Solarisms: You're not coming up until you give me a kiss...

It's amazing to me how family culture is born. And how much kids love repetition and will grab hold of any random moment and turn it into a family tradition. One day, a long time ago, I raced up the stairs and shut the gate before the kids could past. I demanded, "You're not coming up until you give me a kiss!" And it's now such a common thing around our house, that I can't even remember when a kiss wasn't expected as payment for opening the gate. Nowadays, it's Max and Ava demanding kisses to open the gate. Every time we come home, they race up the stairs and stand waiting, lips puckered. I have to admit it makes me smile...

Solarisms - Butt Chicken

So, I'm convinced that every family has their own little made up words. If this is not true, please let me continue to believe it anyway so that I feel better about myself :). This story is about the evolution of the phrase, "Butt chickens". This phrase has become a staple around the Solar household. I believe that the phrase was first coined by Max, when he repeated something that Josh or I said incorrectly. The original statement went something like, "If you don't eat your dinner, I'm gonna give you a butt kickin!" And then Max said, "A butt chicken?" And thus a new Solarism was born.

The interesting thing about the phrase 'butt chicken' is that it has many uses. For example, it can be used as, "Who's a butt chicken? Ava's a butt chicken!" It can also be used as, "I'm gonna give you a butt chicken!" And I'm pretty certain that sooner or later, it will become an adjective as well, as in, "look at all these butt chicken toys!".


Here are a couple of shots of my three favorite butt chickens...