Rich

Dinner party. Food and drinks are free but the lines are long. So I’m sitting in a recliner and paying my kids $0.25 per trip to go get me drinks and little plates of appetizers. They are thrilled and keep squeeing, “Now I’m rich!” Best money I’ve ever spent.

It Drives Her

Danger Monkey, age 9: “You should copy me.”

Little Miss Thing, age 6: “OK, climb on the copy machine and I will copy you.”

DM: “No, you’re taking my idiom literally. Do you even know what an idiom is?”

LMT: “Um… YES.”

DM: “An idiom is something that isn’t literal. Like, you’re driving me crazy.”

LMT: “I can’t drive you crazy!”

DM: “Right. It’s not literal.”

LMT: “No, I’m only 6. I don’t have a drivers license.”

Lost in Translation

The sounds of arguing drift down the stairs.

Danger Monkey, age 9: “It’s a free country!”

Little Miss Thing, age 6: “But it’s my bedroom!”

Danger Monkey, age 9: “It’s a free country!”

Little Miss Thing, age 6: “But it’s my bedroom!” (repeat 10 times)

Me, shouting: “Hey! You two upstairs! I don’t care what you’re arguing about but you need to use your brains and your words to come to a creative solution to your problem. Don’t just shout the same things at each other over and over.”

DM: (whisper) “What did he say?”

LMT: (whisper) “He said you’re kicked out of my room for the rest of the day.”

DM: “Awww, man!”