Monday, July 21, 2008

Interviewing children is like herding cats

We are home. There is no longer a beach view from the kitchen. There is no more pajama swimming. Or feeding frenzies. I have reality. Which includes unpacking. An empty fridge. And a consignment sale to get ready for. So, I thought I'd blog.

Before we went on vacation, my friend Rhea over at Texas Word Tangle came up with a million and one ideas for me to blog about. Because I am always trying to figure out what to blog about. So...Rhea, thank you very much. This ENTIRE week of random drivel is dedicated to you! AND...at the end of the week...there will be a fabulous contest and give away.

One of the things that Rhea does so well is to interview her children. I tried to copy her a few months ago. But my children are rather uncooperative. Until Katie actually read one of Rhea's interviews...and then she wanted to do it.

So...Rhea came up with these questions for my girls. And she was thinking about them while drifting off to sleep. Just like any good blog stalker would.

So...we are sitting here at the kitchen table. I have my computer open in front of me...and I tell the girls that I am going to interview them for my blog. And then I am assaulted with questions: "Are you going to go in the computer and pretend your are Oprah?" "Are you going to do this at the same time?" "Can my color be blue?" "Are you going to start?" "I don't like pickles!"

See...you can tell that Katie has read Rhea's blog. And she knows that everyone is assigned a color. Katie will be blue. Madalyn will be purple. And my editorial comments will be black.

What's your favorite movie?
Probably either High School Musical or Iron Man. Or wait. Get Smart.
Hmmm...either Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea. Or Get Smart. (So then Katie brings to her attention that she went to the bathroom 37 times during the movie because she was scared. Madalyn says she liked some of it. And just so you know, this is *not* a scary movie. Anything with guns makes her scared. She kept asking me if he was going to die. And I kept repeating "this is a *funny* movie.)

Hey chief - is it Katie's turn for a question? (Since when am I chief? I have lost control of this interview already!)

What's your favorite outfit or item of clothing in your closet?
Do you mean shirt? Or favorite? Let me repeat the question: What is your favorite outfit or item of clothing in your closet? Okay. Ummm. Can I go and look in my closet? I have a big closet. I am going to the closet right now.

It's time for a short intermission. Let's whistle along with Monty Python..."always look on the bright side of life..."

I like everything except that orangy outfit you got me. Or that cherry shirt. It's horribly ugly. If I have to choose one: the cute green tank top or my new Alamo shirt.

I love the dessert we had yesterday. Can we eat that every day?
Umm...
Hey are you going to ask me yet? Mine is my Dolphin shirt we got on the cruise.

If you could dye your hair any color, what would you choose?

Can you ask me first? I would dye my hair green. Why? I don't know. It's a good color. (Not sure why she needed to answer first. But there you go.)
I don't like all the streaks of blonde in my hair so I'd dye them blue. Why? (Oh...and please insert sassy "duh" type response to) Cause blue is my favorite color. (I wonder if she knows that lots of women pay big bucks to have those streaks of blonde put into their hair?)

Katie, can you go a whole day without saying ummm? I don't think anybody can.

What's your favorite thing to do with your mom? (Katie gives me a look like I've just told her I burned all her high school musical shirts. She ponders. And keeps giving me glances.)
Going to the movies. (See - she's not traumatized by me "forcing" her to watch "Get Smart!")
Ummm. Just talking with you. I guess. (Ahhh...I'm feelin' the love)

What's your favorite thing to do with your dad?

"Thinking. Thinking. Thinking." Going to the park.

Ummm...

"Eat or be eaten"

And now...they realize that I have actually written down all the randomness that is Madalyn. And they are in hysterics. I wonder if I will ever get them back under control.

What's your favorite thing to do with your grandmother?

Going shopping. Helping her pick out perfume.

Just talking. I enjoy talking. (shocker!)

If a boy you liked gave you a gift, which gift would you like to receive from him?

A. a stuffed animal

B. a beaded bracelet

C. a mix CD he made himself for you

I'd like a CD. What kind of music would it be? Music that I like. (time to insert your own sarcasm. Do you think the boy will intuitively know what kind of music she likes?)

A stuffed animal. Or Hulk hands. Okay. Why? Cause I wanna punch people. (She watches way too much tv. And infomercials. Madalyn even wrote down the phone number to order Mighty Putty if anyone needs it. Now she's getting punchy. No hope anymore...)

If you saw an alien swimming in the pool tomorrow morning when you woke up, what would do? or say to it?

I'd scream and run. (I got a demonstration, by the way. I think it'll take a few days for my ears to recover.) I'd punch it with my hulk hands.

If I handed you a $100 dollar bill and told you to go spend it however you wanted, what would you spend it on?

I'd buy a toilet. (Peals of laughter.) Another giant fist. Is there such thing as a boyfriend store? (See, Rhea...this is why the interviews don't work!) I'm going to channel my logical self...and put it in the bank. Oh...wait...how much does a wii cost?

So...again...thank you very much to Rhea for her fantabulous questions. And I apologize for the interviewees.

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23 comments:

Unknown said...

That is just too hysterical !! i'm giggling my head off here.

You wouldn't mind if I seal the questons? I want to interview Taylor and Sacha, my granddaughter.

Might even interview The Teenager as well!

I'll link to your post..

Unknown said...

Oh dear... my spelling is way off. But you get the gist !

Kelly said...

So funny!! I've had talks like this...I wish I had thought to write it down...may be in the future

Rhea said...

hehehe I loved their answers...and randomness sprinkled in!

You did a great job interviewing, and I'm so excited they answered! Woohoo!!

This was fun!

Rhea said...

BTW, hilarious music selection!!

Apple Joos said...

I don't even want to know how this would go down with my two hooligans. Every other answer from them would be "Chicken butt".

KimmyDarling said...

Hilarious! Please tell Madalyn that I now want some Hulk Hands. Never seen them before, but I trust her judgment that they're Way Cool. Sounds like I need some. And I wish Katie could teach me how to Channel My Own Personal Logical Self... maybe at the Laser Show, she could give me a lesson? ;) kim

GBK Gwyneth said...

Sounds like a laugh a minute at your house!

My girls aren't quite so silly. Camille's overly logical and Chloe is overly inquisitive. More frustrating than funny. I like your funny.

Gramma 2 Many said...

What a cute interview. It is so great to see what they are really thinking, isn't it?
BTW, I answered your Otter Pop question over on It's my Crazy Live.
I think the only difference is you probably have a Sams Club instead of Costco.

Anonymous said...

'm goin right awy to interview my kids. I'll tell ou how it goes.

The Joye of Teaching said...

Fun stuff! I like the interviews. Hulk Hands do look like fun. My husband really wants some too. hahaha

Trish said...

Too funny!

I have been thinking about interviewing my boys.........I'll have to do them together.

I did an otter pop post just for you!! go check it out.

welcome back to reality.

Jennifer P. said...

I want to be one of your daughters! YOu need a 33 year old daughter, right? It sounds like there's a lot of laughing going on there and I want to be a part of it!---and also go on vacation with you....

:) Welcome Home!

Anonymous said...

really adorable. Ask the same questions in 6 months or whatever random time you remember to ask the same questions. That should be fun too.

Debbie said...

Hey I was going to do a post about herding cats this week...as in taking care of 22 5 year olds last week at VBS. Oh well.

This post was HUH-Larious...The image I have in my head of your girls sitting there as you type, the eye rolling, your commentary...all of it has me cracking up!

Angie's Spot said...

That interview was spectacular! Now I know what to expect in another 5 years from my girls. :-)

Swirl Girl said...

This is a riot!
I am going to try it with my 2 girls tomorrow. Thanks for the idea and the blog topic steal!

Rhea said...

BTW, thank you so much for dedicating a whole week to me!! How exciting!

The boots picture is just a random picture I found online. I'm going to write on it soon...if you click on it, it takes you to my awards' page. Nothing special about it though, the boots picture, I mean. I just liked it.

Lula! said...

Blogger totally ate my witty and inspiring comment from yesterday. I'm too lazy to repeat or even attempt to recollect what I'd originally written.

So...
Your girls rock. I love 'em.

The End.

Acrimony said...

HA! Love it! I'm totally stealing this and having my boys do it... AND I'm going to keep the "which gift would you like to receive" question exactly the same. ;)

Jacki McHale said...

Oh god that was funny! I haven't seen how old your girls are... I might poke around... I loved it. Hope you do another again soon!

Jacki

Britt said...

So glad you linked this today .. I loved it! I consider it a massive success .. then again, I am very random myself. So I followed along quite easily :o)

Rachel Ann said...

Ok...I stopped in the middle of the other interview to read this...perfecto! That was hilarious...now I'm off to read interview #2