Comic relief

Years ago before I had children, a good friend of mine, an editor at the Pioneer Press, said to me, "You have children for comic relief."

We had one of those moments tonight. I'd just gotten a call from my friend David Jones telling us about the big snowstorm back East. We talked about it at dinner, which led to a conversation about Rachel learning to ice skate and ski this winter and play in the snow.

"You can ice skate but not ski," she said to Drew.
"Other way around," he said. "I can ski but not ice skate."
"Why?" Rachel asked.
"I'm clumsy," he answered. Then he added, "No, I'm awkward."
Without skipping a beat, Rachel replied, "No, you got it right. You're clumsy."

As we hooted with laughter -- me slapping the table over and over again because I couldn't stop -- she added, "You were right the first time. You're big and clumsy."

***

Drew sang a little of "In the Mood" to Rachel yesterday. She has already decided she doesn't like "Paper Moon," which is a shame, because Drew and I love it. Here's her assessment of both songs:

"I like 'In the Mood' because it's cheerful. I don't like 'Paper Moon' because it's boring, but if I hear 'In the Mood' when I'm sad, it would cheer me up."

***

Comment of the evening:

"We're parking goddesses, right, Mommy?"

You better believe it, kid.