Sweet Memories, I Needed These Smiles

September 11, 1997: Rebecca was complaining about her leg hurting tonight. I told her it was growing pains. Frustrated, she said, "Well, this is the one that always hurts. Is it going to be bigger than the other one?"

 

September 14, 1997: Last night Rebecca said, "When I grow up, I'm going to kill a big bug and cut off its face and save its eyes for a treasure."

 

September 18, 1997: Rebecca said that Sarah wanted to sit with her friends on the bus instead of with Rebecca. She said, "Sarah never sits with me. It breaks my heart when she won't sit with me."

 

September 19, 1997: As usual, the girls were fighting tonight after they went to bed. Sarah came and told me something Rebecca did to her, and then Rebecca came and told me something Sarah did to her. I told Rebecca to be quiet and go to bed, and as she went she said unhappily, "She got to tell on me, and I don't get to tell on her -- that's not fair!"

 

September 30, 1997: When Murray and the kids are driving, sometimes they see and count horses. Murray likes to tease them by pointing to any other object -- a cow, a house, a hay bale, etc. -- and say, "Let's count that as a horse, too." The other day the kids were getting ready for school. I told Sarah something to do that she didn't want to do, and I had to keep telling her, so she was upset with me. Finally she said, "Mom, I'm going to count you as a horse."

 

October 6, 1997: Whenever I ask Rebecca if she doesn't think Benjamin is the cutest baby in the world, she replies, "The baby across the street is cuter."

 

Murray told the kids all about the Promise Keepers assembly in Washington, D.C., from the meals to the music to the subway ride. He asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" Caleb said, "I have a question. How fast do the trains go?"

 

October 10, 1997: While we were waiting for the bus this morning, Caleb said, "Sometimes I can feel myself grow if I stand really still."

 

This morning the three little rascals were playing while waiting for the bus. Caleb was Sarah's son, and she left him with Rebecca at church, because Rebecca was his Bible Schoolteacher. Later Rebecca was going to visit Sarah and Caleb in their home. She called them for directions. Sarah said, "Go straight on the street from the church and--" Rebecca said, "I'm not at the church; I'm at my house." Sarah didn't miss a beat. "Go to the church. Take the road straight, turn left, then right..."

 

October 23, 1997: Murray was cutting fingernails and toenails tonight. Caleb, when he was referring to getting his toenails cut, said, "Daddy, hang me upside down and do it."

 

Tonight we gave Ping-Hwei the car keys, and asked him to put something in the car. He walked toward the door, jingling the keys and said, happily, "Good-bye!"

 

October 25, 1997: Tonight at supper, I asked Ping-Hwei to help me carry the plates to the table. For some reason, I had it in my mind that he should only carry one at a time. I noticed that he had two, and I asked, "Ping-Hwei! Do you have two plates?" "I have two," he replied reasonably, "I have two hands."

 

Later at supper, Caleb said, out of the blue, "What?" I asked what he was talking about, and he answered, "I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to somebody in my head."

 

November 3, 1997: The other night, we stopped by the grocery store, and Sarah asked, "Do the people who work here at night get to sleep?"

 

The other morning, Sarah told me, "I had a dream that Daddy bought a can of soup, but when he opened it, frogs jumped out instead."

 

November 5, 1997: At a party last week, Rebecca won for a prize a model of an eye, with wiggly parts inside. She asked Murray what the parts were, including the iris, retina, etc. Last, she asked, "What are these veiny things?” When she practices the piano, Murray usually sits with her and watches to help her. This afternoon, I asked Rebecca to practice her piano lessons. She said, "I need someone to watch me while I practice, so I'll get my eyeball."