Out of the Mouths of... Preschoolers, Preteens, and Teenagers

I have been struck by some things my girls have said to me lately, so I thought I'd share some of their recent "wisdom" with you.

From the mouth of my perpetually entertaining four-year-0ld come these dandy gems :

~ In the car a few days ago, Sydney said to me, "Momma, I have a question about God." Sydney has been known to have some pretty enlightening theological things to say in the past, so I was ready for something really "deep" to come out of her mouth; and I was all prepared, the cool spiritually-minded Mom that I am, to give her a good answer. But then, of course, she threw me for a loop.

"Okay, Sydney, what do you want to know?" I asked her.
"Do you know what animal God made last?" she asked. "I know, because it's in my Bible book."
"Hmm, I don't remember that being in Bible, but maybe you can tell me."
"Well, you can guess," she said. "Is it the kangaroo, the zebra, or the yak?"
Ahh...I thought...I have her figured out. Zebra would be last in the alphabet, so that must be the answer.
"It's gotta be the zebra, right?" I guessed.
"Nope," she giggled. "It's the yak. He is SO furry and hairy, and God wanted to save him for last."

~ Last night, Sydney asked me to put her drink up on my dresser. Then she looked at me with one of those quizzical looks on her face (you should see this look! she can wrinkle her forehead with the best of them!) and asked, "Why do they call that a dresser? You don't put dresses on it." Good question, Sydney! (Then, of course, she answered her own question. "Oh, I get it," she said, nodding. "When you get dressed, you get clothes out of it. That's why it's called a dresser.")

~ Yesterday, Delaney and Sydney and I spent some time buying door prizes for the writers conference I'll be at this weekend. (We always give away 10-15 door prizes, which are basically big crates full of cool stuff.) Sydney asked me, "What's a door prize?" and I explained it, "At the end of the conference, we pick people's names and they get to go pick out a prize. We need to buy some stuff that writers would like. You know, like pens and notebooks." Sydney started jumping up and down excitedly. "Yay, I can get a prize. Because I'm a writer," and she dragged me to the refrigerator to show me the picture displayed there. "See, I wrote that picture and those letters. I'm a writer too!"

From the mouth of my very cool sixteen-year-old, who I am seriously missing while she is in Illinois on a mission trip:

~ I talked to McKenna yesterday and she was SO excited about how the trip and their work was going. (It was one of those conversations when you could just sense the excitement, because she was talking so fast and kept going from one topic to the next with barely a breath in between...I just let her talk and enjoyed sensing how filled with joy she was!)

The trip she is on is a work camp affiliated with Group (a non-denominational organization) and she is is grouped in a team with teenagers from all over the country and from different churches. In her group are youth from Ohio, Florida, Maryland, Alabama, and Oklahoma. They are working on painting the whole exterior and painting of a house and repairing a porch for a single woman with a mentally-challenged son. McKenna said that the homeowner is so nice and appreciative and that her group is "Awesome!!". She was excited because today the entire community was giving the different work groups (I think she said there were about 30 different teams all over the city) a community "thank you" party; they were opening the city pool for them, giving them a barbecue, and the mayor was gonna be there. She said everyone seemed to be so thankful for what they were doing.

I went on many mission trips in high school and college and I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything! They teach you so much about the world around you, and really teach you that your role as a Christian is to reach out in tangible ways to others in service and kindness.

I can't wait to hear all of her stories when she gets home!

From the mouth of my sweet, but sassy twelve-year-old comes this priceless list:

~ Delaney sometimes surprises me by popping onto my blog and commenting on things. She especially likes my Random Tuesday posts. Last night she went back and commented on last week's and it is seriously SO cute and revealing that I had to share it. This is what she had to say...

i am: playing softball like no tomorrow. Gosh, i have never played this much softball!!
i think: about how i want a slushi right now with my new slushi maker.
i thank: you for letting me have a birthday party still when we barely have time with our hectic schedule.
i know: that this summer is going by too quickly
i wish: that i will win the world series this year.
i hate: middle school drama!! (UGGHHH!!)
i miss: to be truthful, I miss the way me and Scotti used to hang out. I miss having her as a friend. that's another thing i hate bout middle school--losing friends.
i feel: tired. It's 10:43.
i shop:till i drop!!
i hear: the tv downstairs that you are watching.
i crave: a slushi!
i wonder:who will be our next president.
i dream: a lot of weird things
i love:umm a lot of things. Too many things to list. Yes, im a happy person!
i care: About people who need caring
i always: Dress fashionably!! HA!!
i celebrate: My b-day every year.
i sing: All the time, cuz i love singing!!
i cry: actually a lot. not because I'm a sad person, cuz I'm not! It's because I'm very sensitive.
i don't always: do things like others cuz I'm very unique!!
i write: A lot!!
i pray: whenever I think I could use prayingm because God is there whenever you need it
i lose: softball games-but not often!! HA!!!!
i listen: to music!! DUH!
i am scared:of bugs!!! they are so gross!!!
i dance: oddly!!
i need: God, mom, sis, and friends in my life!!
i surf: never!! I've never been surfing. the only time I've ever "surfed" is when iIget a boogie board and stand on it in the pool.
i dread: school starting again!!
i laugh: at tons of things, even things that don't make sense at all and I consider funny!!

Her answers seriously had me smiling!! What a great perspective on being her age right now! (I so love that she sees herself as a happy person, that she knows God is there for her, and that she's in touch with her sensitive and unique side. And, oh yeah, I have apparently passed on the love-of-all-things-slushie gene to her!!)

It's one of those days when it's good to be a Mom!

(And, now...I'm heading off to my writers conference for the weekend. I won't post again here until next Monday. But I may post on a new writing blog that I'm starting in conjunction with this one. I'm wanting to use it to post writing challenges, give updates on my writing activities and publications, and other related stuff. Those interested in writing...or who just want to peek into that other part of my life might want to visit. I'm just getting started, so it's a work-in-progress. Nothing fancy yet. It's here at Writing with Cheryl Wray if you want to visit.)