Overheard at our address

Someday it's going to be very quiet in the King household. I'm doing my best to make sure that time is a long time in the future but I am a realist and do know the day will inevitably come. Until then, I give you . . .

The 10 most common phrases heard in the King household:

10. "What's for supper?" This is my least favorite question in the whole wide world and will someday be the theme of a blog. For now, just know that the most typical answer is, "Go ask the last 5 people who asked me that question today."

9. "Seriously, Mom (or Jesse)?" Asked by Andrew, it can be addressed to any family member but since I am usually the one asking him to do something and since Jesse is the one usually doing something to embarrass him, our names are the most common.

8. "Not now, I'm eating my bon-bons and watching my soaps." While I don't believe I've ever eaten a bon-bon in my life and the house rule is no daytime TV watching, this is my passive aggressive method of telling my family that I am the only one in the house who doesn't have time for such frivolous activity so neither should they. It's not working.

7. "Get the camera!" Yes, we are a picture-taking family. We have scrapbooks coming out to wazoo but someday my children will thank me. Until then we'll just keep capturing those memories. My all-time favorite was the time Mariana was playing with baby Eden. Mariana lifted her into the air just as Eden did what babies do best after eating and she puked all over Mariana's face, neck and clothing. While Mariana was screaming, "Get a towel!" the rest of us were screaming, "Get the camera!" One look at Mariana's 2005 scrapbook will tell you who won.

6. "Have you practiced your fill-in-the-blank instrument yet today?" said at least 5 times a day, soon to be 6 times a day as HopeAnne will begin to play the viola this fall. It has paid off, however, so I'll just keep asking.

5. "You owe me a dollar." See June 4th's blog if you don't get it.

4. "Are you going to eat that?" A newcomer to the King family, this phrase quickly made up for lost time as the boys seem to need more and more nourishment at each meal. Anything is fair game at the end of every meal as the vultures take over my boys and they swoop down to devour whatever they can.

3. "You know what would be neat." Explained in May 21st's blog, this utterance is usually followed by John seeing my back as I turn and leave the room. After almost 19 years of marriage I am a fast learner and no longer make the mistake of sticking around to find out what he thinks will be "neat" (ie. dangerous, adventurous, illegal or embarrassing).

2. "We all have issues. Some of us more than others." This is used to remind ourselves that it's okay to make mistakes. It's also used to remind ourselves to be forgiving of the glaring issues we see in others.

1. " That would make a great blog." Variations include: "You should write that in your blog." and "You're not going to write about this in your blog are you?"