A Lesson Learned

Today, I learned a valuable lesson that parents of a 3-year old should NEVER EVER take their child with them when they go the store to buy a Step 2 Sand and Water Table. NEVER. Don't even entertain the thought. Particularly if you live in a northern state and it's only April.

My 3-year old now knows that the table is in the trunk of my car....all disassembled in it's 50 individual pieces inside its box still. He knows that 39 degrees does not feel cold to him, even though I vehemently argue with him that the Sand and Water Table is a SUMMER toy.

I spent an entire evening thinking of creative ways to reason with him that water + outdoor toys can't happen until it gets warmer. And by the time we went to bed, I was deluded into believing that I had won the battle.

So you can imagine my dashed hopes of a peaceful day when he hollered from the top of the stairs this morning, in a very groggy/sleepy voice that it's "warm outside". I just laughed and told him he was silly believing that I had dismissively extinguished the situation. How naive and innocent of me. I still failed to see the eminent imminence of the torrent that was about to spew as he tried to quietly argue that the 28 degree morning temperature was "warm" throughout our remaining morning ritual of getting ready for work and daycare.

As we headed to the door, I asked him to pull up the hood of his coat because it was cold outside. Big mistake! Upon walking outside, he realizes that it's NOT a blustery, biting blizzard outside, but a mere 28 degrees that does not really require the hood of his coat to be worn. By the time I advance to the car, he is sobbing for his play table with the biggest, fattest tears and saddest frown I have ever seen. In my entire life. Ever. In fact, I am quite sure that even the pilot of the single engine plane flying overhead was feeling vast degrees of sympathy for him.

I felt so bad for him that I lead him to the back of the car, and popped open the trunk to show him that his play table is still there, and will be waiting for him until the weather is warmer. Ohhhh, so not the right thing to do. Now the entire passenger and crew of the Boeing 747 flying miles over our city can hear his lament. But wait, it gets better. Now he has seen the big plastic beach pal and sand molds that I previously (and smartly) bought when he was at daycare and left in my trunk.

The episode ended only after I was made to promise that I would set up the Sand and Water Table in the 50 degree "warm" weather after work tonight. So if you are on a Boeing 747 flying over the great lakes region tonight and you hear some rabid cursing spewing from beneath, that would be just me trying to assemble this table...in the 50 degree 'warm' weather.

So heed my advice new and expecting parents. Leave the kid at home when you plan to buy outside play toys in the cooler weather -- unless, of course, you like to assemble things in 30, 40, or 50 degree weather and water to the situation.

Now, I wonder how he'll react when I tell him 'no water' for his table until it's at least 60 degrees -- sand only for now...

OLibya

I never had to contemplate before the challenges of explaining war to a young child. And with a husband who will be deploying next season, I guess I can't just change the subject or flip to the Nick Jr. channel to distract.

I still don't know what all the answers are when he points to the war guns on the news and asks if those are the bad guys. Quite honestly, I don't even know who the bad guys actually are anymore in these recent battles (don't get me started!). And this is a dilemma that an Army wife just has to figure out on her own when her 3-year old asks these questions.

But on the way to daycare this morning, NPR was updating the events in Libya and Aidan suddenly got excited, repeating "Alibia, alibia!". Since it was only two days ago that I was trying to get him to properly pronounce Nick Jr.'s pig cartoon "Olivia", I knew he thought the radio story was about Olivia the cartoon pig.

Hmmm...(insert day dream noise effects here)

This is the BBC Radio News Hour. Special forces just completed a successful peace operation over Libyan rebel strongholds. We've been told that Special Agent Olivia pirouetted from a chopper and stunned leaders with her dance of awe. All rebels, pilots, and allies were so impressed that they've promised to restore world peace as long as Olivia and her cat Edwin perform weekly entertainment.

Back to reality. In the meantime, I will just have to work on my toddler-explanations of what is going on in the world -- all while watching a Nick Jr. Olivia marathon.

Attn Eric Carle

Dear Mr. Carle: I have a new book for you to write:

Taco Bell, Taco Bell what do you see? I see a motorcycle looking at me.

Motorcycle, motorcycle what do you see? I see chicken nuggets looking at me.

Chicken nuggets, chicken nuggets what do you see? I see mommy looking at me.

Thank you. That is all.

Sincerely,

Aidan

Introducing the New Huff & Puff Air Gun

Although my hubby would probably argue that he is full of wit and humor, some of us might beg to differ. But some days, I wonder where our 3-year old gets his sense of humor from.

Probably like any 3 year old, Aidan loves reciting a few of the famous lines from the Three Little Pigs. The part where the wolf wants to get into the house. So we take turns being the wolf and pig. We'll have to repeat the lines over and over until I can think of something creative to distract him with.

Yesterday, Aidan took a creative approach to the wolf's role of huffing and puffing. He lugged his ball popper next to the chair I was sitting in and once again, started reciting the big bad wolf's line, and I followed with "not by the hair of my chinny chin chin". Then he armed himself with his ball popper as if it were a bazooka, aimed it at my hair, and turned it on. You can imagine his peals of laughter as he fired the air from the ball popper at me while he tried to recite through his giggles, "then, I'm gonna huff, and puff, and blow your house down". How did I end up with such a prankster for a child?

Maybe all the credit goes to Despicable Me, which we had just watched a day earlier, with all of their big, bulky, piranha guns, squid guns, and inflatable Vector guns. Now we have the big, bad Huff & Puff Forced Air gun. You should get one. It plays a silly tune that will make your youngster scream and giggle while it huffs and puffs your house down.

Toothpaste and Chocolate

During our morning rituals today, Aidan and I prepared to brush our teeth. He reached for my toothpaste. I stopped him and said "No, that's mommy's toothpaste. You wouldn't like that kind," as I lead him toward his Ben 10, bubble gum flavored toothpaste. He then asked, "It's chocolate?"

I'm still pondering on whether that little conversation makes a statement about his aversion to chocolate, or if it makes a bigger statement about my eating habits. I'm not sure which.

Boogers and Other Sleep Habits

It's been a revealing week for me...and it's only Wednesday! First, after being wakened around 1:00 am Tuesday morning to Aidan's screams and cries, I discovered that he has made quite a lot of leaps with his potty training progress. When I got to his room and asked what was wrong, he sniveled, "I have to go potty." Yessss! I'm so excited (lol). Only then did I think back to the last couple of weeks and realized that we really hadn't had any accidents during the day. And he has been dry most of the mornings, too. So maybe there is hope that we actually won't have to buy pull-ups and wet wipes some day!

The other revelation this week is that he has finally learned the habit of picking his nose. Not so much during the day, but during those last few waking moments as he struggles against the R.E.M. stage of sleep.

As I watched him fall asleep for the last two nights, I was filled with wonder at how someone who is half asleep can have such a busy finger probing around in his nasal cavity. What really got me curious last night was when just as his eye lids were getting too heavy and his eyes were just about rolling into the back of his head, his probing finger ejected from his nose and inserted right into his mouth. The last thing he did before succombing to the R.E.M. struggle was to swallow. Eeew. I never would have considered that he was about to do that...never.

But it made me ponder for a few minutes. Is the human habit of nose picking, along with EATING IT, such a primal instinct that a young child can perform the task unconsciously? Or is it just simply a learned behavior from classmates at preschool? Regardless of which it is, it is a very powerful force.

So as I get to wane away from pull-ups and wet wipes, I will now get to focus efforts on etiquette and tissues. May the force be with me.

A new tradition

With the countdown of remaining weeks heavy on my mind (until Kevin's deployment), I have informed Kevin's daughters that we are finally going to have Sunday dinners together--no excuses anymore.

So last night was our first Sunday dinner, and hopefully the beginning of a new tradition. It was nice to have everybody together around the table, without a big event like a birthday or holiday to distract us from spending quality time.

Aidan was a complete show off for his older sisters, and Kevin basked in the warmth of our family night together. I've learned that Aidan likes to impress people (people other than mom and dad) with his potty training skills. He walked into that bathroom and did his business like a seasoned veteran of the toilet, purely for the benefit of impressing his house guests. (And not for the benefit of mom and dad.) Hmmm.

Otherwise, the last few days have been uneventful. Mostly, we've been trying to get rid of cold and flu bugs between Aidan, Kevin and I. This is virus number 3 for me in the past 30 days. Off to go find some nasal decongestant.