Welcome back to Finish The Sentence Friday (FTSF). We give you a sentence and you finish it (however long or short you’d like). Write a post and link it up, or if you don’t blog, feel free to finish the sentence in the comments for everyone to see.
This week’s sentence is: “Speaking from experience, I’m going to give you a little advice on…”
Speaking from experience, I’m going to give you a little advice on family privacy. If you happen to live with young children, be careful what you say. You no longer have any privacy. When my daughter was four or five, “eavesdropping” became her new favorite word, both to say and to do. I rarely talk on the phone when Izzy is around. No matter how quietly I think I am speaking, she will hear me. I have hung up from countless phone calls to see Izzy dart around the corner and inquire innocently, for example, “Why was Grammy angry with her friend?” When I stare at her incredulously, she replies in a sing-song voice, “Eavesdropping!”
I swear, I have even mouthed words to my husband and she has sneakily interpreted my meaning. The day she learned how to spell was a sad day indeed. No longer could we stealthily ask one another, “Should we go to the z-o-o today?”
Along with learning to spell, her ability to read and write has added another interesting layer onto her eavesdropping. Awhile back I sat at the dinner table talking to my husband, the children suspiciously absent, and I heard muffled giggles from the stairs. Izzy poked her head around the corner and said gleefully, “I’m spying on you!” I rolled my eyes and somehow missed the fact that she was hunched over a notebook, scribbling devilishly for the next hour.
As we got ready for “book club”, that magical time of day when Izzy, Shawn, and I snuggle in bed and read silently to ourselves, Izzy dramatically produced her stack of papers. “Look!” she announced triumphantly, “I’m writing a blog about you!”
The title of her project: “Spy on You” by Izzy
Sure enough, she had been diligently capturing my activities all evening, down to my persistent coughing, which was notated with a “Ch-ch” in her “blog.” Fortunately, she didn’t overhear anything that was terribly inflammatory or inappropriate. But next time? Who knows.
Mommy: “Honey, what are you doing?”
Daddy: “I was wiping the counters.”
(What a good hubby! He probably paid her to document his kitchen clean-up.)
See those chhchch’s? That’s me coughing.
I flashed back to an old episode of Friends, in which Phoebe is constantly documenting her friends’ conversations in her journal. When Monica begins to do the same to her, she utters one of my all-time favorite Friends quotes, “I have tasted my own medicine, and it is bitter!”
Here’s a little clip: It has Spanish subtitles and doesn’t actually show my favorite part, but hey, Friends is Friends, right?
Serves me right to have a daughter who, like mommy, loves reading and writing, and has become quite a vivid storyteller. I have showcased some of her finer writing samples here, and I have a feeling she is going to follow in my footsteps, writing short stories, poems, and songs throughout her childhood. There are worse hobbies for a child to have!
So, to honor her storytelling creativity, I am going to let Izzy take over my blog next week. Stay tuned to see what crazy capers she comes up with!
Your FTSF hosts:
Me!
Janine from Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic
Kate from Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine?
Dawn from Dawn’s Disaster
- Please Make Sure to Follow Your Hosts, If You Haven’t Already.
- Make Sure to Read and Comment on at Least the Two Posts That Come Before Yours.
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- Link Up Your Posts Below with This Week’s Sentence Prompt.
- Hop around and have fun!
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Next week’s sentence is: “You want to know what I think of social media? I think…”
Cannot wait to see what Izzy comes up with next week!! But seriously, I am now scared for what the future holds and I have two pretty much for the price of one. Thanks for the advice and I am heeding this one starting now!!
I am pretty excited about next week’s “theme”! 😉 Can’t wait to read your post today!
Hahaha! That is awesome. It’s funny now. I am very worried, though, for when my kids are adults and are writing blogs about how I, in my old age, am peeing all over them. Paybacks are going to be rough. Thanks for hosting such a fun link-up!
Can’t wait to read your post today! I know, the payback is a little scary….
Uh oh.. and sh’s only SIX! Payback is coming Mommy!!!! I often wonder how the kids will feel if they ever read about themselves eating their own bogeys and other lovely stuff like that, when they grow up. I haven’t thought about them writing about me, though, until now…
You know, I think I’d be honored! 😀 Can’t wait to see what Izzy comes up with next week!
Stay tuned, Josie, because I am totally, um, copying you/being inspired by your idea, and I am finally doing my tagging post! Or, some version of a tagging post…
Ooh, I’m looking forward to seeing what Izzy comes up with. I love seeing her writing. It is so cute! I love the “what’s on my refrigerator?” series too.
I’m “stumbling” this. I got the app.
Oh, crap, “stumbling”? I just worked up the nerve to join Pinterest sometime in the next week…heaven help me. Hey, maybe you can help me too! 😉
Stephanie – Now, it is cute … in five years, you may be in trouble! lol I have a feeling you’ll be sending her to the grandparents so that you and your hubby can have a little time together on a constant basis. Otherwise, who knows what will appear in print! lol Great job!
You are so right, Rich. Just read the title of your post today- now I am dying to go check it out! Something about the word sperm…
Hi there, I will be awaiting the next posts! Our little girl, all of 8, draws! Justa as dangerous to my mind! She has been a slow reader so far, but likes to read. So I will await the future with my eyes very wide open! Thanks for this advice! Lovely story!
Isn’t it interesting how each child has their areas of strength and skill? My daughter, like me, is kind of a terrible artist! 😉 It is definitely fun to watch them and see where their talents lie!
Bwahahah! That is one of my favorite episodes. How stinkin’ hilarious! my daughter told her friend, “My Mommy blogs everyday so Daddy has to make the tea in the morning.” Thanks Eden.
I. am. DYING!!! Hahahahahahahaha. That is the funniest and most fantastic motherhood story ever. I ADORE her for including your persistent cough.
I can’t wait to see what she comes up with on the blog next week. I sure hope your cough is better so we don’t have to read a bunch of ch-ch-chs!
man, to have gotten started that early! I think it is totally cool for children to think of writing (blogs) as fun… sort of like reading was for previous generations.
excellent Post
oh! any chance that Izzy would have the time, to consider doing a Guest Post at the Doctrine?
lol
She has many personalities… 😉
When my mom didn’t want me to eavesdrop, she’d speak in Spanish to people (except my dad who didn’t speak a word of Spanish). I told her that while I didn’t exactly understand, there would be a day she couldn’t speak Spanish and not have me understand. HAHA. Yes, I went to school and studied Spanish (among other things) but now we tell each other secrets in Spanish and the rest of the family doesn’t know what we’re saying. 🙂
I love that! I bet your mom is proud…:)
gosh…this is so darn cute. My son is also darn inquisitive and I avoid talking in front of him. Thank god, he has not started blogging about me…lol
Great post, Stephanie
Thanks! I have a feeling both my girls are going to end up chatty and sneaky!
ha ha! I love that Izzy’s blog is called “Spy on You!” She’s awesome! And I can’t wait to see what she writes on your blog! You are brave (and luckily have the awesome power admin rights…you know, just in case). This is such an adorable story – I just love it!
Oh my. I have begun to think Allie will be an investigative reporter when she is older. We started speaking in code at the dinner table trying to undermine her tendency to not only enter the conversation but then repeat it.
If you find the cure for eavesdropping please pass it on!
Oh my gosh this is hilarious! I’m so glad I read it! I love her blog, I love the ch ch, I love the “book club” you guys have, and I LOVE Friends!!!
I really enjoyed reading this post! I would hate to see what my daughter will write down when she can write!
This so funny! Can’t wait to see what Izzy is going to do next week… and the friends reference was great!