This is the scene that greeted me when I went into the kid’s bathroom after Cailey was finished with her bath.
I caught sight of Mermaid Barbie, and I knew exactly how she felt. That was me. Except for the impossibly tiny waistline. And shapely bosom.
I meandered into the dining room and sat at the table with my head resting solemnly on my hands. Really dreading the cooking of the dinner which I knew must happen in order to keep everyone in the house alive for another day. The frozen salmon was busy thawing in a bowl on the counter. Looking as unappetizing as a bowl of dead headless fish could possibly look.
“Tell me the story of your life?” Fiddledaddy urged from the kitchen.
“I’m weary, uninspired, downtrodden, and I just feel like poop,” I whined.
Since Emme was in the room sitting on the couch thumbing through the latest Lands End Children Clothing Catalogue, he continued in secret code. We use to spell everything out to one another. Which usually proved epic because neither of us are particularly adept at spelling. But then I went and taught the child how to read, and her ability to spell was just a happy byproduct. In fact, she’s quite a gifted speller.
Visions of spelling bees dance in my head.
Anyhoo.
Fiddledaddy, continuing the thought using covert parenting communication, said, “How about code #2?” Immediately I knew he meant speed dial #2 on the phone. As you may recall, #2 is for Carrabbas Take Away Service.
He knows me so well. My eyes lit up.
Emme is a huge fan of all things Carrabbas, which is why we must use code because if for any reason we couldn’t follow through with the operation, her world, as she knows it, would come to an abrupt and complete halt.
Then there would be two females in the house suffering from a breakdown. And that’s just one too many.
Without looking up from her catalogue, she chimes in from the peanut gallery, “Count me in.”
Clearly, we need a new secret code.
{ 44 comments }
That is too cute! We think we’re being so sly as parents, don’t we?!
LOVE Carrabas (especially their lasagna)!
What a wonderful hubby to recognize the need for Code 2!
Our oldest can now figure out anything we spell, too. SO aggravating. We try Spanish, but Big Daddy mostly knows construction words, and we don’t use many of those around the house. We’ve also tried out pig latin, but I don’t think we’ll have long before Pooh breaks that code, too.
So far, though, the girls haven’t figured out our code names for them: Marcia, Jan and Cindy Brady.
Reminds me of when my oldest daughter was really into Bob the Builder. If we were discussing allowing her to watch a DVD we would say “Can she view a Robert the Construction Worker shiny entertainment disc?”
This really got me in my tickle bone, and I surely needed it! :0) Thanks! Love the picture!
You make me laugh! We started scramble spelling for my oldest, and he would figure out his father scramble-spelled “Chinese” before I could.
I so enjoy reading your stories. Kids, they know WAY too much and are WAY too observant. Thankfully for you, so is your husband!!!
Blessings,
Tonja
Bwah-ha-ha-ha! (excuse me while I wipe coffee off of the monitor) . . .
That is great, I love it! Our oldest is also a precocious speller and we had to abandon the Spell-It-Out routine after this scenario:
(Whispering to the husband): “What about getting some I- ”
(Older Girl running at breakneck speed from the opposite end of the house): “C-E-C-R-E-A-M?!?!?!?!!?”
The girl has the ears of a feral animal and the spelling ability of a 7th grade wunderkind at the National Spelling Bee. I’m doomed.
Love those secret languages, although with my husband they are a challenge. He thought pig latin was just adding the “a” sound at the end, so he would say :can-a they-a watch-a t.v.-a ?”, for example. And the girls would just stare at him open mouthed thinking he had lost his mind. So now I tease him mercilesssly…
What-a do-a you-a want-a for-a dinner-a?!” (Sounds like a poor, very poor, italian accent!)
I’m a Carabba-ette, too! What’s your favorite entre? Must know!
Jules,
We usually order the Pollo Rosa Maria chicken. If I’m not watching my carb intake (I can’t even type that without giggling…..watching my carb intake…..at Carrabbas) I love the Pasta Weesie (shrimp). But then again, the Caesar Salad with grilled chicken is awesome.
Now I’m hungry. And sadly, there are no leftovers.
This is a great post! How wonderful to have a husband who knows that somedays we just need Code #2. And how delightful to have a daughter who figured out what that is. I laughed out loud at the end.
Frightening! When did they get to be smarter than us?!? I don’t remember that in the contract.
Now I’m hungrie-ER if that is possible.
Don’t you mean “That was me. Except for the impossibly tiny waistline. And shapely bosom. And the fish tail.“???
Unless there is something you’re not telling us, LOL.
I’m giving you a “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” award. Come on over if you want to play along.
~Heather
The picture is hilarious and so is the story! You’ve gotta a smart one on your hands; it’s gonna be tough to stay a step ahead!
You never fail to crack me up! I love reading your blog. Sorry for getting cracked up over your bad day.
I needed the laugh this morning. Kids are so much smarted tham we give them credit for.
Today I am the mermaid barbie (only she looks so much better than I do even with the cup on her head.)
I need a new phone, mine doesn’t have speed dial. Hmmm cute retro phone or speed dial? Although I do have the important phone numbers memorized. Like the pharmacy and Papa Murphy’s Pizza.
That’s so funny! I always heard about parents spelling out things. Then it happened to me the other day. My son is only 16 mo, but if I say the word milk, he looks around all perky wanting milk. So I spell it. Sometimes my husband ends up spelling certain things out too because we know Joshua knows what it is and he doesn’t need to know we’re talking about it. Although I”m a good speller, I’m not necessarily a quick thinker. So when he spells it out, my brain tries hard to catch every letter and sometimes misses. ugh.
Yay for Carrabbas!! We LOVE it. Even tho it’s only just between 2-4 times a year we get there!
Now that is a good man who will suggest take out when he senses his wife is feeling blah. What a guy!! Let me know if you figure out a good secret code….we’re in need of one here too!
Oh my goodness that kid is funny! You are in major trouble, deary!
She cracked your code.
Too funny. I’m so lucky to still be in the spelling phase (oldest just turned 4). You just gotta love how perceptive kids are.
laughing
OUT
LOUD.
The pic is priceless.
How cute. Don’t you hate it when they figure out the codes? Oh, how I need a #2 tonight!!
Oh, Lord! Look at my previous comment!
I mean Carrabas, not the other – ha ha ha ha
How on earth do kids manage to get smarter than us so soon?
I hate that when they can spell. My daughter is on the cusp and has started figuring things out. Maybe I will try pig latin
The spelling had to stop too early for my taste in this house. Jake is 4 and could read War and Peace if you put it in front of him so Z-O-O is no longer really a challenge!
We tried pig latin once but just ended up confusing ourselves!
Wonderful! Now, why are you feeling so blah? Under the weather?
hey did I mention we are having baby #5!!! Due Feb. 1.
I have had those days. I’ve done somehting similar to what Barbie was doing. I have sat scrunched up in the kitchen corner with my turtle neck over my face “hiding”. From what? The kids ask. “From my life.” “You’re not doing a very good job of it.”
Love it!! Smart girl.
Now if I could just program my husband to even suggest doing something different life would be good. But hey who doesn’t enjoy slaving over a hot stove? Most of them inhale it and say they are still hungry while the youngest stares at the plate shoving food from one side to the next. Slop on a plate – that’s what’s cooking tonight – with a heaping portion of sarcasm. And for dessert benedryl to help send everyone, including me, off to dreamland.
hmmm….ive got a trash can i could put over my head for that part of the look but would have to do some serious sculpting to suck in the waist far enough to fit that image…it feels like my legs have been tied together
too bad C went back to work yesterday so theres no need for codes here and no locla takeout anyways…..
come to think of it that trash can over the head is sounding better all the time…
ive had my neice here for 10 days now…so that puts me with 2 3 y/os and a 4 y/o i am ready to find a straight jacket now…
LOL!! Very cute!
They figure us out so quickly – and just when we thought we were being sneaky…
So cute! We’re now spelling certain things (like C-h-e-e-r-i-o-s) so my 1-year-old doesn’t clue in and get his hopes up. My 8-year-old likes to join in the spelling fun and usually ends up spelling out entire sentences. And, being a mom, my brain is often mush, so I just can’t figure out what he’s trying to say. What could be a simple conversation turns into a one-hour spell-a-thon.
your posts CRACK me up!
LOL
Although you are feeling weary, uninspired, downtrodden, and like poop, please know that I love you, your blog…and Carrabas.
And please know how very lucky you are that you have one close enough to order take out. The closest Carrabas to me is one hour. which is not funny at all.
When, oh when are you going to publish a book? You’d be my favorite author. I promise.
We have a “secret code” for M&M’s… We call them “Thirteens” because M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet. The kids are still 10 and under and haven’t a clue what we mean when we say this. It’s the only code which has stayed secret to this day. My hubby’s favorite candy in the galaxy, by the way… Cute!
Lol! When I was little, my parents spoke pig latin. Until one day when I was about 6 and my dad asked my mom if we should go to the beach and I got it! Not sure what code we´ll be using in the future. Right now, my husband and I use words in either English or Spanish that our toddler doesn´t yet understand. For example, he LOVES raisins, but hasn´t figured out that raisins is pasas in Spanish, so we use that. We are a bilingual family and he is learning new words every day, so I´m sure that won´t last long.
An older single friend of mine told me that one thing she’s observed in families over the years is that parents way underestimate how much their kids are tuning in and picking up on things.
She said something like this:
“Assume that they sharper than you and that they’re listening in on absolutely everything. Even the little ones understand way more than you think they do.”
Emme sure does.
I guess our only hope is to continually change the code. We’re all supposed to keep changing our computer passwords to foil the hackers, right? Maybe we just need to take our lead from the world of technology and keep changing our parental codes to foil the kiddoes who keep cracking them?
#2 in a few days becomes Big C and the following week switches to “Bass Fishing” (CarrabBAS). Maybe?
Love your blog, hubby did a great job.
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