Kids say the darnedest things...

[JayUtah]

Heh, I had my first paying Shakespeare role at age 16.  I played Fleance in [the Scottish play].  Although I like reading Shakespeare, I don't often like performing him.  But should any of you visit Utah, don't visit me -- visit the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City.

[gillianren]

I've played the kids some Shakespeare, but I have to admit they're more familiar with him as a character on The Who Was? Show--where he is, appropriately enough, played by a girl in drag.

[Bryanpoprobson]

[Peter B]

8YOD emerges an hour or so after bed time to complain she can't get to sleep because of strange noises (it was raining quite heavily, but there was no thunder).

Mummy: Can you hear the rain outside?

8YOD: Yes.

Mummy: That's not scary, is it?

8YOD: No.

Mummy: Well, you go back to bed, and you concentrate on listening to the sounds of the rain drops hitting the roof.

8YOD: But that sounds boring!

[Peter B]

Plus, annoyingly, all three kids are going through a phase of pretending to not understand figurative language when they hear it, and are instead interpreting all such statements literally.

[gillianren]

Oh, my Gods, being bored at bedtime.  "It doesn't matter if you're bored; you're supposed to go to sleep anyway!"

[JayUtah]

I've always considered a helpful milestone in going from childhood to adulthood to be when sleep becomes a reward instead of punishment.

[Peter B]

I've always considered a helpful milestone in going from childhood to adulthood to be when sleep becomes a reward instead of punishment.

LOL! So true!

The kids have just finished six weeks of summer holidays. I think it took them about four of those six weeks to embrace the idea of sleeping in. Of course, now we have to get them back into the routine of getting up at 7am to be ready for school...

[Peter B]

10YOS and 8YOD were helping Mummy put away the groceries which had just been delivered.

8YOD picked up a pack of cheese and bacon bread rolls.

8YOD: Where do I put these?

Mummy: Put them in the bread bin and hide them so the kids can't find them.

8YOD walks over to the bread bin and places them inside it.

Pause...

10YOS: Hang on, we're the kids!

[Peter B]

Jimmy (not real name) is a kid in 10YOS's class, and who plays with 10YOS and 8YOD at lunch times.

Last weekend 8YOD wanted to talk to me about Jimmy.

8YOD: Jimmy says you and Mum are lame for not letting us play Minecraft the way his Mum lets him.

Me: Well, you know Mum and I have our reasons which we've explained to you, and you know you're not the only kids at school who don't get to play Minecraft. But he's entitled to his opinion.

8YOD: I think he has it good, being allowed to play Minecraft.

Me: Just remember his parents have separated. It must be a bit tough moving back and forth between his parents' places. So I don't think he has it that good, given what his family life must be like.

8YOD: Well, you're entitled to your opinion.

With an attitude like that I'm sure she has a future in the legal profession...!

[gillianren]

Out of curiosity, I asked Irene for the first time the other day what she wants to be when she grows up.  She either wants to make real pizzas or be a doctor.

[Peter B]

Out of curiosity, I asked Irene for the first time the other day what she wants to be when she grows up.  She either wants to make real pizzas or be a doctor.

Honorable professions, both of them!

13YOS has consistently indicated he'd like to be a Lego Master Builder (as inspired by Ryan McNaught, Australia's only official Lego Master Builder - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_McNaught)

The problem is that, even at his age, he sees the desired outcome but not the path to it.

Right now I'm trying to get him to channel some of that desire into using his enormous Lego collection to re-create a section of the Walls of Constantinople for a school project.

[gillianren]

Simon wants to be a gamer.  Seven is too young to explain the problems with that career path, and I'm focusing on "you still have to get through school."

[Peter B]

Plus, annoyingly, all three kids are going through a phase of pretending to not understand figurative language when they hear it, and are instead interpreting all such statements literally.

As a lot of the humour in "Spaceballs" is from the silliness of interpreting things literally, they love that movie...

In the meantime, we recently found out this love of literal-ness has caused other problems.

A few years ago we bought some educational posters to stick on walls - how to read an analog clock, the planets, dinosaurs, that sort of stuff. One of the posters was the times tables; as these are no longer taught in school we thought it might help our kids to learn them. To that end we put that poster on the back of the toilet door, so they could contemplate the times tables while they contemplated the universe in general. The poster said it was suitable for children aged 7 to 11.

The problem was that when she was six years old, 8YOD interpreted that literally.

Yes, when she was 6YOD, she thought she wasn't supposed to read the poster because she was too young, and when she went to the toilet she covered her eyes so she didn't see the "forbidden" poster.

*sigh*

[molesworth]

Simon wants to be a gamer.  Seven is too young to explain the problems with that career path, and I'm focusing on "you still have to get through school."

He'll probably change his mind 20 times in the next 10 years    However, having spent about a third of my working life as a games developer, I can say it's fun job and a great career.  And there's plenty of opportunities whether you go with coding, art, animation, production etc.  (Being a professional gamer however is much the same as being a top sportsperson or musician - many try but few are chosen.)