More From the World of Levi

Getting Levi to focus on his one main chore, emptying the dishwasher, can be a bit of a challenge. This boy is not about doing things 'correctly,' step-by-step, and finishing in a timely manner. He is all about the creative process. I had no idea that emptying the dishwasher could be creative. The above picture shows, I am told, a buffalo. Do you see the horns? (Hint: they are orange and blue.) The flatware basket is apparently the body.

Do you have any idea what mismatched cups do to my mental and emotional state? It is ridiculous. But I'm taking a deep breath and going with it. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if the kids didn't drink out of specific colored cups. I always know that a purple cup is Leif's. But what about a purple and green cup? I'm flummoxed.

Levitical Sayings:

Mom, I have an appointment with you. (Is that so? Did you want to show me what a lovely job you did cleaning up the front room?) No, Lukie did it all. I came to pay him credit.

Mark my word.

Just passing the time.

Have it your way.

I'm convinced.

What a shame.

Hey, Todd! (We were in the food line at Costco, and he was talking to someone behind us. It worried me a little, as we don't know anyone in town by the name of Todd. I looked behind me at a young man wearing a service uniform. He sported a name patch with the name Todd, of course. For Levi, that is as good as an introduction. Levi chuckled at the guy's bemused look.) Actually, I just read your name tag. (Grin.)

(We go for dinner at Red Robin. Our server come to the table. Levi cranes his neck to look at her name tag.) Kristen, it is my dad's birthday. Could you please sing to him and bring us balloons and ice cream? (It was just a day or two after his birthday, and we had not talked about 'celebrating' at the restaurant. Russ practically crawled under the table, but we did get free ice cream.)

(Pointing at Leif.) Turn thy head into a donkey'est'. (Maybe we should cut back on the Shakespeare.)

(Levi was escaping from the kitchen after breakfast without clearing his plate. I reminded him.) Sorry, I forgot that process.

(We are snuggling in bed early in the morning.) Mom, diets don't work. Do you want to know what does? (Not so sure.) Weight Watchers.

(We were working on a grammar lesson covering common nouns and proper nouns. I asked Levi to think of a proper name for a girl.) Mona Lisa. (Um, okay, I guess that works. How about a man?) King Louis XV. (I almost hate to ask, but how about a boy?) Levi, of course! (A proper name for a book?) Kings and Queens of England. (You do know that King Louis was a French king, don't you?) I'm not talking about him anymore. (Alrighty, then. I guess there is probably a book called Kings and Queens of England. I glance at the example in the text book. It says Go, Dog, Go. Who knew that grammar could be so entertaining.)

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Because many of these Levitical sayings were from the last month or two, when Levi was five, I will leave you with these amusing quotes:

A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. ~Groucho Marx

There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child. ~Frank A. Clark

The real menace in dealing with a five-year-old is that in no time at all you begin to sound like a five-year-old. ~Joan Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957