Greetings. And welcome to another edition of Answer Me This, a thrilling game of questions and answers that I just made up and isn’t really a game. But it’s fun. So, I hope you’ll play along.
I’m writing this to you FROM THE PAST, because the husband and I dumped the kidlets with my folks and are away on a babymoon for baby number eight, scheduled to arrive late this month.
Here are some thoughts from the last one:
THINGS I LEARNED ON MY BABYMOON
And now, without further ado, here are THIS WEEK’S questions:
1. How did you celebrate the 4th of July? (Or, for you international types . . . Do anything fun this weekend?)
Anita’s 6th birthday is July 6th, so we threw her a very patriotic golden birthday on Friday afternoon.
Instructions on how to make this Top Secret Ten Minute Ice Cream Cake can be found here.
Nana and Grandad and Great Grandmother and Aunt and Uncle and cousins went in together to get her the American Girl Doll Kit, and a matching outfit for Anita. We brought out the big box last and as she was opening it, she was whispering to herself, “Please be Kit, please be Kit.” It was pretty adorable.
For the actual 4th, the husband and I will be staying at a hotel with a rooftop patio. Hopefully we’ll be able to see some fireworks from there.
2. Do you sunburn easily?
Mostly no. I do sunburn, but not really quickly. What I don’t do is tan. At all. Under any circumstances. I am what would be classified as super-duper white. According to my Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Loose Powder Foundation, it’s only humanly possible to be one shade whiter than I am. And that’s summer and winter.
3. Hot dogs. Yay or nay?
How about meh? I don’t mind hot dogs, but they’re not my favorite. I prefer burgers if that’s an option. But I will eat them no problem. (Chicago-style, with mustard and relish.)
4. Have you ever personally set off fireworks?
I grew up with a crazy uncle, my dad’s younger brother, who used to bring no kidding fireworks up from Mexico for us to set off on the 4th of July. I remember them being more loud than anything, but still awfully impressive.
My own kids have only ever had access to smoke bombs, and sparklers, and pop-its. But those seem to be just as fun. And rather less likely to shoot one’s eye out.
5. Have you ever jumped off the high dive?
Yes I have. The first time was the most memorable. My sister and I both went up to the platform high dive at my grandmother’s country club pool. We were daring each other to go off, but I was pretty sure I just wasn’t going to go. Then she jumped off and accidentally belly flopped and I watched from above as she slowly sank, stunned, towards the bottom of the pool. So *I* jumped, to SAVE her, and did exactly the same thing. And also sank, And the lifeguard saved both of us.
I’ve done better since. It’s still not particularly my favorite thing to do, but it both shocks and impresses my kids, so I’ll bust it out every now and again.
6. Do you do anything weird in your sleep?
I think the weirdest thing I do these days is sleep mostly sitting up, propped up on at least three pillows. I find it to be the most comfortable way for me to sleep during pregnancy, especially towards the end here.
I’ve also become a very light sleeper of late, which can be very frustrating. So I’ve taken to wearing an eye mask and ear buds with white noise going.
It’s all VERY Audrey Hepburn of me, right? Right?
Want to play along? Answer THIS WEEK’s questions in the comments, or on your blog and link it up below! Please include a link to this post on your blog. The linkup will be open from now through close of business Tuesday.
Now for NEXT WEEK’s questions, to answer NEXT WEEK . . .
Sleep sensitivity must be either a getting old thing or a being a mom thing because so many women I know (including myself) seem to now have it. It's not fun!
So I have to ask…you and one other person I've seen are the only ones who refer to the babymoon as the time BEFORE the baby arrives. Every other reference I've seen speak of it as the few weeks after the baby arrives when you're all hormonal and gushy and infatuated and in your own little world getting to know the new little person. Like a honeymoon but with a baby. I need to make sure I get my pop culture definitions straight, you know? This is quite important. Either way, hope you had a wonderful weekend and prayers for your upcoming birth!
I've always thought of a babymoon as the time after a baby is born as well, when the couple/family just holes up with the new baby and spends time with him/her getting used to the new baby.
That said, I think the other way sounds lovely, and I would love to have one…someday.
Huh. That makes sense, since honeymoons come after weddings, not before. But that's what we've always called the couple's getaway we do without the other kids before each new baby. If anyone has a different catchy title for THAT, let me know. 🙂
We call the little getaway before a baby comes a baby moon here too…I guess it doesn't make the most sense? But I'm totally with you, Kendra!
I wondered the same thing Mary did though to me post baby is not moony but …an adjustment period. You could call it pregnancy moon.
I agree with Kendra! All my friend and I refer to the last getaway before baby as the babymoon. I asked my mom and she said that it never occurred to her to take an escape before we arrived.
You have a little girl named Anita?! That's wonderful!! I hardly ever hear of little girls with that name. You must be a gifted baby namer. 🙂
Yes! Betty and Anita are both named after my grandmothers and Lulu (Louise) is named after our neighbor who was like another great grandmother to our family.
Please give my compliments to YOUR mother. :0)
I'm pretty darned pale, too – now I need to look back at that picture of us together and see which one of us is the winner… If it can be called that?
Is 6 the official age of the American Girl doll gift? I've got a ton of Samantha stuff in my attic but I'm waiting for that perfect time to gift it to my daughter.
I feel like six is minimum. They're old enough to take care of and appreciate nicer things. I'd actually say ideal is more like eight, so they can read the books. But six is as long as I've been able to hold off grandmothers around here!
Our family of 6 girls had the tradition growing up that you got an American Girl doll on your sixth birthday. I thought that was the perfect age to get the most use and enjoyment out of it—other friends who didn't get the doll til they were 9 or 10 only had 2 or 3 years to enjoy it, but we had 6+ years of AG fun. It also works well with the research that 6 is a big psychological turning point for kids in terms of thinking and acting more like adults—this special "big girl" gift helps to honor that. I plan to keep the 6-year-old American Girl doll gift tradition going with my own daughters someday… my one problem is that I can't think of a corresponding 6-year-old gift for my sons, and I would really like for them to have a "big kid" gift for their 6th birthday too!
That's really sweet. And I like your reasoning.
Maybe boys could move from Duplo to "real" Legos at six?