I have a goal to laugh more with my family. Recently, for part of our Family Home Evening, I pulled out a binder of old family letters and read a few of what we call “Notable Quotables.” These are precious and funny things our children said when they were little that I actually had the presence of mind to record. (It only makes me wish I had done more. Note to young moms: Write those precious things down!)

Here are some of the gems we got a kick out of. (You know, that we are going to ask you to share some, too, so start looking for or remembering some good ones from your world — family, friends, neighbors (adults’ funnies are OK, too — just keep them clean, please)).

From 2004:

Background: #1 (a son, then age 5) loved to draw. One thing that he loved drawing for a while was a “dotted-line” representation of the Holy Ghost (you know, because he has no body).

My husband decided to take advantage of a teaching moment with #2 (then age 4).

Dad: Does Heavenly Father have a body?
#2: Yes.
Dad: What does Jesus have?
#2: A body.
Dad: What about the Holy Ghost?
#2: Just dots.

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Background: Our son and his dad had (and still have) a few favorite joint pastimes. At the top of the list is checkers (chess is now added to the list).

Hubby and I were hugging in the kitchen (and, FYI, that is all that happened!)….

Son sneaked a peek at us hugging (he should have been in bed).  We sent him back to bed, and he went, but not without this comment:

Son: “I know what you guys are going to do!” (With a hint of ‘you can’t fool me!’ in his voice….) —

…”You’re going to play checkers!” [Ahhh…the true sign of a loving relationship? To a five-year-old boy, yes, I suppose it was.]

——–

As we discussed how Laman and Lemuel (rebellious sons of Lehi, the prophet whose story is the first in the Book of Mormon) were not obedient, #1 and #2 gave us their interpretation of what they must have done to be disobedient:

“They probably stole candy!”

——–

A few from #3 (who was then only two):

Background: In preschool, #1 was learning little rhymes for the colors, like “Red, red forgot his head” and “Yellow, yellow, sat in jello” Anyway, one day, #3 was chanting:

“Yellow, yellow, sat in jelly. Red, red, sat in jelly….”

**

Dressed in one of her outrageous outfits (I often let her choose what to wear; her combination choices were something else!):

“Look! Dokey-dots!” (Both her shirt and her pants had polka-dots.)

Another time when someone was sitting too close to her or something (and she was wearing polka-dotted clothing), she exclaimed, “You’re squishing my dokey-dots!”

———

One day, #1 burst into spontaneous song. It was impossible for me to capture this all when it was spontaneous, so you get an idea from what I wrote after I asked him to do it again, for posterity’s sake. (Picture a four-year-old with his fist up to his mouth like a microphone.)

If you obey your mom,
You will feel happy inside,
And you will do some more.

If you want to be good,
Then you’ll be gooder;
More kind, more faithful
More, more love-ish.
If you will love your parents
Then you will love them more.

If you obey your parents,
Just, just love them all the time,
Be faithful and do good things.
For you and for me,
For you and for me,
For you and for me.
Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!

If we just do these things,
Then we’ll be more more good,
More more good.

If we just, if we just
Do it s’more,
Then we will be more faithful
And love each other
All the time.

———

Another attempt at a teaching moment, this time from me.

#3 was pretending that I was a dad. So I explained that daddies are boys and mommies are girls, so Mommy couldn’t be a dad because she is a girl. “And someday you will be a mommy, too.”

I don’t know what I expected her response to be, but I didn’t expect to hear:

“Big feet?”

In other words: “When I grow up and I’m a mommy, that means I will have big feet.”

——-

#1 said, “Mom, you’re the bestest cook!” But…before I had a chance to respond, he said, “Well, actually….Grandma.”

——–

OK, now it’s your turn. What are some fun or funny Notable Quotables from your world?

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For more Family Friday posts, see here.

The post Family Friday: Notable Quotables, Issue 1 appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

But, sometimes, the immediate and constant access we have to the world can sometimes be a distraction, if not a serious problem. If we are not careful, we can be so plugged into media (music, TV, news, information, games, movies, etc. etc. etc.) that we unplug from life and important relationships and responsibilities.

Please share what you do to maintain balance and priorities in your life and home.

The post Mormon Women Share: Keeping use of media and electronic devices in check appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.