Twenty-One Questions To Ask Your Kids
Holy moly.
I had a very rare breakdown into tears while packing lunches this evening. Pea Daddy asked why. Big mistake.
My response: “I’d say it’s getting up at 5:30 to workout, racing home to make sure everyone is dressed, gone potty, had breakfast and has their hair done, packing snacks for preschool, making Cracklin’ Cauliflower, packing lunches, taking Gigi to school, finishing the Quinoa Tabbouleh, picking Lulu up from school, baking Apple Cider Donuts, making Lulu lunch, playing Hangman with someone who can’t spell, making Peach Cobbler, coloring, reading stories while trying to make sure my cobbler doesn’t burn, making Lulu a snack, picking up Gigi, making Gigi a snack, packing Gigi’s lunch, making sure her homework is done and trying to get some semblance of a normal meal on the table for dinner. That’s all.”
He’s sorry he asked.
Tonight we all needed a little comic relief (or a horse tranquilizer), so I decided to ask the girls this list of questions I found via Pinterest (and originally from this blog).
1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Gigi: Please read to me.
Lulu: Go pee pee.
2. What makes Mommy happy?
Lulu: Us.
Gigi: Not peeing on the floor.
Me: Keep it clean, guys.
3. What makes Mommy sad?
Gigi: When we make big messes.
Lulu: When we pee pee on the floor. (You can see how much Lulu respects my authority.)
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Lulu: Make funny faces.
Gigi: Wacky Wednesday videos!
5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Gigi: You had two brothers.
Lulu: You had short hair and brown eyes (she says looking at my short hair and brown eyes).
6. How old is Mommy?
Gigi: 34. (I’m 33, verified via text message with Pea Daddy two weeks ago.)
Lulu: 68.
7. How tall is Mommy?
Gigi: 51 inches. (4 foot 3?)
Lulu: Stand up. You’re that tall.
8. What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do?
Gigi: Play with us.
Lulu: When we smile.
9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?
Lulu: Go shopping.
Gigi: Go shopping. Make lunch. Hang out with Lulu. Hang out with me.
Me: You’re not here!
Gigi: I’m invisible.
10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Lulu: The best cookbook.
Gigi: Being the best mommy in the world (hugging me).
11. What is Mommy really good at?
Lulu: Working on the computer.
Gigi: Being a friend (hugging me again).
12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Lulu: Walking on a tightrope.
Gigi: Making typos.
Me: I’m not good at making typos?
Gigi: Actually, you’re pretty good at that.
13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Lulu: Work on the book.
Gigi: Write books.
14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?
Gigi: Salad.
Lulu: Everything!
15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Lulu: Hoopa-looping.
Gigi: Jumproping up to 57.
16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Lulu: Linus, because I love Linus.
Gigi: Can we change the subject? (Touched a nerve there.)
17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Gigi: Read books.
Lulu: Sing “Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Where Ya At?! Where Ya At?!”
18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Lulu: Because we love each other (hugging me).
Gigi: We both have curly hair.
19. How are you and Mommy different?
Lulu: We’re not the same old.
Gigi: I’m in school, you’re not.
20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Gigi: Because you take me out to frozen yogurt.
Lulu: Because we live together.
21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?
Gigi: Starbucks.
Lulu: The grocery store.
You know where to find me.
That is absolutely precious. Laughing!
Laughing is SOOOO much better than crying. I need to come up with a second round for my next rough day.
Question 21 is my favorite, followed closely by the answer, “stand up. you’re that tall.”
She’s right. I am THAT tall exactly. Smartypants.
That’s my favorite too! Lulu is hIlarious.
This is Great
Awww, this is the most precious (and hilarious) twenty-one questions ever! Thanks for sharing. What a delightful post.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it
haha!! That is the cutest thing ever and put a much needed smile on my face!
Glad to do it!
Haha I Love Lulu’s answers. 20. How do you know mommy loves you? “Because we live together” had me chuckling.
I’m not sure what this says about her future romantic relationships… “I love you, let’s move in together!”
This was too adorable!! You have such wonderful girls!! Does Gigi not like cartoon characters?
I have no idea. She was totally stumped!
Oh, and I would have said “Lucy.” Bossy, know-it-all that I am
I did with with my daughter and son- I asked Makena what Mama is really bad at…. “making snow balls”. Well, we live in Africa, so yes darling, I am terrible at making snow balls. There is never any snow!
This was fun to do this morning before I took them to school… thanks for passing on the idea!
Well, if you ever come to Oregon (and we happen to have snow), I’ll teach you how to make a decent snowball
Sarah you and the girls are all kind of awesome. Question #8 is definitive proof that you are a spot-on kid-lovin mom. Hope these answers felt like a bit of a thank-you for your eternally long list of to-do’s.
-Ryan
Aww, thanks Ryan. Here come the tears again…
Not to discredit any of your posts in the past because I love them all. But this one however, is my most favorite. Simple honest answers that came right from their simple little hearts.
I liked all the hugs too. Sometimes you just need that extra validation as a mom, especially on those rough days.
“We’re not the same old” – heh! Thanks for several smiles.
Love this! I’m so excited to do this with my boys tomorrow
. And you are amazing Mama Pea! It’s OK to cry sometimes…or take Prozac. But seriously, you are such a blessing by your openness about all things mom. You’ve made such a difference in my family’s life, and I don’t even personally know you, so I can only imagine the impact you have on your beautiful family. Big hugs, and thanks for the laugh with the girl’s answers.
Thank you, Kellie. I hesitated to share that I was crying in lunchboxes, but I know we all have our moments and the mamas especially would get it. And then to be able to somehow have a few moments of silliness with the girls (and hugs) take it all away? Well that’s just the beauty of it all. Thanks again for the love.
do you work out somewhere other then your garage now?? “gym then rush home…” how was livefit?! we havent heard about that?! my friend and i are doing the program now. its going..ok:)
I do! I just joined a gym starting last week and am LOVING IT. So nice to do pullups on something other than my fireplace mantle. LiveFit was great. Really excellent results. Stick with it, and follow it to a T (meaning no cardio the first 4 weeks!). I’m starting over (and doing it with a gym) starting next week.
Aww, this is so awesome!
THAT’s awesome!! we did yoga with phase 1, which i think is considered cardio.. we are at the end of phase 2 but i think we are gonna go back to phase 2 for a few more weeks.. i really like the clean eating.. our little gym sucks too, and only has dumb bells and a few other things..
eventually i want to go through the whole thing again, its actually not that bad. (once you get used to the diet)
Good luck with your next round, and keep your head up! your an amazing momma!!
Thanks, girl! Hope you guys rock it!
I’m loving Lu’s silly face. I think it’s the universal silly face for kids.
Awesome and adorable! (And sshh, don’t tell anyone but the grocery store is my favorite place to go too…specifically the extremely cheap produce store we have here in Chi called Stanley’s
)
I kind of love Trader Joe’s. Seriously.
mommy’s favorite food….EVERYTHING!
She’s right!
Makes me miss you even more! Ballet just isn’t the same without you!
I know
And we haven’t started gymnastics yet either. After the book is wrapped. Or maybe I’ll come crawling back to Annie. 
LOVE this!!! I’ll have to do this with the kid, but I’m a bit scared what some of his answers may be…
And, I can’t even begin to imagine how busy things are right now for you, and I totally understand your little breakdown… We all are there sometimes… Hugs! But the girls’ answers so validate everything you do!
Yes! Thanks, Andrea. You should post the answers on your blog, would love to hear them!
This made me smile and laugh out loud. My favorite: #7.
You are just the greatest (and funniest) trio of girls:) you make me lough out loud everyday I swear don’t ever leave us! I love it- fav place the grocery store..you know where to find me. It’s Gold MP:) ps ill try and think of some awesome quotes but I had about 2 hours sleep last night so it’s pretty slim pickings at the moment…the wheels are turning regardless though;)
Oh this is so cute and I am totally going to do this with Skylar. I wonder what or how she’s going to answer some of the questions…what makes me mad for instance or how tall I am or what I was like as a child. This will be interesting!
Sorry about your breakdown and hellish day. I was thinking about you (and Ashley) all day today; knowing you were knee deep in…food. And photography and cooking and trying to hold it all together. Hang in there!
This is hilarious! I can’t wait to ask my 3 year old these
“Stand up. You’re that tall” Hahahah so hilarious! Your girls are very cute and funny!
I lovelovelove all of their answers!! So adorable
Your children are WAY to adorable. I am sorry to hear that you had a melt down, those days are tough and you do a tonne. I hope you treat yourself to the spa one of these days soon here.
I’d settle for a shower.
I suppose that makes sense.
I love Lulu’s frankness..
Hilarious!!!
I love the stuff kids say. i once told my mom at the tender age of 3 that it wasn’t my fault my room was a mess. I told her it was because I had too much crap.
I think she started censoring herself better after that. I kind of want to do this with my parents just to see what all of our answers are.
You were probably right. There’s a lot of crap around here…
Its the princess castle’s fault! Unless it has magically disappeared since Christmas.
Oh no, it’s in the playroom, taking up way too much space and not being played with at all. Good one, Pea D.
Very funny! I hope today is easier for you.
Sorry for the rough day, but kids certainly have a way of making things much funnier. I’m going to have to ask my niece and nephew these questions. The older two (8 and 5) should have some pretty good answers! I especially liked “stand up, you’re that tall.” Perfect! lol
Hehe, “I’m invisible.”
Oh this list is a great way to turn a frown upside down! So adorable. I need to find some children to interview, LOL. Bill Cosby is right, kids do say the darnedest things. hehe
You could ask mine. I bet they’d give totally different answers.
This is brilliant
You’ve just brightened my day so I sure hope it did the same for yours!
Also, they are looking so grown up all of a sudden! How? Gigi especially.
Sniff, sniff. I know!
Such honest and funny answers! Loved this post
Great way to start off my morning! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, Pea Daddy is probably sorry he asked and will not ask again! Haha! He should perhaps surprise you with a dinner night out ; )
So cute! If Anthony was still around this fun age, I would do this question thing with him, if I asked him to do this, he would look at me like I was the biggest goober ever, lol.
Happy Weekend! Tell Ashley hello! Im sure she is doing an awesome job on the photos!
hahahah LOVE their answers
sill laughing
This is absolutely the best remedy for a lousy day (well maybe this and a plate of that peach cobbler)
And I’m sure those first three answers are entirely based on the girls’ creative imaginations;)
oh my gosh, this is way too cute- LOVE their sweet answers!
Those are hilarious – I need to find some kids to ask those questions to. I guess it wouldn’t work the same though.
I love the “starbuck’s” answer – yeah baby!
I think I go maybe once every two months. I don’t know what she’s thinking.
What a cute idea! I’m going to pin this and save it for when I have kids. Hopefully Pinterest is still around then!
jumproping to 57 is a BIG deal…i don’t know when the last time was that i did that!
and meltdowns? yes, they are happening frequently now…poor Nate
That’s the think I keep saying to myself all week: Ashley gets to go home. Pea D has to put up with this 365 days a year!
These are so cute!! I love how innocent and hilarious their answers are. I hope this gave you the comic relief you were looking for!
It did indeed!
Great post! Need to remember this for when I’m having a bad day…tho…not sure their answers would be very nice in that case. Hmm.
This is so cute!
So so cute and funny. The girls that is. Not you having a mini-meltdown. I had one recently and I am not cooking a book’s worth of recipes and I only have two kittens–not children.
I know you will pull through. Such energy–I am envious. Maybe I do need to add protein powder to my smoothies. Can’t wait for more great recipes. Thanks!
Thanks, Dawn! I feel much more empowered today. But it’s only 6 a.m.
You look damn good for 68. Maybe you can reveal your skincare secrets in a future post. Or is that going to be in one of your upcoming typo-filled books?
Well played, Christine. Have you made Mmmm Sauce yet?
No, last night was Chickpeas and Dumplings. I’ve been trying to drop a few pounds and that dumpling was the most succulent thing I’ve eaten in two weeks.
I am making the pumpkin protein bars this weekend.
I’m making the Chickpeas & Dumplings for the book tomorrow!
hilarious!!!
I wish someone would be proud of my hoopa-looping! I’ve had a meltdown the past two mornings, by the way. There must be something in the air.
For the record, I couldn’t hula hoop if you had a gun to my head.
Well, I WAS tearing up at my desk because of the homeless pets page at my local shelter, but now I’m cracking up. Thanks, Gigi and Lulu.
Awww! Yes, let’s laugh instead!
“We’re not the same old.”
I love your children.
Lulu’s number 7 made me laugh
awww thats priceless!!! lulus answers were the best:)
Can i just say how excited i am for quinoa tabbouleh and apple cider donuts!!!!!!!
This is so adorable! I especially loved Gigi’s response to “What does mommy do when you’re not around?”. What a great way to turn around a stressful day.
This was ridiculously cute!
This is so sweet. Thanks for brightening my Friday!
Hope you manage to get some rest this weekend.
~Emily~
First off, your girls are too stinking cute! I absolutely love question 20!
What a great start to my Friday morning!
this just made my morning! so precious!
Ahahaha – I think #5 is perhaps my favorite Lulu response.
hahaha so cute! The last one makes me laugh.
awww this is so cute! i can’t wait for my daughter to start talking! although its so easy right now with all the pee being n her diaper and not the floor!
Enjoy that.
Oh their responses are hilarious. I think the age question is my favorite though. I love the kids can make you feel old and out of shape in a heart beat.
You look fantastic for 68 and being 51 inches
I was in the original Wizard of Oz.
This is adorable!! I think my favorite one is the how tall question! Both answers are priceless
This made me smile, they are so precious!! I may have the Peanut Butter Jelly Time song stuck in my head now, but it was still an awesome post.
That was adorable. It’s amazing how much you can tell the age and personality differences between the two girls just by reading the answers.
Yes, they are quite different
I think I am the only person going in this direction to respond to your post. To help you, hire a teenager or a pre-teen who can be trained for future babysitting to play with the girls when you are so busy. The person can also make snacks. Because you are there, you can get an idea of the level of responsibility, creativity in interacting with your girls, and resourcefulness of the ‘playmate.’ The rate of pay should be lower than a sitter would be if you were not present. You are also still with your girls, but you can focus more fully on all of the things that you must do. I did this a few times when my girls were the ages of yours.
I actually did this last summer, Valerie, thanks so much for the suggestion. Our friend Alyssa came over once a week for two hours. Unfortunately it’s not summer and babysitters who aren’t in school are hard to come by. I think things will slow down here soon and my sanity may return.
I’m so asking Ryan those questions when I get home, hilarious! Don’t know if it will work on Katie, I’d only get high pitched screeches which is how she’s communicating lately. Pretty sure I’m deaf in one ear. Hugs to the Peas.
This is absolutely hilarious. I wish I had kids just so that I could ask them these questions. And then give them back to whoever they belong to. Not my time to be having kids anytime soon…
“Not peeing on the floor”
hahah omg could they be any funnier!?
This post brought such a smile to my face! Your girls have great personalities (and they have the prettiest eyes, too)!
My favorite: “We’re not the same old”. Darling daughters!
Kids are so funny. Why do we have to grow up and start acting normal?!?
“playing Hangman with someone who can’t spell” HAHA. Gigi and Lulu’s hair is adorable!
Cute post Mama Pea!
I just made your falafel recipe and it was a huge success!! I substituted the nutritional yeast for chickpea flour and the tofu with extra chickpeas and it was delicious!! Thank you so much!
By the way, is your book filled with recipes that are not posted on the blog?
Hope you have a great weekend!
Both books are mostly new with a few popular favorites from the blog. Glad you guys loved the falafel!
what a great idea!! I wish my parents would have done that with us and saved the answers!
Gah, I can’t even imagine how you are functioning with all of that on your plate (literally). And I can’t wait until my little one is old enough to ask these questions to!
Thanks for the sympathy
Have a great weekend!
They are so cute with their answers! I especially like how Lulu describes how tall you are, “Stand up!” hehehe!!!
And 68? Oh Lulu…
Sorry about that rough evening! Two things to make you feel better:
1. Getting up at 5:30 to work out is no fun know that you always appear to be in awesome shape!
2. Cooking multiple recipes a day sounds stressful, but I recommend your book and blog to everyone I know who asks me about my veganism, and I’ll be doing the same with your second book! I’ve already made several chickpea taco converts.
Thank you, sweetie! We had chickpea tacos tonight and they WILL be in the next book!
I think your kids are adorable and their answers are absolutely perfect. Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait for your new book-I recommend your blog to friends who are leaning towards/trying out vegetarianism as a way for them to get even healthier and stick their toes closer towards veganism. So thanks for having great recipes and being a great way for people to try more plant-based food!
Thank you so much, Emily!
Your kids are too cute! I hope your day got better!
P.S. “Go pee pee!”
No kidding! I just asked three seconds ago.
Well you got lots of hugs. That is always a good thing. Puts things into perspective when they say what you do vs. what they are proud of….its the little things. Now go have a Starbucks.
Love this
This is absolutely hysterical
Thank you, I am so stealing this list for when my baby can talk in a few years. Allow yourself those freakouts, you are doing so much! Hang in there
This is so sweet!
I must visit your site too often. Today is my son’s 8th b-day and my family all went together to get him an inexpensive lap top. After playing on funbrain and nick jr. he asked if he could go to pages like I do. He asked if he could go to at Peas and Thank You! Right now he sitting by me reading Peas and Thank You. BTW we are giving his newly vegan teacher a copy of your book and heart cut out cookies from the book for Valentine’s Day. They are the best vegan cut out cookie ever!!
That is SO sweet. You just made my night. Thank you!
Your cookbook is so good.Ican’t wait for your new cookbook.That is my Mom up there.Today is my birthday.Iam 8.Iam a vegan.
Okay, this just made my night. Happy Birthday, Joseph!
Love this- SOOO CUTE! Your girls are adorable! I love the pictures and their braids! Asking my 4 year old these questions tomorrow…cant wait to hear the responses!
BTW, I have braid envy. Tried watching you tube to learn but CANNOT do a french braid for the life of me!
Aww, come on over and I’ll teach you!
Awwww- love it! Thank you- if we live nearby I might take you up on that offer!
ahahahah… Gigi is so sweet and Lulu is so sassy. Perfect combination. They remind me of the girls I nannied for 4 summers, loved this.
This was a fun post to read and your girls’ answers were hilarious! Gigi and Lulu gave us a good laugh!
Lulu looks like a little lady lately. It’s making me feel old.
Tell me about it!
Love in the form of frozen yogurt. Best mom ever!!!
Just finished asking my 4 yr old the list- we were both cracking up! I learned that I clean a lot & that she thinks Im 21!
I would own that!
I love this post especially after one of those days with the kids where the only way i could sit down and breath and have my one and only coffee for the day @ 5.30pm! was to take them too the local pool for a swim (it’s summer here in OZ). It was nice to hear that I was not the only one who has days like this! Thanks for sharing
I can’t wait to go over this list with master 9 and miss 5 tomorrow it will be very enlightening and quite funny I think, maybe I’ll do it first thing and have coffee at the same time!
Thanks again
Dawn
What a fun summer day! Quite jealous. Hope you have a lovely weekend.
So cute! You should ask them how to solve the economic crisis – I bet they’d have an answer!!
I have a feeling it would look a lot like communism.
so cuteee