Bad Words

My oldest two were thinking it was funny to say the words: poop and fart. My son even wrote 'poop' in his book. I was not happy about it at all. If you understood how much I love books; then you'd know how upsetting this vandalism was to me. We had to remind them repeatedly of the bad word rule. It took a while to get them to stop saying them, but not soon enough. SJ our 2-year-old started saying 'poop' and laughing. Then we kept hearing....

"Mommy, SJ said a bad word," VJ would yell.

"What word did she say?"

He replied, "I can't say it, but I'll spell it. P-O-O-P. You need to put her in the corner!"

"I'll decide the punishments, thank you very much."


We finally got her to stop. Today they had a dispute. SJ came into the living room grumbling. I asked her what was wrong. She went on to tell me about VJ not letting her play with his Legos, which is what he is suppose to say since she is too little to play with his Legos. She saw she was getting no where and then tried another tactic.

"He is saying bad words," she said.

"Oh no! What did he say?" I asked.

"He said, P-O-X! He needs to go to the corner."

I laughed. All I could think of was Jimmy Stewart in the movie 'It's a Wonderful Life' when he was walking with Donna Reed after the dance. When he quoted Shakespeare, "A pox upon me for a clumsy lout." I guess pox could be a bad word depending on how you used it.

Raking Leaves

We went outside today and we were out there for a long time. I decided to help my neighbor by raking some leaves out of his driveway. He has always been so kind and generous with his organic garden. I thought I would return the favor. My kids thought it would be fun to play in the pile. We both were working hard except they were working hard to undo my work. I tried to get some pictures of them playing in the leaves. As soon as I get the camera out, they decide to turn their backs on me and move around too much. If I had a better camera it might not have been so much work to get a good photo. I think I may only have one good picture. I realized adults and kids are really the same when a camera comes out. They either act really silly or don't want to be seen. Not fun for the one taking the picture.

A Bear and A Horse

What do you get when you have two hair ribbons, a stuffed bear and a stuffed horse? A pair of skates. I just love the ideas coming from my 4-year-old daughter.

Baby Names

I think my 4-year-old daughter is going to have interesting names for her children one day. Some of her toys have received the following names: Concentrate, Fisher Price, Mommy, Track, Maximus, Templeton, Boatserman, Boatman, and Forehead to name a few. I really hope this is a phase. I cringe at the idea of calling my future grandson a name like Forehead.

Help Not Wanted

My mother always said, "If you want to see how a child is treated at home....watch them at play." She is correct! I see when I am doing what is right and unfortunately see what I am doing wrong (the unfortunate thing is my bad example ). To my happy surprise, my 3 oldest were playing with their Lego building toys and my 22-month-old wanted to help my 4-year-old with her Lego creation. She said, "No, no, I don't need any help. Thank you for wanting to help me. I appreciate it, but I can do this by myself right now."

It's nice to see that I am capable of being a good example. I needed to see this today....it's one of those days when you question...."Am I really a good parent?" I am glad I was smart enough to stop and pay attention or else I would have missed this moment.

Future Hunters or Gun Smiths?

My oldest two fashioned guns out of their Legos.

My daughter says, "This is a gun to shoot turkeys. It shoots them into your mouth so you can eat them."

My son says, "This is a gun to shoot elephants; so, you can eat them."

Be Like Jesus

I was playing with the children and their bear. The bear was talking to them (my voice) and reading to them from The Friend. They really enjoyed it. The bear asked them what they have done to help their mommy without her asking them and then asked them what they could do to be more like Jesus.

I was wondering what they would suggest for me to do to be more like Jesus. My 4-year-old daughter said, "After I eat my dinner and ask for candy. Mommy should give me candy and be like Jesus." My son said, "Mommy should let us go outside and play on Sunday... (He paused and looked at me. I think I may have made a face, but I am not sure)...on Sunday Mommy should go to church." I laughed and asked him when I have not gone. He told me I do go to church. ??? I think he was remembering the time I stayed home after giving birth. I'm not sure. I am also not sure about Jesus giving candy to children....did they even have candy back then?

Smiting Ants?

My son came in and said, "Mommy, no ants smited me."

It reminded me of the time my daughter (Child2) was outside playing and an ant had bitten her. She said, "Mommy, Mommy, the ant bited me. Why did it do that? (she was crying hard) I did not bother it. Why? Why did you do that to me? I wasn't bothering you."

Toy Story

My children have some of the toys from Toy Story. My son keeps telling me how they come to life when he leaves the room. They (my oldest 2) whisper around the toys hoping to catch them off-guard and be alive.

My son put Woody's hat on Buzz one night because he said, "When they come to life Woody is going to look for his hat and Buzz is going to have it. He will say, 'Hey, that's not for you, silly Buzz'. That's why I am putting his hat on Buzz. I want him to say that." Then he laughed.

Tickle Foot

My son has become interested in tickling feet. He calls it 'tickle foot'. Today they were playing house. He was the daddy and his younger sister, Child2, was the mommy. He began to tickle foot her. She got angry.

"Stop tickle footing me!"

"Why? It's fun," he says.

"Daddies do not tickle foot mommies."

"Yes, they do."

"They do not," she says, "Have you seen Daddy do this to Mommy?"

"Yes," he replies, "I saw Daddy do this to Mommy. So, daddies do tickle foot mommies. I was right and you were wrong."

Cat

My oldest daughter was pretending to be a cat one day. What did she do? She licked the cat. Yes, it was gross and she learned her lesson. Unfortunately, her little sister saw her do it and now she keeps licking him. Apparently, she does not mind having cat hair in her mouth.


I wonder if one day they will be happy about my blog or be embarrassed by it. I'm guessing the teen versions of them will not like this post at all, but the mother version of my girls will appreciate it when their children repeat these things.

A Teasing Brother

I'm still baffled at the brother and sister relationship. My son will defend his sisters against our teasing and does not like it when we have to punish his sisters. He may not say anything, but his face says it all. Yet he does the following....

My husband overheard my son saying to my oldest daughter...."I have one car and you have zero cars and you don't even understand it." Dad thought this was funny. I must be honest and admit I did too, but I did not understand it either. I guess it's a boy vs. girl thing?

Last night, our 18-month-old was falling apart in her high chair. While eating pizza she got the sauce in her eyes. My son began to tease her, "You got sauce in your eyes!" She did not like to be teased at all and she let him know it by trying to get him with her red fingers while letting out a yell. Daddy came to the rescue and cleaned her up. This was definitely a "Calgon, take me away!" moment.

Brothers! I have five of my own and three of them enjoyed tormenting me (one still does). For them it's a part of playing (I guess?) to tease a younger or even older sister(s). My husband and his brother would tease their older sisters. I guess my girls should consider themselves blessed to have one brother who only teases them once in a while.

Toys....I Want It Now!

I wish I could understand why they do this to each other (any advice and help is more than welcomed and necessary), but there could be a toy sitting for hours without anyone giving it any mind. Then one child will see the other grab it and suddenly, she/he was playing with it or wants it.

I have heard it all....

"I need it!" (I wasn't aware that you would die if you did not get this toy. Maybe I need to call the doctor and set up an appointment. I am sure they can create or there is already a condition for this "illness." Uh! No!)

"I want it now!" (Really? I wouldn't have guessed by the way you are jumping up and down; then rolling on the floor in tears.)

"It's mine" (even though it community property)

"I was playing with it!" (mmm....how can you play with a toy that is feet away from you? My children must have Inspector Gadget arms that I am not aware of.)

"WAAAAAAAA! sisoghds, sgfdiosfds!" (Garbled words because they are having a fit and crying. This is my favorite response.-note sarcasm- If I attempt to find out or ask what they are saying I am only met by more anger, tears, and MANY more garbled words. Lovely!)

"I told her/him I was playing with it. Leave it alone!" (I've been in the same room with you all day and I never heard this conversation. My children must be telepathic.)

Oh, and the best one next to garbled words is when they just go and snatch it from each other. Then I have two crying children to deal with. Lovely, just lovely.

I wonder is this how Heavenly Father feels when we argue with each other? Well, he is perfect (I am FAR from it) and can handle anything we do. However, it would be funny to hear what he thinks in parenthesis and to see if he is a bit sarcastic when we are arguing/fighting/complaining/being unkind with each other. I think maybe sarcasm is not a good thing, therefore, not of God, but I bet he could come up with some funny remarks.

Buzz and His Bride

My 3-year-old daughter said, "Buzz is going to marry Emily (a jeep pretending to be Emily from Thomas the Tank Engine) in the Salt Lake Temple."

This was said to me during shower time and she was playing with these toys. She was also playing with a bowl and kept saying it was the baptismal font. "Do you see the 12 oxen under it, Mommy?"

I am not sure if this is a good thing for her to play or not because of the sacred nature of the Temple. This is my current conundrum. I wonder if it's a good thing since it is pointing her towards the Temple.

Car and Doll Conversation

Watching my 3-year-old daughter play with cars is entertaining....well, at least for me it can be. Last night she had a Little People doll, and two cars. They were having a conversation. Here is what I can remember: "See this car it is carrying cabbage, rice, lentils, chicken and a monkey." She named some more food items that I can't recall, but the monkey sort of stood out. I hope she does not think we can eat a monkey. I'll just think that the monkey is the driver coming home from the market.