Just wanted to let you know that you played a major role in one of my blog posts this morning! ;)

I recently watched my 3 yr old nephew for an entire day (what was I thinking???) and I can relate to your experience with Hank.
Very funny!

Oh boy! I can't wait till my little guy is four!! Oh, maybe I can... Right now I am the mother of an 11-month-old who must, and I mean must as in his life depends on it, be standing and cruising the furniture, cats or me during every waking moment of the day. I of course think he is rather clever. The cats on the other hand? Not so much.

The Cherry Aran looks great. Very manly. About the button band? At least you realized the error at the cast off edge. I would have thought "that doesn't look right..." then continued on with the other side and tried to block it into place. You're a good few steps ahead of me!

Last Christmas I was poor. I could not afford fancy presents, so instead, I offered to babysit my two nieces for a whole weekend, so my stepbrother and his wife could have some time away. I gamely drove up to their house in February with my girls in tow. My charges: 2 year old Kendall, 4 year old Kiley, 6 year old Karin and 8 year old Kaelyn. Yeah, just try saying their names 3 times fast. Or choosing the right name when one of them needs yelling at. By the end of the weekend I was tearing my hair out and thanking my lucky stars that I control my own reproductive destiny.

I have a friend who is in her mid-20's who likes to show us how she can "run like an egg" (it's really very entertaining). Perhaps she and Hank should be friends.

Sam is a saint. Sam, whatever you want, ask her now. We're witnesses. She can't, in justice, say no to you. (This doesn't mean, I warn you, that your mom has to say yes. We're mothers, and fair is not our highest good. Peace trumps justice every time. Still, for the moment you're standing in a place of considerable power.)

For "nothing," that's damn good and entertaining stuff.

You mean you aren't going to tell us if you won the game or not? Simon Sez is a cutthroat competition in some circles... You should have said "Hey, Hank, Simon Sez knit a cherry aran."

(and am I the only one thinking the whole "drive like an apple" might be proof that Hank is in fact related to our dear Harlot?)

So that's what I have to look forward to? The first part sounds a bit like why I have few FO's to show off. For an hour I tried to spin. I would have too, except for the cries of "You not spin Mommy. You play ball with me. Up off the chair Mommy. UP OFF THE CHAIR!!!" Eventually the one with the loudest voice won. Not me.

Yup, 4 sounds like 2. At least I can drive by the DQ and Mc Donald's without a second glance. For now.

My husband drives like an apple. I've never had the guts to tell him to his face, though.

Yeah, not bad for "nothing to report".
Now, no, I don't know what came next. I don't know "Simon sez". What happened next?

Yeah - for all us poor misfits who were left out of Simon Sez back in our playground days... what happens next?!?

It could have been worse. You could have been forced to sit through the hours it takes to get through the A-Z license plate game. Ugh!

It could have been worse. You could have been forced to sit through the hours it takes to get through the A-Z license plate game. Ugh!

My 2.5 has recently taken to "leaping like a diesel engine". We have a lot of Thomas videos, but I think I missed that one.

Ahhh, 4-year olds! I'm currently wiping tears of laughter off my face and contemplating re-reading your post . . . thank you!

Hank's arguments against knitting make a lot of sense to me, but I have to suggest that "Hank" isn't a very good name for a guy who wants nothing to do with yarn.

>I decided to pick up the number of stitches listed in the pattern

Oh, the irony. I know you'll make it work out beautifully in the end, though.

Hee hee. :)

Green apple or red? That's the real question.

This is officially my favorite blog entry of the month!!

At least you weren't driving a minivan from Alaska to NY with 5 kids (then ages 9 mos to 12 yrs), 2 cats, and a black lab while pulling a trailer and looking forward to trading places with your husband and driving the un-air-conditioned pickup truck for a few hours because it only had room for one kid (#6). We learned the value of books on tape (with cheap tape players and headphones for each kid), lots of AA batteries, paper and colored pencils (did you know crayons can melt in a hot car?!), and a backpack of "treasures" for each kid. My almost 4yo (#7) always has at least a small notepad and pencil and a toy or doll, and actually loves running errands. She also loves the "quiet game" taught to her in a moment of desperation by my oldest daughters (21 and 19). She loves to "win" by staying quiet longer than they can. :)

Y'know, Hank sounds rather smart (and precocious) to me. My question, though: How does an apple drive?

Ditto on the question, "how does an apple drive?" Too quickly, it becomes applesauce. Too slow in the sun, baked apple. Too bouncy, bruised apple.

Am I putting too much thought into this?

Damn. Now I'm hungry for apple cobbler...

I wanted to say in response to Tish, but make sure you never, never give a small child scissors to go with their glue sticks and colored paper in the car, though. My then-4-year-old decided to suddenly give himself a nice haircut in the back seat. On the 10-hour drive to my brother's wedding. Sixteen years later, the pictures are priceless!

I think I know that kid! And don't tell Sam, but my 12 year old is earning an MP3 player for helping me to take care of our "Hank" and his little sister for just a week this summer. MP3 players may be expensive - but it's a small price to pay for her camp counsellor-style personality and energy. How do I get myself into these situations?

oh, how funny!

oh, how funny!

Welcome to my world.

--mother of a 4 year old and a two year old.