Oh, brother

Life with my brothers Mel, Kendall & Jack:

Jack (while taking a shower): "Dad, you need to get another job."

My dad: "Why are you always talking about my job?"
Jack, after a thoughtful pause: "Maybe something in the fast-food business."

Ethan (a Hmong foster child of my parents), referring to a classmate: "He's brown like you, Jack."

Jack: "I'm kind of a blackish-brown. But I'm actually Black."

Kendall, rolling his eyes in disgust: "Duh! Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Ethan??"

The rest of us sit silently, pondering what this could mean...

Jack (overheard talking to Mel): "Yeah, mom and dad filled out that sheet and signed us both up for soccer. Good thing I threw the Math-a-thon sheet into the recycling."

The three boys are taking a shower together and animatedly talking about different action figures. My dad, wanting to capture this bonding moment, holds the camera over the top of the shower curtain and snaps a shot without looking...only later to find a photo of Kendall shaving his armpit.

Jack, motioning to a pregnant woman: "When is she going to burp that baby out already?"

Upon finding out that Jannika had lost her voice, Jack lights up and remarks to my mom, "I think Jannika maybe should have eaten some alphabet cereal." After further quiet contemplation, he suddenly proclaims, "Hey, grandma should have eaten Life cereal!"

Kendal, at 4am, suddenly wakes up the entire household with "Something's falling on me from the new roof the men are putting on!" Kids start crying, and Dad gets up only to discover mounds of crumbled white stuff all over Kendall's sheets and falling out of his pajamas. Further investigation uncovers that it's a half a bar of soap stuck to his belly from last night's shower...still clinging on after washing, rinsing, toweling, and getting dressed.

Yep. My little brothers. Don't be jealous.