I have found that one of the best things about having kids is the way they make you stop and think with the things they say. I have also found that one of the worst things about having kids is the way they embarrass you with the things they say.
Kids tend not to filter their thoughts...or maybe it's just my kids that don't filter their thoughts. Blaine, by virtue of being older and more verbose is particularly touching with his comments as well as particularly mortifying. If he thinks of something, he is going to say it. If I try to explain something in detail, he is going to continue dissecting it and discussing it. Kyra is following in her brother's footsteps and is randomly inspiring/horrifying me at turns as well.
You want to know how much money I make? Blaine could probably tell you.
You want to know what we had for breakfast? Kyra could probably tell you.
You want to know the color of my underwear? Kyra.
You want to know details of my personal life - even if you are a complete stranger? Blaine.
But I'm trying to focus on the positive, and since I'm complete crap at scrapbooking (I've tried. I still have all the stuff. Blaine's birth still hasn't been duly matted, embellished, and preserved for all eternity. Don't even get me started on Kyra's photos...most of which are still on memory cards, external hard drives and the like. Prints? HA!) and I am also complete crap at updating baby books past the first few weeks of their precious lives, I am going to take this space to note some of the better things that have come out of Blaine and Kyra's brains recently.
In no particular order:
1. Driving home from my parent's house one evening, we had the windows down and the sunroof open. When we got home Blaine told me that when he was sure no other car was coming, he would stick his arm straight out the window. He told me that the wind pushing on his arm made him feel like he was running his fingers through God's beard. Kyra then responded "You don't know that. You don't know God. God might not have a beard. God might be a girl!"
2. Kyra stayed at my parent's house last week. While "helping" her Grandma clean out the front garden so they can plow and get ready for Spring planting, she saw the bamboo poles that my parents use for the beans. Kyra looked at my mom and demanded to know "Hey! Why do you have panda food in your garden?" When my mom explained it to her, Kyra scoffed "they aren't real bamboo. You don't have pandas".
3. Another Kyra one - she has learned to spell her last name. It's a long name and Blaine didn't really master it until about 1st grade. Kyra is bored by just spelling her last name. So the other day she spelled it backwards for me. She has her Kindergarten pre-screen tomorrow. I can't wait to see her do her times tables (Blaine taught her the zero and one times tables) or to see their faces when they ask her if she can spell her name and she does it backwards for kicks. She's deliciously evil like that.
4. At church one Sunday a member of the congregation was talking to all of the kids - ranging in age from 3 to 13 - during the service about race. She asked them what race meant to them. One girl, about 12 years old piped up and answered that she thought of race as black or white. A younger girl thought race was about actual racing and winning. Blaine raised his hand and said "To me race is the human race. All the people everywhere are a part of the human race". It stunned me and the congregation and everyone burst into spontaneous applause. I'll never forget that moment. I remember thinking that Blaine is the person I want to be like when I grow up. I wish I could be that simple and that complex and that genuine all at the same time.
It all balances out. Kyra might tell you that I have on pink underwear, but then she'll amaze you with her skeptical intellect. Blaine might tell you that his mom makes 80 billion dollars** a year but then he will stun you with his compassionate insights. I am willing to put up with the embarrassing because part of the excitement of having kids are those moments when they say something that makes you laugh, reflect, or think. It's so worth it.
**Actual dollar figure inflated for dramatic purposes. Also, don't I wish.
