Undoing

For a few months, Sweetie (7) has been wanting to learn how to do a cartwheel. She tries, but it ain't happenin'. Today she told me:

"Somebody taught me how do a cartwheel. But then somebody taught me un how do it, backwards."

???

Ocupado

>>KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK<<

The PT: Abba.

Abba: ...

The PT: Abba.

Abba: What.

The PT: Abba, are you in the baffroom?

Abba: Yes. Go away.

The PT: Abba. What are you doing in there.

Abba: I'm busy. Go away.

The PT: Abba.

Abba: WHAT??

The PT: Er, what kind of sticker do you want.

Abba: I don't want a sticker. Go away.

The PT: You have to pick one. Which one do you want?

Abba: Can we discuss this in a little while?

The PT: Abba. I'm sliding the stickers under the door. Here they are. Do you see them? Which one do you want?

Abba: I really don't need a sticker right now.

The PT: NOOO! WHICH ONE???

Abba: Uh...I'll take the Menorah one.

The PT: OK. So peel it off and put it on your shirt.

Abba: Uh....OK. NOW GO AWAY.

The PT: Abba.

Abba:

The PT: ABBA.

Abba: WHHHHHHAAAATTTTT?????

The PT: You sure are taking a long time in there.

KJ's First Hero (Prot)

For some odd reason KJ, three almost four years old, wanted to watch K-Pax and I told him, that's not a cartoon, you probably won't like it. He was determined to watch it so I put it in and he watched the whole thing almost. Now when we go places, he wants to wear his sunglasses, "like K-pax" he says. Even in the dark, he'll be sitting in the back seat wearing his sunglasses. His first hero isn't Spiderman or Superman, it's Prot from K-Pax. Go figure.

First Haircut

Oh boy.

My sister-in-law was watching my niece and nephew last week, when she got tired and fell asleep. (Everybody say "Uh-oh...") Ben (4) and Hen (2) decided this was a great time to play. So what did they play?

BARBER.

Now, let's give a little background. Henna Bayla's hair just started growing in. As SIL put it, they loved the way it looked when she'd wake up - like one of those little troll dolls. It was finally long enough to make little ponytails and the like, and she looked really cute, even if her hair was a little nutty-looking.

So, when Ben decided to take a pair of arts and crafts scissors to his little sister's hair, the outcome was... actually, not too bad. He cut it short - really short, about as short as his. They saved all the hair on the side, and SIL's sister evened it out a drop that night and it actually looks pretty nice and perfectly normal. She just has short hair now.

Thankfully, nothing bad happened in this escapade, and they have a wonderful memento for the future:

Henna Bayla's first haircut
by Binyamin 11/14/06

Sharing dreams

Sweetie (7) shares upon getting up in the morning:

- I hadda dream 'bout snow!
- Cool! I'd like to have a dream about snow. Can you give me your dream?
- Sure, you can have it.
- How are you gonna give it to me?
- <ponders> You can just look at this bottle.
- <looks intently at bottle> I don't think it's working.

(Of course, if she were PT's daughter, she'd already know about mind melds and all that.)

A public reading

Cross-posted at May Cuties.

In a word

Ada (2) was playing with a baby doll in a play stroller. Suddenly, she leaned over the baby, sniffed, and said, "Eeeew!" She whisked the doll out of the stroller, marched her over to the bed, and proceeded to "wipe" the doll's bottom, all the while muttering, "Eeew. Uch. Ichy." (Of course, she peeked up at me with a mischievous smile playing at her lips to make sure I was enjoying her show :))

Chocolate Chip Cookie

We had a couple of friends for Shabbos this week, and one told this great story...

She works in a special-ed school near the UN with young kids. They often walk to a park nearby to play, and on the way, they pass the UN buildings. There are usually protests of some sort taking place, and one of her students was asking her all about it - what do the signs say, etc. The student - I want to say he was about 5? - asked who the protesters were, and she noticed that one of the signs said Taiwan, so she answered him, "They're from Taiwan." He looked up at her and said, "Wow Ms. -----, you are one smart chocolate chip cookie!!"

Another Reason Not to Watch the News with the Kids...

A Washington bus driver was fired for "flipping the bird" at Bush.

Iguana (age 10): What happened??

PT (age 40): They fired this bus driver for...uh...being rude to the President.

Iguana: Huh? What did she do?

PT: Uh..you know...she made a rude gesture...

Iguana: She threw a bird at him? That makes NO sense.

Crunch Crunch

My niece Henna Baila (2) receives speech therapy. As part of the speech therapy, they teach her to eat certain ways or methods so she learns how to use her jaw properly. (Or something like that.) Apparently, the different techniques have been working quite well, and Henna Baila is enjoying them. [Interestingly, this has helped with Ben (4) as well.]

Anyways... when SIL was giving her some good, soft chulent this past Shabbos, she didn't realize that Henna Baila still had some in her mouth. Henna Baila cried out, "Nooo! I'm not done with 'Crunch Crunch!'"

The taste of blood

<Sweetie (7) was playing with Daddy's blood sugar meter. We let her prick herself in hopes that she'll be less scared of needles at the doctor.>

- Ooh, I licked the blood!
- Ohh-kay. Does it taste good?
- Yeah. If you take a drink it'll taste even better!
- Hmmm, does that mean it doesn't taste so good, really?

When South Park visits Sesame Street

So tell me, do we encourage our kids to try to count their numbers, even if what they are counting is absolutely disgusting?

I am not one for potty humor, but if I was in the public restroom overhearing the conversation of my son, I would be laughing very hard.

A few years ago, my girlfriend taught my daughter, who was 4 years old back then, the terms "number one" and "number two", but she didn't quite grasp the concept and thought it was literal. Whenever she would go to the bathroom, she would always give me a report on the "number" when she was finished.

Somehow, this misinformation was passed down to my 4 year old son and whenever we take him to the bathroom, especially, of course, in a public restroom, he will start to count, and count, and count (he has a great digestive system.)

I played along with him because, unlike his sister at his age, my son's counting skills are still quite immature, so what a great opportunity for him to practice and listen to him count.

I just can imagine the expressions on the other women in the restrooms - probably everything from giggling to annoyance to have to hear this little voice counting his poop.

Oh the joys of childhood and the rewards of parenthood! : )

In the Eyes of a Boy

My four year old, after blowing his nose.

"Look mom, my snot looks like a slug!"

(Mom - rolling her eyes in disgust - oh yuck - THANKS SO MUCH for sharing!)

Even Dinosaurs Kept Kosher

Last night I was reading to my children, ages 4 and 7, a book on dinosaurs. When describing one dinosaur it said it was an herbivore. I asked my oldest if she new what that meant and she said no. So I asked her if she knew what a carnivore was.

"It's a meat-eater."

"Ok then, what do you think an herbivore is?"

"A milk-eater."

Psychotoddler Definitions:

Plastic Surgeon: One who operates on action figures.

Sponge Bob

For some reason KJ (3.5 y/o) likes Sponge Bob. He's never seen the cartoon but he says things like, "Would Sponge Bob like it?" or "Is he like Sponge Bob?" The other day he got off the bus wearing a Sponge Bob jacket. I asked him, "Where did you get that jacket?" He said, "It's mine." The teacher aboard the bus said, "He told us that was his." KJ said, "BYE." wanting her to hurry and leave. Silly boy. I snuck it back to the teacher in a black plastic bag the next day. What is the deal with Sponge Bob that children like him?

Rosh hashana according to Mordechai

From last year's playbook when Mordechai was five:

This is how it works: There are three books. One is for mal'achim (angels) and they for sure get a sweet new year. One is for resha'im (wicked people) and they don't get a sweet new year. And most of us are in the middle book. We sometimes do mitzvos and sometimes do aveiros. If we daven and do teshuva we'll get to the book for a sweet new year. If not, chas v'shalom, we go to the book for not a sweet new year. But children don't have to worry so much 'cause this is mostly for grown-ups.

Naming rights

Mordechai (6): I'm going to name my first kid Avi 'cuz that's Sabba's name. And if it's a girl, I'll name her Elisheva like Savta.

Me: Usually, Ashkenazi Jews like us only name after people who have already passed away.

Mordechai (quite matter-of-factly): Yeah, I know. But they'll probably be dead by then.

Me: I don't think so. You know, they're not that old.

Mordechai (starting to calculate): Well, I will probably start looking for a wife when I'm twenty and Sabba and Savta are around 55, right? It might take me a while to find someone so let's say I get married when I'm 23 or 24. So they'll be around 75 and that's pretty old....

Me: I see. Well, I hope they'll still be living to see you have lots of kids.

A note to the reader: This is a true story!

Tashlich

Need some cheese with that bread? From Tashlich yesterday.

We Need More Movies

It was time to pop in a children's DVD for KJ to watch I gave him his DVD case and asked him to choose a movie that he wants to watch. He started flipping through his big book of DVD's, flipping, flipping, flipping. Then he'd stop and look at one, and flip some more, then he looked up and said, "We need to buy more movies." He says. It's was funny because that's like walking into a chocolate factory and saying, "There's not enough chocolate in this place."