Mare: I didn’t get my wish that the sun would come back.
DaMomma: Baby, you can’t always get what you want. (Resisting, resisting …) But if you try? Sometime? You just might find … you get what you need!
Ren: Unless you are a beggar.
DaMomma: Right. What she said.
DaMomma: Ren, taste this, tell me if you like it.
Ren is digging through drawers for silverware to set the table. She is ignoring me. I freaking hate that.
DaMomma: Baby, I just want to know if you like it, so I know whether you’re going to eat it.
I shove another forkful of rice noodles and veggies her way. She looks up at me, blue eyes stern.
Ren: I am working hard here for you, Momma. You know? Let me finish what I am doing.
DaMomma: Oh. Right. Okay. Yeah. Fine, you just. You know. Get back to me when you have a sec.
We are parking at the gym. Let me say — there are no more vicious, empty little souls than women in mini-vans heading to the gym mid-day.
DaMomma: Holy shit!
A mother has cut me off, honking, forcing me to slam on the brakes. Her friend in the passenger seat is cheering — they got the space.
Ren: HOLY SHIT!
DaMomma: (silently contemplating this little dillema.)
Ren: Momma. Why do you say bad words?
DaMomma: They’re not bad words, Love. They are powerful words. Grown up words. But they’re not bad. The only words that are bad are the ones that hurt people. That word doesn’t hurt anyone.
Ren: HOLY SHIT!!
DaMomma: Okay, lemme clarify …
Thanks for the post. I so needed it today. Ren cheers me when the world gets me down. I love her outlook on life.
My three year old is constantly saying “just four secs mom” or “I’m busy here”. It’s very humbling to realize that even though the things he is doing don’t seem that big…the things I tell him to wait a sec on don’t seem that big to him either. It’s all about learning mutual respect.
Oh, I so would have done a Fried Green Tomatoes ala Kathy Bates move on those women…seriously.
I almost laughed out loud in a very quiet office reading this
Ren is great.
I DID laugh out loud! Thank you for some ’sun’ on this cloudy morning! =)
I love it! Thanks to Ren for brightening my morning!
I asked my sitter if it bothered her that my daughter was going to teach her son all the bad words I accidentally said, and she said she kind of expected it.
How many times in a day do you just inwardly sigh and tell yourself, ‘what can I do, it’s Ren’?
Powerful words not bad …I like that.
That made me laugh out loud! Your girls are great – and Ren is such a character!
And when she says it at the wrong time, swear she learned it from her father.
Ren totally rocks. Do you think someday, if I’m lucky, she’ll marry my Goobs? (He’s into older women, so that’s okay)…
VERY good stories!
I loved your twitter. Revenge on the internet indeed:)
Yup, Liz,
No doubt about it; once they hear those “powerful” words, it is hard to make them forget.
I did a similar jazz blast on “damn” and got the same response: “Mom, why are you saying bad words?!’
Then he went to Pre-Kindergarten and came back with “Ass” and “Fuck!” ?!?!?!? They say it takes a village to raise a child; in my case, it took a village to teach one to swear…… Isn’t civilization fab?
Ha! I love little Miss Ren……her actions remind me of a 4 year old that lives in my house!
“Unless you are a beggar.”
Seriously, I want to build a shrine to her. I mean, we might as well. It’s kind of inevitable.
HOLY SHIT! DOODLE ROCKS!
We were coming home last night & as I pulled around the corner Will asked, “Is there a parking spot, Momma?” “Yes, Will. THere is a spot right in front of our house!” (this rarely happens) Will says, “DAMN RIGHT, Parking out front!”
Love the last one! Hilarious!
Ren is awesome.
I want to go smack that woman who cheered. Argh!
In my Celtic Literature class today I learned that the name “Renny” means “small but mighty.” I had a little giggled to myself when that was mentioned.
Ahh…life is good…I’m home from vacation and chasing down airplanes to a glass of wine and a Ren post! Thank you!