7 Ways to Use "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn

This year, in addition reading some children's books as part of my work on Mom2MomEd, I'm also participating in a children's literature reading challenge hosted by Mrs. Sarah Collier of Belle's Library and the Victorian Letter Writers Guild. 

My inaugural book for the Children's Literature Challenge is The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. My child (now an adult) and I first received this book as a gift from my mother several years ago when my kiddo was still quite young. 

The Kissing Hand holds a special place in my heart because it was instrumental in helping us in adjusting to the emotional turmoil that comes with going back and forth between divorced parents (read about my suggested books for divorce HERE). Although the book is the story of a child going to school for the first time, it easily is applied to any form of temporary separation between parent and child.

 

Here are 7 ways to use The Kissing Hand beyond simply reading it with your child (or on your own):

1. Start a Kissing Hand tradition with your child

 

When my child was struggling with the emotional ups and downs of going back and forth between mom's house and dad's house, we started every exchange by kissing each other's palms and holding them to our cheeks. My child then could put palm to cheek during their time with their dad and thus would be reminded of my love. My kiddo told me several times that it helped them to feel better. 

 

2. Encourage your child to have a Kissing Hand tradition with family members that live far away, that they don't get to see often, or that are towards the end of life

 

Keeping in mind safety measures around viruses (Covid-19 as just the most worrisome as I write this), your child can start a Kissing Hand tradition with a loved one outside of the immediate family. If the loved one is too far away or it isn't safe to exchange palm kisses, you can kiss your child's palm and tell them, "Grandma gave me this kiss for you. You can put your palm to your cheek anytime you miss grandma or are thinking about her. Grandma loves you so much and would be so happy to know that you have her kiss in your palm."

 

3. Use The Kissing Hand anytime your child is nervous about trying something new or going somewhere new without you

 

In the book, the little racoon is nervous about starting school which prompts Mama to teach him about The Kissing Hand. Your child could use the same concept for any new situation or place -- a lesson or class, taking a flight without you (started flying alone at age 8!), starting up with a new babysitter, and so on. 

 

4. Teach your child to self-soothe anxiety, stress, or fear 

If your child tends towards anxiety or excessive stress or feels fearful at times, but maybe The Kissing Hand and holding a palm to a cheek isn't ideal, you could kiss your child's palm and have them kiss their other palm. 

 

Teach them to hold their palms together, interlacing their fingers, and pressing their palms into one another. They can then visualize their kiss and your kiss and the love between you. The side benefit is that the whole exercise of putting the palms together, interlacing the fingers, and then pressing against their own palms can help to reduce stress and anxiety. There are many other ways to do this that are similar -- tapping, pressure points, and so on -- but this is one that a child can do without anyone noticing. They can put their hands under their desk or simply in their lap and anyone that notices will just see a child sitting with their hands together. Your child will know that they have a little secret centered on your love for one another.

 

5. Introduce or practice early math literacy skills

 

If you flip through The Kissing Hand, you'll notice that it's filled with gorgeous illustrations, most of which have a multitude of different animals within the scenes. You can have your children count the animals on any given page or count all of the animals in the entire book or count a specific type of animal (how many frogs are there? bunnies? owls?). For kids that are already counting, you can begin to incorporate some basic addition: "If we have two frogs on this page and one frog on that page, how many frogs do we have?"

 

6. Play "I Spy"

 

You can turn many pages into the book into scavenger hunts: "Where is the frog? Can you find the red book? Where is the snail?"

 

7. Talk about similarities and differences

 

One of the subtle things I love about The Kissing Hand is that so many different animals are included in the illustrations. You could easily turn this into a discussion about how people have all kinds of differences. Some of the animals are little, or even tiny, while others are bigger. Some have feathers while others have fur or smooth skin. You could translate this into a discussion about diversity and inclusiveness or about bullying (after all, a lot of bullying happens due to someone being perceived as different in some way). 

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak, is such a lovely and sweet book. I hope you'll pick up a copy for a child in your life.  

Grab a copy on Bookshop HERE.

Grab a copy from Amazon HERE.

Or, hit up your local library.

 

Links in this post may be affiliate in nature ~*~ making purchases through these links may result in a small commission to me at no extra cost to you. Thank you in advance.

A teachers perspective on safety drills

Back to school is upon us and a lot of parents are worried about safety -- there have been far too many school shootings (one is too many) in recent years, and thus safety concerns are very real.

When I was a kid, we worried about a rabid dog, a swarm of bees, possibly a homeless person wandering onto campus.

We heard the fire drill, and happily marched to our assigned spots on the blacktop.
We stood quietly until all was clear and then returned to our classrooms without a second thought. It doesn't matter how I feel about guns...these shootings are happening now and they're not going to go away tonight. 

As a teacher, I typically know when our drills are going to occur. I mentally plan how to work our day around the time it will take for us to line up, walk out, and then return to class. Only we don't get straight to work. No way--I teach Kindergarten! My students need to process. After a drill, they are loud, so very loud. Drills are out of the norm, so far out of the norm. 

We have a process. We line up, I grab my safety vest, walkie-talkie and class binder. Someone grabs the class turtle. Yes, we plan to rescue our turtle! We walk quickly to the blacktop and face the trees. I quickly count the children and then hold up my green binder as a sign that we're all here. Then, we wait. Sometimes, the drill is over quickly, and sometimes it takes a bit longer. When the drill is over, we about-face and return to class.

I hear a lot of questions:
"Ms. McKenzie was that a drill?"
"Is there a fire?"
"How come you didn't tell us there was a drill?"

I answer the questions the best that I can, and I talk about why we need to practice--it's important to know what to do in case we ever have a real emergency.

Yet...sometimes we don't have fire drills. 

Sometimes we have lock down drills.

These can be to prevent smoke and other airborne toxins from coming into our classroom. We lock our doors, close our blinds, and carefully place rugs in the gaps under our doors. Then, we wait, quietly going about business as usual. 

It's confusing. Why are we doing this?

We talk about it and we process. We come up with reasons why this is important. We laugh that we have to whisper, and sometimes we just sit close to each other and wait.

Other times, we practice for an active shooter. The kids don't know this, of course, but I do. 

During these drills, we lock our doors, close our blinds, push tables and chairs in front of our doors. 

Then, all 26 of us cram into two itty-bitty kindergarten bathrooms that smell like pee. I tell my students not to talk--these are 5, 6, and 7 year olds. Not talking while smashed together in a tiny space? Yeah right! 

I stand in front of them. There is nothing more powerful than a mama protecting her cubs, and for eight hours a day these are my cubs.

I am ready.

Then, we process. 
They are in Kindergarten. 
They don't need to know exactly why we are doing this.

My young charges understand that bad things happen, but they don't need to worry about this happening to them.

Every once in a while, a child will chime in and say, "My mom told me people shoot kids in schools."

My heart sinks. Yes, kids have been shot in schools. I'm wracking my brain about how to talk about this. I refuse to lie, but I'm not also willing to tell the truth. Ugh, I pull things out of my hat, like, "Remember how we practice for fires? Well we also need to make sure we know what to do if someone who doesn't belong on our campus tries to come to our class."

Did it tell them enough to answer their questions, but not enough to scare them?

I spend the rest of the work time watching them.

Is there anyone who seems emotional? Scared? Maybe needs a hug? Do I need to do another processing session to make sure that they are all OK? How can I make this better for them?

As a parent, I know you send your child every day to school, hoping they are safe and well cared for. I know you don't want to picture your child standing in a bathroom with 24 other students not making a sound. It's really a awful thing to have to do. But, we do it. We do it not because we think it's fun to scare kids and make them do uncomfortable things. 

We do it because knowing what to do gives them a fighting chance.
Because we know that if they are all together in one space we can better protect them.
Because, unfortunately, we have too.

Rest assured parents...when your child is practicing these drills that no one wants to have, in front of them stands a teacher. A teacher who will protect those kids like they are their own. A teacher who in his/her mind is thinking, "I dare you to try to come in here."

A teacher who cares.

I've heard some mumbling among my friends and fellow parents lately about concerns about these drills. Some have suggested space age type pods that keep children safe, jugs of rocks to throw at intruders, and so on. Please don't assume that we want to do this. Teachers aren't the enemy. Honestly I'm not really even sure what is. I just know that my job is to keep these kids safe and I'm going to do it in any way possible. If that helps you sleep even a tiny bit better at night, you're welcome.

How do you talk to your kids about these types of safety drills? Do other teachers have tips on how to address children's concerns? How do you ensure that everyone feels safe?

Stop saying "I don't care" to your children...

"I don't care..."

Three little words that can have huge impact if not used with intention.

A few years ago, I found myself saying "I don't care" in response to my son asking if he could play video games. I'm not sure why, but I stopped short and thought about that phrase and made a conscious decision to try not to use it again unless I truly don't care about something.

The fact is, I DO care about my son and I DO care about what he does and how he spends his time. What I meant when I told my son "I don't care" in answer to his request to play video games was, "I'm not concerned with whether or not you play video games right now; however, I am concerned with whether or not it brings you happiness, whether or not you are being responsible, whether or not you are safe and well."

Just as many of us--women in particular--have a tendency to say "I'm sorry" as a reflex to any number of things when we have no reason to apologize, many of us also say "I don't care" in a similar manner. 

By saying "I don't care" to your child, you are sending a bigger message than simply "I don't care if you spend time playing a video game right now" or "I don't care if you eat carrots instead of apple slices." 

You are sending a message that your child might internalize as meaning "I don't care about YOU." It may not be your intent, but often what we intend and what the person on the other end of the message hear are not the same. Like with many negative messages, saying "I don't care" too often and in a careless manner may unintentionally ingrain in your child the message that you truly don't care about them--that they have no value to you.

Our language has power and we have a responsibility to use that power carefully, particularly when it comes to our children. 

Instead of "I don't care" I've made an effort over the last few years to say things like:

• "Sure, you can play video games as long as you finished your chores for the day."
• "Yep, you can have the last cookie! I bet it will taste terrific!"
• "You want to stay up an extra 30 minutes? I suppose you can if you set your alarm clock properly for the morning."
• "You don't want bananas? What fruit would you like?"
• "You know what? I don't have an answer for that, but I love you a bunch!"

What phrases do you say regularly to your kids, spouse, partner, or friends without much thought that might actually be doing more harm than good? What might you say instead?

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10 things I got RIGHT as a mom

Let's face it, this whole mothering thing is HARD work! It's so easy to feel like we've made mistakes and messed up (as I wrote about HERE), but you know what?

For all the mistakes and regrets, there is so much more that we get right!

Although I never grew up wanting to be a mom--my life plan from a young age was to be a single, carefree, childless woman of the world, working in Emergency Medicine and to travel when not working--being a mom has turned out to be the BEST thing I have ever done. Truly the best. I wouldn't want to undo this aspect of my life for anything.

My son is my world.
My son is my life.
My son is simply wonderful.

It has been a a wonderful gift to be my son's parent, and I hope you feel the same about your own children. 

Here are 10 things I feel like I got RIGHT as a mom:

1.  I hugged him A LOT.
As noted in THIS post, I am committed to hugging my son with the single rule that I hold on until HE lets go. I started doing this about 15 years ago, when my son was three years old. These hugs fill us with a sense of connection, and I think the hugs fill my son with a sense of safety and belonging.

I actually still hug him a lot...even when he doesn't want me to do so.

My son may be 18 years old, but he still needs his mama and this mama still needs her son. I don't plan to stop hugging him anytime soon, and he seems to be OK with that most of the time, often coming up and giving me hugs for no real reason other than that he wants to. 

2.  I played with him a lot
After I left my son's dad and got us out of that toxic environment, I made it a point to play with my son as often as I could muster the time and energy. We might play together for only 10 minutes or a few hours, but the point wasn't how long we played together, but rather that I was fully in the moment with my son. I also made it a point that we spent that time playing whatever my son wanted to play. Some of our favorite activities together were (and, actually still are):

• building with Legos
• drawing
• having a doodle war (more on that in another post)
• kicking around a soccer ball
• taking a nature hike or river walk
• going for a bike ride
• reading together (especially Read-a-palooza style--read about it HERE)

I wish I could say I played with my son every single day--one of my regrets is that I didn't--but I did the best I could and I know I played with him and gave him my undivided attention a whole lot more than some other parents I have encountered.

My son still asks me to play with him, but now it is mostly video games. 

3.  I gave him adventure
Although some of our adventures were huge (moving cross-country TWICE), others were more modest but still adventurous compared to how many of our friends live their lives. We made regular outings to the local nature areas in our town, accessing them in many different areas to have multiple different experiences, and we toured a lot of different museums, landmarks, and other places of interest too. At one point, we took to letterboxing, an activity where you follow clues to find a hidden log book in which you leave a mark (usually an inked stamp mark). Letterboxing took us all over our city! You can google letterboxing, but I'll be sure to come back to it in a future post!

4.  I made him order for himself at restaurants
When I was a kid, I hated it when my dad made me place orders for myself, ask sales clerks questions I might have, and so on. I hated having to speak up for myself--I'm not just an introvert, but I also tend to be incredibly shy. 

My son is the same way.

I started making my son order for himself and ask questions at an incredibly early age. If you can't talk to someone just to order a meal, you are going to have a really hard time getting along in the world! My son is flying alone for the first time next week, and I know he'll be able to ask for help, if he needs it, because I laid the groundwork early.   

5.  I made him write thank you notes
Do you like to be acknowledged when you do something nice for someone else? Me too. My grandparents were HUGE on thank you notes and I started writing them as soon as I could write...as soon as I could hold a pencil and form letters. I started my son doing the same. Initially he required a lot of guidance, but now writes thank you notes entirely on his own--even for things he didn't want or doesn't like (see McKenzie's great post on teaching children about gratitude HERE).

6.  I prioritized reading and literacy over technology
As early as my son's first week of life, I began reading to him. I read everything from children's books to my college textbooks to my son. If it had words and was worth our time and energy, I read it to him. My son quickly picked up on reading himself and before long we were reading together. You can read a lot more about our reading experiences and tips and tricks to build a family of readers HERE.

Although my son had access to computers and technology at a young age, I made sure we read books every night at bedtime, had books all over the house (even in the bathroom) and in the car, and so on. We still both frequently take books with us when we leave the house. In fact, my son is traveling to New York City next week and every time we travel more than an hour from home, I buy a new book for each of us or check books out from the library.

Additionally, at my house if you claim to be bored, I am likely to hand you a pile of guess what???

BOOKS!

7.  Although I let him watch television from an early age, I implemented limits
As noted above, my son had access to technology early on. This included television. However, I did place limits on his television viewing. This included such things as no television during meals or snacks, limiting content that I deemed to mature, and strictly limiting violent content. Whenever possible, I encouraged reading instead of viewing. I believe this eventually helped my son to make better informed decisions about what was worth watching.

In fact, although I started talking to my son about ratings and such regarding video games, the practice of monitoring his television and movie viewing had a large part in his development of critical thinking skills, particularly in regard to media messages such as in commercials and other forms of advertising. Given the recent abundance of "false news" on Facebook and other social media, these early precautions have proven invaluable. Read more about teaching critical thinking with regard to media HERE.

8.  I was honest (but age appropriate) when he had questions about s-e-x.
At some point, all kids become curious about where they came from. That, of course, leads into conversations about sex... And, even if your kids don't necessarily have questions specifically about sex, they will hear about it at some point from their peers or from television or movies or the internet.

Your kids WILL be exposed to sex before they are ready...

Think about it--when was the last time you watched prime time television and didn't hear at least a vague reference to sex, if not an all out explicit mention or discussion about it? Commercials and advertising are filled with sexual content.

While you don't have to give your children the whole scoop on sex until they are older, it can be beneficial to make sure they understand some basics from a young age. In particular, they should know the basics of how their own body works and that mommies and daddies have different body parts.

My son's dad did a terrible job of talking to our son and gave him all kinds of misinformation. Thankfully, my son was savvy enough to figure that out and one day said to me, "Mom, I think daddy told me some things wrong about sex. Can you tell me the right stuff?"

A great way to start off any such conversation is to ask your child what they already know or think and go from there. I did just that and asked my son what his dad had told him. We went piece by piece through what his dad had said, and we talked about each item and the truth about each. I then went just a step further.

I believe in telling your child as much as they are comfortable with and then just a tiny bit more. You don't want to gross out or disgust your child, but you do want to make sure they are properly informed and not relying on media or friends for information.

And, above all, make sure your child has information to help keep him or herself safe when it comes to stranger danger, improper touching, and using protection if and/or when they have sex (hopefully not until they are 40 years old, right???). I also believe in talking to kids about the realities of sex and how it is a responsibility to be taken seriously--Personally, I told my son, "If you aren't ready to have and take care of a child on your own, you aren't ready to be having sex."

9.  I was OK with saying NO (a lot).
If you want to raise a spoiled brat that believes the world owes them everything and they shouldn't have to work or be responsible, that is your choice. However, I wanted to ensure that my son was able to be a responsible, functioning member of society, capable of taking care of himself. I believe saying NO plays a big role in that!

Your kids don't need every single toy they want. They don't need every cereal in the row at the grocery store. They don't need to go to every single movie, have every single video game, or to stay up late.

It's OK to say NO. And, to say NO a lot.

Your children rely on you to enforce limits and boundaries. It is part of how they form their views of the world and their place in it. Saying no to your child also helps them learn to deal with rejection which they will have a lot of when they get old--rejection from playmates, from love interests, from jobs, and so much more.

If you don't say no often enough, your children will turn out to be spoiled brats. 

10.  I got us OUT of an abusive situation.
The absolute most important thing I got right as a mom was to leave an abusive situation. My son's dad was, unfortunately, an abusive person. He was primarily verbally, mentally, and emotionally abusive, but he also had started to physical lash out at my son in the couple of months before I left. Thankfully, my son doesn't remember a lot of that and I got us out before the damage and abuse were worse. 

I am sure there are other things I got right as a mom, and many more that I will get right in the future. There are probably a whole lot of mistakes that I've made beyond the ones in THIS post, but overall, I think I'm doing a pretty good job as a parent.

What about you? What are you doing right as a parent? What advice would you give to other moms and dads or parents-to-be on how to do a good job of raising their children? Post a comment and let us know!

Want to ramp up your parenting mojo? If nothing else, read THIS book! I read it when my son was three years old, and it changed everything about our relationship: 

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What's the deal with shy kids?

Does anyone else have a really shy kiddo?

You may be surprised to hear that my spirited child is also my painfully shy child.

She's like night and day around people and then at home. Seriously, I've had people look at me like I'm crazy when I say that my little Delilah is my wild child. They just don't believe me, but trust me, my daughter sits there quiet and cute, hiding behind me as if she couldn't possibly disturb a fly.

What people don't see is that my daughter trashes my house, writes on my walls, climbs on the top of the fridge, squeezes toothpaste all over the bathroom mirror, and "helps" by spreading flour all over the floor.

Seriously.

In public, my daughter won't talk--at home she won't even talk if someone new to her visits. Like, she won't talk AT ALL most of the time when we are out. Even around people that she knows and loves, she takes a long time to warm up to them.

I was talking to Malea last night about my concerns for my daughter and how some adults have been really cruel in the way that they've interacted with Delilah.

You read that right....adults being cruel as they interact with a THREE YEAR OLD.

Give me a freaking break!

I've had people get offended that my daughter won't talk to them or they say I"m going to have to make her talk when she gets to school, and my favorite is when they just get louder and more obnoxious which ensures that she will definitely never speak again to anyone in public.

Thanks people.
Thanks adults who should know better.
Thanks people whose opinions don't count when it comes to my child.

First of all there is nothing wrong with my daughter.

She's cautious by nature, and I am glad. A long time ago, we were all cautious too. It's totally normal, but it seems like a lot of adults have forgotten that fact. Some kids grow out of it, some don't, and some just need to do grow and develop at their own pace.

You know what? That's totally ok.

The hard part for me, as her mom, is that she takes forever for Delilah to warm up to a new situation, so it takes a lot of time on my part to help her acclimate. I've had to get creative and I try to do what works for her (regardless of what other adults think about it)--some things have worked and some haven't.

As with most things in parenting, it's a lot of trial and error!

One of the things that has worked for us is for my daughter to "tell me a secret". She really does want to talk and interact, but she doesn't always feel comfortable speaking out loud, especially to adults. She will now whisper in my ear what she wants me to say or she will end it with, "Please don't tell them right now."

My daughter is so painfully shy that she often won't even speak to me in public other than in a whisper. However, I've found that once she whispers a couple of times, she tends to open up and speak out loud to everyone--except when someone says, "Whispering is rude" or "You can tell me too." Like most kids, she hears those statements, internalizes them, and then she aborts mission and shuts down.

Again, adults of the world, thanks a whole lot!

There are a few things that have helped my daughter get over her shyness--mostly they are situational.

We try to keep to a routine and to make it predictable. She loves her pre-school teacher (who doesn't?), but doesn't like for me to leave after drop off. She loves being held and is tiny enough to still pick her up and carry her around. So, at preschool, when we say goodbye, I pick her up, give her a squeeze, and hand her to her teacher. She then gets cuddles, gets to be held, and feels secure. This is especially helpful for when there is a new parent working in class or the routine has been altered for the day. My daughter is adaptable though--I have learned that, even if it isn't always apparent--she had a substitute teacher a couple of days this past month and was totally fine! She didn't ask me to hold her at goodbyes...maybe it was because she didn't know the sub, but regardless, it was a really big step for her!

I also try to keep my daughter informed of upcoming things and changes, but I don't give her too much notice. I've found that if I tell her too far in advance, she will just talk and worry about the upcoming changes or events, so I don't do that any more. It was miserable for her, and I just felt horrible leading up to the event. So now, the morning of or the night before (even the night before is too much notice most of the time), I tell her what to expect and lay out the plan of whatever it is we are doing. Then, when we are in the situation and I can see her start to withdraw, I can remind her of the plan and reiterate what she can expect. That seems to help a lot.

Finally, if I just could cart her brother with us everywhere we go, she would be absolutely fine! When he's around, she's completely comfortable and engaging and social. She follows her big brother's lead and has almost no need for a warm up period at all. He's her safe place, her buffer, and, thank goodness, he includes her without fail. They have the sweetest relationship and I've really never met siblings that are closer. However, that is a lot of responsibility to put on a 5 year old brother, and it's not realistic for us to be together all of the time anyway!

Malea, who has been-there-done-that with her son and even herself when it comes to shyness, gave me some good ideas on working on coping skills and some books to read with Delilah. I'm going to start experimenting and trying new things, but I often think my daughter's shyness is already getting much better only for us to have a huge regression (which we are in right now) and it then feel like we are starting all over again.

Hopefully, if you have a shy child yourself, some of the tips I use with Delilah may help you, and if not, maybe this post will remind you of some things that you shouldn't say to the parent of a shy child or the child themselves. Remember, kids can hear you, even if you aren't speaking directly to them or even if they aren't responding to you....just because they aren't actively engaging with you doesn't mean they aren't listening and paying attention to your cues.

In fact, some children who seem totally disengaged or aloof are actually paying even more attention to you, your words, and your behaviors than the child who is engaging with you. Some kids, like my Delilah, are gathering information and forming conclusions before responding.

What are some tips you have to help shy children develop coping skills? Do you have any experiences that you could share about how adults have reacted to your shy child? Please share, I'm desperate for ideas!

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Real Moms: Kids say the darndest things edition

Hopefully by now you've had a chance to read our first REAL moms interview where I had a chance to sit down and talk to my mama. It was fun and is leading into some really cool new adventures for Mom2MomEd as well!

Since my kids are into being in  the spotlight right now (Lord, help me!), I thought it would be fun to interview them about me and to see what they had to say. My daughter (3) has the world's best memory and my son (5) is articulate beyond his years, so I thought this would be easy enough, as long as it was age appropriate.

I'll let you see for yourself.....

1.What is my name?
Hank- Mama. Oh wait, McKenzie. I think?

2. How old am I?
Delilah- 35 or 48. Maybe 200, is that it? (I'm 36 so she was close!)

3. What do you like best about me?
Hank- Hugs. You give good hugs and snuggles.
Delilah- Hugs and snuggles and kisses. You're kind of like Ms. Storey's rats. (Um, ok...? I later realized that is the name of her preschool class's pet rats.)

4. When I was little, what did I want to be when I grew up?
Hank- A mommy. You wanted to have babies.

5. What is my job?
Delilah- To work. You are a printer company. You write a lot. You walk around writing "McKenzie" on everything. (Then she sighed and rolled her eyes.)

6. What do you think my perfect day is?
Hank- Work, write, be with us, play babies, and cook and clean. (Hmmmm, it looks like I have my perfect day every day!)

7. What is my favorite thing to do?
Delilah- Play with Hank and me and dress up babies.

8. What is something that makes me mad?
Hank- Not listening. Talking about poop and butts. When you are mad you yell and stomp your feet.

9. Tell me some words that make you think about me.
Hank & Delilah- I love you, smart, pretty, happy, silly, intelligent ("Intelligent" was from Hank and totally fits something he would say. He's always using words that are way beyond his years and then just throwing them in there like it's totally normal.)

10.  What makes me laugh?
Hank & Delilah- Silly words, making silly faces, playing silly games, and making noises.
{{Malea interjecting here: I totally have a fun game based on making silly words and noises! I'll share in a blog post soon!}}

11. Who is my best friend?
Hank & Delilah- Daddy and Gunnar and Hank and Delillah. Oh wait, Felix and the chickens. Maybe that is it?

12. What is my hobby?
Hank- Playing with us.
Delilah- Working on your printer company. (I have no idea where she got this because I do not have a printer company nor do I do anything related to that!)

13. What is my favorite animal and why?
Hank- Birds because they are pretty and are fun to watch. You like the different colors and sizes and you like them a lot because your mom never would let you get one so you always missed having a bird. So now, you get to do what you want, so you have chickens.

14. What is my favorite food?
Delilah- Rice, chicken soup, iced coffee, chicken, water, coffee, iced tea, and beard (beer). (It appears that I'm really into beverages?)

15. What do you want people to know about your mama?
Hank- I don't like answering questions. Please stop.
Delilah- Yea, me neither. I'm going to go be a princess with big boobs instead.

And....there you have it! Out of the mouths of babes.

I love doing activities like this with my kids because not only is it funny to hear their answers, but I also learn a little bit about myself. It also gives me a point of reference for what I need to address as a parent (note the boobs and beard)!

What would your kids say about you? I LOVE hearing things kids say.

My kids have done their fair share of embarassing me as well! One day, at the grocery store, with just my daughter in tow, I ran in to get one item. Of course, after picking up 15 items, I finally made it to the checkout stand. My arms were so full that items were starting to inch their way to the ground. I quickly grabbed the first thing I could and handed it to my daughter. It happened to be a single beer. She grabbed it and looked at me and said (in a very crowded store and line), "Ooh, mama don't hand that to me because I'll probably just stand here and drink it."

She's 3!!!

I'm sure that looked like I had earned the parent of the year award.

Just to clarify.....I don't drink very often or very much. When I, do it's usually well after the kids go to bed because nobody has time to just sit and drink with tiny terrors running around, right? 

I'm sure you also have some funny stories of things your kids have said. Please share, we'd love to read their answers to our questions or hear your stories!

Love this post? Check out more real moms and real kids in these posts:

• Real Moms: McKenzie interviews her mama
• How to use conversation starters with your children...using them with my sweet Delilah
• All about Mom2MomEd: McKenzie edition
• All about Mom2MomEd: Malea edition
• About Mom2MomEd in 15 questions