Nice Work If You Can Get It

On the short drive to the bus stop this morning:

Topher: I don't think I'm going to get a job when I grow up.

Me: (pondering how to both listen without judgement and inform him that he will likely need a job): Oh? Why?

Topher: I just want to spend my time being with my family.

Me: Well, that's very nice, but I think your siblings will probably go off to college and start lives of their own.

Topher: No, I mean spend time with my own family. I want to get married and have kids and not have a job so I can watch movies with them and play games and have picnics.

Me: That sounds like a really fun idea, but how will you pay for things like food and housing?

Topher: (thinks this over for a moment): I'll just marry someone rich.

When I Grow Up

This morning, on the way to the park:

Topher: Mom, when I grow up can I be an astronaut?

Me: Sure. What does an astronaut do?

Topher: They go into space.

Me: That's right!

Later, before lunch:

Topher: Mom, when I grow up can I be an octopus?

Me: Uhhhhh, that might be a little more difficult than being an astronaut.

He spent the end of lunch lying on the bench, waving his "tentacles" around, showing that it is possible for him to become an octopus.

The Big Picture

I was playing with Topher yesterday in the playroom and looked up to see this.

Peter spent a few hours yesterday planning out what he must do to complete all the merit badges needed to be an Eagle Scout. Planning is not a strength that he currently has, though I believe he can develop it. After reading through the requirements for one badge he looked at me and said, "So, what happens if I decide not to do this?" I told him it's his choice if he completes it or not. Then he said, more to himself than to me, "But it'll look really good on a college application, won't it?" Then he went back to planning.

Future Cousins

My brother Jordan will be getting married in a few weeks. Sophie and I were discussing his upcoming nuptials over lunch today and the following information was shared.

Sophie: I'm going to name their children you know.

Me: You're going to name Jordan and Leah's future children?

Sophie: Yes, I am.

Me: What will you name them?

Sophie: Rose and Joy. No. The boys will be Hav and Dav. And the girls will be Rose. And Cute Baby Soph. (cue sneaky grin) No, Flower. How about Charlotte?

So there you go Jordan and Leah, Sophie is offering her services to help you with future major life choices.

A Plan

Bryan has a job! He has accepted a position in the same office he worked at last year. That means it's back to the East Coast for us. We don't know the exact timing of the move, nor do we have a place to live, but at least we have a job!

Resolute

A new year starts today. You know what that means, right? Time for resolutions!

Are you ready? Here they are.

• Sleep, during the night preferably.
• Respond to text messages the same day I get them. I am ridiculously bad at this.
• Respond to emails within a week of receiving of them. That might sound like a long time to some of you, but I have a friend that emailed me in September that I still haven't properly written to. I know, that's awful. I should be writing to her instead of posting this.
• Post something on ye olde blog every week day. I've done this in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014. It's a lot of work and a big time commitment, but I'm still sad that I couldn't make it happen in 2012, and that regret spurns me forward into 2015. Also, this resolution and the one about sleep are in conflict, so I'll need to figure out how to make both work.
• Put Bryan higher on my priority list. I'm afraid that four little people often get my attention first, and that's just not fair. I'm brainstorming ways to catapult him to the top of the list more often.
• Listen. Listen to Bryan. Listen to the kids. Listen to the Holy Ghost. I need to be a better listener. This means limiting electronic distractions even more and looking at people when they talk to me. It also means not talking all the time myself.
• Follow the example of the Savior in everything I do. This is not a new goal, but it's one that I'm bringing to the forefront. It's also something we're working on as a family, so I need to work on it on my own as well.

That seems like a really long list. Some years I make resolutions, some years I don't, I feel like this needs to be a year of deliberate purpose.

Share and Share Alike

During lunch the other day the following conversation took place between me and Phoebe.

Phoebe: When I'm a mom I'm going to have a girl first.

Me: Oh? Why are you going to have a girl first? So she can be a helper like you're a helper?

Phoebe: Yes. I'm going to have a girl and then a boy and then a girl and then a boy and then a girl and then a boy and then a girl and then a boy and then a girl. Then I'll have a girl first and a girl last.

Me: Wow! That's nine kids. That's a pretty impressive number. Why do you want to have nine kids?

Phoebe: Because then they'll share.