Parenting Questions

My kids crack me up on an almost hourly basis...I seriously can't keep up with all the funny things they do.

Yesterday at CVS, I was painstakingly studying various brands of toothpaste and the kids were sitting by the cart near the endcap. There were some gentleman a few aisles over laughing. All of a sudden Grayson loudly yells over to them, "hey, can you please quiet it down?" I immediately say, "Grayson, it's rude to tell adults to be quiet." (I of course, say it with a guilty conscience because I think I say the exact same thing to him 50 times a day). Grayson looks at me a little hurt and says, "but Mom, I can't hear Matalley." So question number 1, how do you explain the appropriate time to ask people to be quiet?

This morning on our way to school, Grayson asked me, "What does protest mean?" I tried my best, but ended up launching into an explanation about Obama and healthcare (and before this turns into a political blog, I remained neutral in my explanation). So question number 2, how do you explain words like that to a 4 year old?

The weather was absolutely beautiful today so we went for a walk, well I walked and the kids rode their scooters. Every 5 feet or so, Grayson would stop and say, "okay, let's sit and pray." So he and Matalley would sit on the curb and expect me to sit down with them, while Grayson prayed for the weather, our neighbors, our family, etc....a different prayer each time. So our 10 minute walk around the block to get the mail, turned into a 45 minute walk. Question number 3, how do you squelch beautiful spontaneity in order to get dinner on the table before bedtime?

After each prayer, the kids would get back on their scooters, line up, and then Grayson would say, "ready, set, go!" Off he'd speed with Matalley scooting much slower but saying "go, go, go!" Final question, how long before she figures out that it's a race and she's not winning? (Just saying, it's cute now, but when she figures it out, she'll either cry because she's not winning. or beat Grayson and then he'll cry because he lost; and I'm really not looking forward to either set of tears).

In other news, Matalley is meeting those milestones...her latest feat, asking 'why Mommy?' a gazillion times a day. Ah, questions, questions.