Morgan: Mommy, I’ve figured it out, I know what I’m gonna be when I get big. Wanna know what it is?

Me: Ok, I’ll play, what?

Morgan: A pro snowboarder.

Me: Of course, I should have known. What about being a Supreme Court Judge?

Morgan: Oh I’ll still do that too. After I’m a pro snowboarder.

Me: After, huh? Ok then, good to know.

Morgan: Yep, I’ll do that when I’m old. Like maybe 25.
Picture is something I stole off of Google. Seriously, you think I’d go out in this to take pictures? Heck no, it’s in the negatives in temperature and it sure as shit isn’t sunny.

Why someone will have their hand down their pocket, scratching, in public. Like in an elevator. Then they stop for a second, only to start up scratching again. Dude, that is what bathrooms were invented for.

People who look around, before picking their nose in traffic. If it is daytime and you are picking your nose in your car…someone is watching.

Men who make comments about why breastfeeding is so simple and they don’t understand a woman who wouldn’t do it. Ok, then, you try it. Asshat.

Why anyone would look at a newborn and say, oh what a pretty girl? When the BOY in question was wearing a dark blue onesie that says baby brother on it. If you don’t know, don’t just assume. I’d way rather someone say, oh what a cute baby, then try to guess.

Why a group will come out with new songs; put them on a “greatest hits” CD and then not let you just purchase those three freaking songs. No, you must purchase the CD full of songs that you already own for three little songs. Egotistical much?

Why I bother to pay for professional photos of my children, when they come out looking all weird. Why it is that my sweet little daughter thinks a camera is going to steal her soul. Why my son can be happy all day, but put him in front of a camera and he gets all grouchy and starts crying, like I told him he was being returned to sender. Why my oldest suddenly believes she is on the cover of some fashion magazine? Is one good photo at Christmas too much too ask? My house is filled with photos of the kids. Almost none of the ones that are up, were professionally taken.

Any of you have something you just don’t understand? I’m full of them these days.

Issa:
There is snow.
It doesn’t melt when it hits the ground.
Any snow accumulation over say three inches.
It looks all snowy and cold and icy from my window.
They spray the streets with some sort of no-stick stuff, but you still slide around.
It takes me an extra twenty minutes to get the girls to school to Starbucks in the morning.
I have to wear gloves and a hat.

Logan:
Last night there was not a blizzard.
You can’t see because the snow is blowing so hard.
More than a foot of snow.
If you leave your house you can die.
We haven’t had a blizzard yet this year.
In a REAL blizzard, school will be closed.
8 inches of snow does not mean it is a blizzard.
A blizzard is where snow and wind and something about temps begin low and blah, blah, blah. I am wrong and my wife is right. (I might have paraphrased this last one.)

Here’s the thing, I am from Los Angeles. I was raised in West LA. My dad started teaching me how to surf at 4 years old. The beach was my playground. I only owned flip-flops and dress up shoes until I went to school and then was occasionally forced to wear real shoes. Every time I talk to someone and I tell them there is a blizzard, Logan has a fit at me. It’s not a blizzard, it’s barely snowing, he says. To me, the chick who saw snow maybe three times before I was ten years old; any amount of snow, seems like a blizzard. So we go back and forth on it. In the end we decided that he’s a loser we just have to disagree on this one. He ignores me telling people that it’s a blizzard and I ignore him teaching our kids about snow. I guess now that we live here, they should know about snow. Love the snow even. Me, I’ll stay all nice and toasty in my house and ignore the blizzard.

UPDATE: It’s on now. Logan has issued a public plee (through me, since lame boy can’t type) to win. If you all think he is right, I have to buy him some new snowboard he wants. If I win, I get to go too BlogHer09 without listening to him whine about how hard four days with the kids will be. (Either way, I think I’m going, I asked Santa for the ticket, it’s just how annoying he’s gonna be about it.)

What do you think?

ISSA: 5 points

LOGAN: 12 points (including Mr. Big Dubya who just told me something on Twitter about 10 feet of snow and walking both ways to school uphill with no shoes. Or he said that I’m a bit mistaken. Whichever.) Also including my freaking parents and his parents. My mom is so not getting a gift now.

I am a huge game lover. I have always love a night filled with drunken versions of Life and Pictionary and Clue. Really, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried to make a drinking game out of Dominoes.

Oh wait, I don’t think this was what I planned on talking about. I digress.

As a kid, we had a closet full of games. Playing board games was something that we did on a regular basis. We had normal games and then all these weird ones. Like Songburst 70’s & 80’s edition, have you ever seen that one? You have to be able to sing the end of a song. My step-mom loved that game, because she always won.

I’ll tell you something funny. I never knew a Monopoly game could last for hours. In our house the game always ended, every single time, when my brother Adam overturned the board. When I was fifteen and played it on a school trip, I was shocked that the game could go on forever. Who knew? I mean really, didn’t everyone have a family member who would get so flustered with the counting of money that they’d overturn the board? I’d never played Monopoly longer than fifty minutes in my entire childhood.

The only game I ever cheated on as a kid was Monopoly. No correlation between that and Adam being a sore loser. I’m pretty sure, anyway. I just heard that the makers of Monopoly are taking away the money and using credit cards. I swear, that version will never make its way into my game closet. My kids will always have to play with the real money. Every kid should have to learn how to cheat on Monopoly properly.

We’ve always been big on games around here. We, just as both of our families did, have a closet full of games. Some the kids can play by themselves, some we play as a family and some we play when we get together with friends. In the last year though, we’ve moved past the Hi Ho Cheerio and Candyland sort of games with the girls. Which is a relief really, because there is only so much Chutes and Ladders and Candyland one person can play in their lifetime. We’ve moved onto the Junior versions of all my favorite games. Outburst Jr. being the favorite of the moment. Sometimes we even play the regular version in teams. Either way, games are a big part of our family.

Which is really why I’ve written this post.

The Parentbloggers are doing a little giveaway with EA games. A big giveaway actually; Wii games, in fact. Our whole family is a big fan of the Wii. I bought it for Logan last year for Christmas and it hasn’t worn out it’s welcome yet. Where as the babies in this house rarely get played with anymore, the Littlest Pet shop death traps are pretty ignored and the Play-doh has all dried out; the Wii has not gotten old. If any of you want to enter to win, go check it out HERE. I think you have until Sunday to enter.

PS. Morgan’s seventh birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll be posting at some point tomorrow as well.

Scene: This morning, my car.

Morgan: Momma, can you buy me some new gloves, scarf and hat?

Me: Where’d yours go?

Morgan: I don’t have any.

Me: Yeah, you do. I bought you a new set four days ago. The ones that match your coat. The ones you wore to school yesterday.

Morgan: Oh those. Well, I don’t have them anymore.

Me: Did you leave them in your locker or in Auntie Kate’s car yesterday?

Morgan: No, I just don’t have them anymore.

Me: Morgan I am not in a playing mood today. Where exactly are your gloves, hat and scarf? Truth, NOW.

Morgan: I gave them to Lilian. But mommy, she didn’t have any and her fingers were icicles and I asked her where her stuffs was and she said her mom didn’t have money to buy her any. So I gave her mine.

Me: Oh I. You. I’m proud….

Morgan: Mama, you can buy me new ones right? You aren’t mad?

Me: No baby, I’m not mad. I’ll pick you up some new ones today. Honey, does Lilian have a coat?

Morgan: Yeah, she does. It’s big, but cozy.

Me: Ok good. You did the right thing and I’m very proud of you. That’s a sweet thing of you to do for your friend. But truth next time, okay?

Morgan: Yep, I promise.

My baby is growing up people. It makes me sad, but very proud of the person she is becoming. I thought six was the best age in the world. For her it has been. But seven seems to be pretty dam great too. Now excuse me while I go and call my entire family and tell them how awesome my kid is.