anticipate something will be fun and exciting and my kids make it into something else.

Finer Moment

In one of our finer parenting moments, Paul answered a phone call as the Middle Gingers antagonized one another in the backseat of the car. Crying ensued, frustrations mounted, and Paul did what dads sometimes do– he pulled the car into an empty church parking lot to instill a healthy bit of fear about what will happen next. A lot of shushing and finally he was able to finish his conversation. As he hung up the phone, we all waited quietly for the direction Paul’s parenting would take us. What he said next caught us all by surprise… “I’m over this! From here on out, if someone antagonizes you, you have my permission to unleash on him/her.” I gasped, holding back the laughter (and wondering if the kids even know what “unleash” means). The Littlest Ginger innocently leans forward in his seat and asks, “What does ‘I’m over this mean’? Because if it means you don’t love us anymore, that isn’t what God would want.” While the gingers may have missed the point on Paul’s sarcastic suggestion on ways to resolve conflict (or not), Ginger4 struggled on a different level. His commentary made us all forget the tension and realigned us with the basic truth about God and parenting– love wins.