Never A Dull Moment

My three youngest kids are so very different in many ways but they have a few things in common. One of the things I have noticed over and over lately is that they all three know a lot about nothing. I am not saying they do not know much. They know so much! But, a lot of the things they know about are things that are not important to anyone but them.

Tate loves movies. He even loves watching the credits and he memorizes the names of the actors and voices in many of his favorite movies. If he gets started talking about a movie he likes, he will not be finished with his commentary until he has told you what year the movie was released, who the main characters are, who did the voices for any of the animated characters, and what the storyline was. If there is a soundtrack to the movie then he will tell you the names of the songs and who sang them. Why can’t he do that with information that he needs? Why can’t he memorize facts about things that are REALLY important? Why?

Tate is not the only one that has an aptitude for remembering worthless information and disregarding the stuff that really matters. It never ceases to amaze me how many bits of useless trivia Levi can spout in a day! Last week I remember him telling me that $20 worth of dimes, quarters, or half-dollars would all weigh one pound. Google it. I did. It’s true. But, why does he know this? Did you know lightening is five times hotter than the surface of the sun? Or, when bombs were dropped on Germany during WW2 some of them caused tornadoes of fire? And, this is outrageous: there is a fungus in the Amazon that releases spores that attach themselves to ants. The spores control the ants and they become like zombies. The ant host climbs as high as it can and then the spores are released from the ant’s exploding head to attach to more ants on the rainforest floor below. Wild I know, but true. Yesterday, in the pool I learned from Levi that a person’s neck is exactly half the size of their waist. Today he told me that only about two percent of the water on earth is fresh water and the rest is salt water. I have checked all these trivialities and he was spot-on for everything he told me. Now here is one I could not confirm: Did you know Ninjas only engage in hand-to-hand combat as a last resort?

Unfortunately, Sydney’s trivial “facts” are not nearly as accurate as Levi’s, or even Tate’s. I believe her rule of thumb is “I make it up as I go along.” In addition, Sydney seems to believe that saying something out loud will make it true. If she doesn’t know something she just improvises. Today she told me that a spider is not dangerous unless it has bumps on it. I believe her exact words were, “If you see a spider with bumps, it is dangerous; but a spider with bubbly bumps could carry you off.”

Sometimes Sydney’s outlandish stories are almost believable when she is giving the specifics. Her imagination is tremendous! She often fools people, myself included. Sydney frequently refers to her imaginary horses or dogs and tells us details about them. Occasionally my husband will exclaim, “She did it again. She convinced me to look toward the pasture to see the horse she was telling me about.” A few days ago Sydney was waiting at the front door for the arrival of imaginary guests from California. When she finally hollered, “They’re here!” I found myself almost come out of my seat so I could go and greet her friends.  She has a gift. With this talent I wonder why she cannot remember the things we need her to as well.

If you’ve ever heard the expression, “Never a dull moment” I think it describes my life to a t. These three keep my life interesting. I cannot say I wouldn’t want it any other way exactly because I would so love to be able to take the disabilities away from Tate and Sydney. However, I can say that I love my life and I enjoy my kids, quirks, chaos, and all.

If you like this post, you might also like this one: Scripting Sponge Bob 

We have a website now! We are at www.quirksandchaos.com Or you can find us on Facebook at Quirks and Chaos. Like what you read? Want to become a follower? Click on the Google Friend Following gadget on this blog. It's over on the right side and asks you to subscribe. Or you can add the URL (the web address in your search bar) to your Reading List. You can do that by clicking the plus sign in front of the URL. Thanks!