Defining "Dull"

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship... Well, Humphrey Bogart said it better, of course, but that's a start anyway in this new world of blogging. So, welcome to the world of the Brannons. With three little girls, Evelynn (3.5), Caelan (2) and McKenna (7.5 months), there is hardly ever a dull moment. I had to look up the word dull to refresh my memory of its meaning. According to http://www.dictionary.com/ its various meanings are:


1. not sharp; blunt: a dull knife. While not the best descriptor of our family actions, Caelan has on occasion played with knives. This only because the sky really is no limit for her and apparently neither is my countertop.




2. causing boredom; tedious; uninteresting: a dull sermon. The only times that feel like I'm causing boredom or giving a dull sermon is when both Evelynn and Caelan are looking at me with blank stares when I ask them to do something.


3. not lively or spirited; listless. Uh... if you've met my children this is very rarely the case.


4. not bright, intense, or clear; dim: a dull day; a dull sound. My children have their moments, as do we all. Like Evelynn asking me what color is Clifford the Big Red Dog... or Caelan telling me something that I have no clue what she's saying. In these moments, I refer to the wise words of Marlin (yes, from Finding Nemo) "It's like he's trying to speak to me, I know it," and "Look, you're really cute, but I can't understand what you're saying. Say the first thing again."




5. having very little depth of color; lacking in richness or intensity of color. Nope, don't remember instances like this at all.


6. slow in motion or action; not brisk; sluggish: a dull day in the stock market. Hahaha. I did mention three children under the age of four, correct? Evelynn is mobile. She walks, runs, dances, and bounces. Caelan is mobile. She walks, runs, bounces, climbs, flies, falls, and runs into doors.  McKenna is trying to be, but in the back of my mind I sometimes get a small twinge of wanting to "accidently" (of course) bump her so she will be immobile just a little while longer. Not that I would... it's just a thought...


7. mentally slow; lacking brightness of mind; somewhat stupid; obtuse. None of them, of course... Caelan thinks with amazing speed. Hmmm. But then she usually doesn't think the whole thing through which is why I have had to "save" her from many of her ideas.


And there were a couple more, but I think you get the gist that dull is really not part of our daily vocabulary.