Toddlers are fickle little beings let me tell you. They change their minds more than women are rumored to. It can drive a mom crazy. William is lately into negatives (as in "go away mommy" "don't touch me" "leave me alone" "let me go" "i don't like that", etc). The thing is, he changes his mind in a second.
Take this week:
1) Dinner - I make some beef and rice which he pushes away with a "i don't like it" and then proceeds to EAT the beef. Now keep in mind, he doesn't say "i don't like it" just once... he says it every few bites.
2) Music- My little music afficianado is developing definite tastes in music. And for 3 days straight he loved and bopped his head to that old (80's? 70's) song "You Dropped The Bomb On Me" and then on day 4 I hear a voice from the back seat yell "I DON'T LIKE THAT SONG MOMMY, TURN IT! PLAY MY SONG!" (Starry-Eyed Surprise in case you're curious). Ummm... hello, I thought he liked the song.
3) Getting ready to go in the morning - Trying to put his clothes and diaper on in the morning is like trying to wrestle an octopus. Suddenly he has more limbs than he should and they're all pushing at me. I'm greeted with "NO! Let me go! Go away mommy" and so forth. So I start to go away and am followed by the panicked scream, "NO, I COMING TOO!". Dude, make up your mind already.
There was one moment this week, however, that I loved his mind change. It was one of those first he insults me then he loves me moments that I'll never forget. I felt HORRIBLE on Monday night and desperately needed to just lay down when I got home from work. He was bugging me to play with him although Mike was telling him "no, mommy is sick, she needs to lay down". William continued to yank at my arm and say "play with me, mommy, come on!" Then as Mike put a blanket over me, William had a change of heart. All of a sudden my little boy takes the blanket, pulls it up to my chin, "tucks" me in, kisses my head and says "get comfy mommy" and walks away to find his dad. Just killed me. How cute was that?
The beginning of my foray into motherhood and a record of the love and torture a son can bring to a mother...
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Kiss It and Make It Better
So I have the sweetest little son ever, let me tell you. Seriously, I don't know how this little gentleman is in any way a blood relation of mine or my husbands as I don't know that I've ever heard either of us described as a sweet child.
You know how you tell a child you'll "kiss it and make it better?" Well, what's really even cuter than when they ask you to do this, is when they make the offer in return. I've been sick this week and being sick on top of pregnant again has not been a blast. Each day I've been asking my son if he'd kiss mommy's head to make it better (major sinus infection) and he so sweetly complies. Well, today I forgot to ask and dropped him off at daycare in a rush to get back home to sleep off this virus. Our routine is that he gives me a hug and a kiss, a "shove" out the door and then waves to me from the window. Today, as I'm walking back to my car I hear a shout from the babysitter's still open doorway as William is still standing in it while two other boys arrive.
I hear this, "mommy! come back! another kiss?" I can't resist his little face and go trudging back up the driveway and as I crouch down, he hugs me and says "i kiss it to make it better" and gives my head a kiss. Jesus! What this child does to me. He has no idea that just watching him sleep can reduce me to tears and this little act of love just sent me over. I drove home teary eyed and yes, feeling just a little bit better from the kiss.
You know how you tell a child you'll "kiss it and make it better?" Well, what's really even cuter than when they ask you to do this, is when they make the offer in return. I've been sick this week and being sick on top of pregnant again has not been a blast. Each day I've been asking my son if he'd kiss mommy's head to make it better (major sinus infection) and he so sweetly complies. Well, today I forgot to ask and dropped him off at daycare in a rush to get back home to sleep off this virus. Our routine is that he gives me a hug and a kiss, a "shove" out the door and then waves to me from the window. Today, as I'm walking back to my car I hear a shout from the babysitter's still open doorway as William is still standing in it while two other boys arrive.
I hear this, "mommy! come back! another kiss?" I can't resist his little face and go trudging back up the driveway and as I crouch down, he hugs me and says "i kiss it to make it better" and gives my head a kiss. Jesus! What this child does to me. He has no idea that just watching him sleep can reduce me to tears and this little act of love just sent me over. I drove home teary eyed and yes, feeling just a little bit better from the kiss.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
When Not To Laugh
Here's the thing about parenthood... there are times to laugh and times when it's better not too. Unfortunately, God has made children little comedians and it's incredibly hard not to laugh, even when you know that if you do, you'll only encourage an unwanted behavior.
Some fun examples from recent William history:
1) I took him out to lunch and while he's terrific out at restaurants, if he finishes eating way before you, it is best to have a toy on hand so that he doesn't become difficult. This day, I had not prepared for some reason. So upon announcing, "momma I all done! Please may I have get down?" (this is how he says may I please get down) I said, "no, you will wait until mom is finished." He then decided that it might be fun to try pouring his left over milk into my milk cup. Sensing danger (or at least a table full of milk), I said, "William, put your glass down and give mommy back her cup!" To which he replied, "ummmm... no thanks." It was the thanks that killed me. Here's my son, misbehaving, yet deciding to have manners while he does it! This is a new trend actually. I tell him to take a nap, stop hitting the dog, sit still in his seat, finish his food, take a timeout, etc and the most common response is "ummmm...no thanks." Like I'm offering him tea or something! I usually have to turn away and fake some kind of cough/hiccup/choking combination because his sincerity and politeness are just too funny for words. What freakin' kid says "no thanks" when their parent scolds them?
2) Okay, swearing is NOT funny, seriously... but sometimes words that are just horrid coming out of an adults mouth are just too incongruous from a toddler's to be anything but funny. Particularly, when you have no idea you've sworn until the little parrot at your side reminds you. Two weeks ago I was cleaning up William's play room, muttering to myself under my breath, exhausted from being pregnant and I said (and I swear it was under my breath), "this house is a f@!#ing mess". I hear the quietest little voice (as he's immitating my tone as well), say "yeah... house f@!#ing mess". Aaaaggggh! I panicked and then ran to the bathroom to keep from laughing. Thank god my "don't make a big deal of it" approach worked... he's never said it again. Whew! Crisis avoided.
3) My son is terrific at using utensils. Seriously. If you put chicken, rice and peas in a bowl and he only wants peas... he can fish them out. However, he often just does not want to use them, so he feigns incompetence. On night, Mike and I had made breakfast for dinner (it sounded good to my pregnant belly) and William wanted desperately to eat his scrambled eggs and strawberries with his hands. It seems like every second bite Mike and I were saying, "use your fork!". So at one point, I look over just in time to see him pick up his fork, pick up some egg with his hand and carefully work the egg onto the tines of the fork and then it eat it off the fork. He then caught me looking at him and the raised eyebrow/smirky/self-satisfied look he gave me which seemed to say ("what? i used the fork, right?") was so damn funny that Mike and I caught each others eye and broke into a cacophony of fake coughing and spluttering. It totally did not work... he knew we were laughing, laughed with us and then did it again. I pick my battles with him and for this one, I surrendered. It just wasn't worth it that night.
Some fun examples from recent William history:
1) I took him out to lunch and while he's terrific out at restaurants, if he finishes eating way before you, it is best to have a toy on hand so that he doesn't become difficult. This day, I had not prepared for some reason. So upon announcing, "momma I all done! Please may I have get down?" (this is how he says may I please get down) I said, "no, you will wait until mom is finished." He then decided that it might be fun to try pouring his left over milk into my milk cup. Sensing danger (or at least a table full of milk), I said, "William, put your glass down and give mommy back her cup!" To which he replied, "ummmm... no thanks." It was the thanks that killed me. Here's my son, misbehaving, yet deciding to have manners while he does it! This is a new trend actually. I tell him to take a nap, stop hitting the dog, sit still in his seat, finish his food, take a timeout, etc and the most common response is "ummmm...no thanks." Like I'm offering him tea or something! I usually have to turn away and fake some kind of cough/hiccup/choking combination because his sincerity and politeness are just too funny for words. What freakin' kid says "no thanks" when their parent scolds them?
2) Okay, swearing is NOT funny, seriously... but sometimes words that are just horrid coming out of an adults mouth are just too incongruous from a toddler's to be anything but funny. Particularly, when you have no idea you've sworn until the little parrot at your side reminds you. Two weeks ago I was cleaning up William's play room, muttering to myself under my breath, exhausted from being pregnant and I said (and I swear it was under my breath), "this house is a f@!#ing mess". I hear the quietest little voice (as he's immitating my tone as well), say "yeah... house f@!#ing mess". Aaaaggggh! I panicked and then ran to the bathroom to keep from laughing. Thank god my "don't make a big deal of it" approach worked... he's never said it again. Whew! Crisis avoided.
3) My son is terrific at using utensils. Seriously. If you put chicken, rice and peas in a bowl and he only wants peas... he can fish them out. However, he often just does not want to use them, so he feigns incompetence. On night, Mike and I had made breakfast for dinner (it sounded good to my pregnant belly) and William wanted desperately to eat his scrambled eggs and strawberries with his hands. It seems like every second bite Mike and I were saying, "use your fork!". So at one point, I look over just in time to see him pick up his fork, pick up some egg with his hand and carefully work the egg onto the tines of the fork and then it eat it off the fork. He then caught me looking at him and the raised eyebrow/smirky/self-satisfied look he gave me which seemed to say ("what? i used the fork, right?") was so damn funny that Mike and I caught each others eye and broke into a cacophony of fake coughing and spluttering. It totally did not work... he knew we were laughing, laughed with us and then did it again. I pick my battles with him and for this one, I surrendered. It just wasn't worth it that night.