you are not chinese and other mutterings

Ryan has been fascinated by China for awhile. We have read books about China. We have recorded TV shows about China. We have answered quite a few questions about China. The other night we were walking and he declared that he was Chinese. Out of the blue. I am Chinese. Uh…no. There was no talking him out of the fact that China is not part of his heritage. He kept arguing and arguing and arguing to the point where I in exasperation stated, “You are NOT Chinese!” As soon as I uttered the words, I realized that my streak for yelling ridiculous statements in November continues…I have noticed that every once in awhile I have “yelled” something unusual at my kids. And by “yelling” I mean a hasty order with a slightly raised voice out of pure exasperation. I first noted this phenomenon with the following phrase:

“Take the baby’s shoes out of the fridge!”–Holly, November 21, 2007

Yep, that is pretty unexpected, but I think I topped that with this:

“Who threw the anvil?”–Holly, November 2, 2008

I might even dare to say that no one in the history of the world (outside of maybe an ACME cartoon character) has ever said those words. Why does Holly own an anvil? I don’t own an anvil. It is Ryan’s anvil. Why did Holly’s oldest son own an anvil at the ripe age of 7? He got it for Christmas a few Christmases ago. Oh. What? Yep, when Ryan was 5 he got an anvil for Christmas. He opened the gift and said, “Oh good! Just what I wanted!” It was true. The anvil topped Ryan’s Christmas list that year. He was really into breaking rocks into smaller pieces with a hammer. He was sure that if he broke enough stones he would find a diamond. When you use a hammer on stones, it is best to have an anvil. His anvil arrived from grandparents who also included protective eye wear. Overall it was his favorite gift. So back to the anvil flying through the air… Me: Who threw the anvil? Ryan: Uhhhh…it was an ACCIDENT! No one accidentally throws an anvil. I did. How? I was holding it above my head and my arms got tired. Alright. I think there is a new house rule that anvils stay on the ground. It just occurred to me that strange phrases yelled at my kids often result in even more absurd rules.