In the mornings, I like to tease Sabrina about the number of outfits she goes through when she gets dressed.
"Wait!" I'll say, eyeballing the rejects lying all over the floor of her room. "You haven't yet tried on every single piece of clothing you own!" She'll giggle.
Teasing the kids is ever so much more sanity saving than getting perturbed by their habits and ways. It was only a matter of time before I started teasing Max about his tendency to tell me, approximately every 6.5 minutes, "I want to be a fireman when I grow up."
There's a song he likes me to sing to him that goes:
Fireman Max
Fireman Max
He wants to be a fireman
When he grows up
The stanzas include: He's going to ride Ladder 31/He's going to sleep in the firehouse/He's going to eat in the firehouse. The song comes in handy for calming him down when he's upset and generally making him happy.
Last night, he was a little grumpy at bedtime. So I sang:
Fireman Max
Fireman Max
He wants to be a policeman
When he grows up
"No!" said Max, smiling.
Fireman Max
Fireman Max
He wants to be a hair stylist
When he grows up
"Noooooooo!" said Max, laughing.
"He wants to be a zookeeper when he grows up!"
"No!"
"He wants to be a baseball player when he grows up!"
"He wants to be an ice-cream chef when he grows up!"
"He wants to be Mickey Mouse when he grows up!"
"He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up!"
"He wants to be a clown when he grows up!"
By this point, Max was laughing so hard no sound was coming out of his mouth and I was cracking up. I let him calm down. And then:
"Fireman Max, you don't want to be a hair stylist when you grow up?"
"Nooooooo! Ire-anne!" he said, laughing again.
"OK, Hairs Stylist Max," I said, mercilessly.
The possibilities are endless.
Image: Flickr/Nina Matthews Photography
Cute! You're a fantastic mom Ellen I hope you know that
ReplyDeleteWell, if nothing else, I am definitely a talented teaser. He he.
DeleteThis is a tardy response to yesterday's post.
ReplyDeleteNow you have an excuse to get bike lights! White for handlebars, red for the back, and anything else for the sides (or spokes)! Of course they're completely unnecessary for daytime, but they'll still look good, and they'll look fantastic at dusk. LED technology has gotten to the point where really great lights in many styles (clip-on, strap-on, velcro-on) are cheap, even the ones that blink in a range of fancy patterns.
I use lights as a safety precaution for evening rides, and if I'm in a residential neighborhood, all the little kids react like I'm a Fourth of July parade. (Older kids stare longingly.) Max, besides having the fun of imitating a car (white headlights, red taillights), will be the envy of the neighborhood.
And by the way, he's wearing his helmet exactly right--low and straight across the forehead to prevent those precious frontal lobes.
--Phyl the Cognitive Neuro-psycholinguist (and avid bike rider)
P.S. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who called out your doc's no-shot decision. She wasn't being overly cautious--she was just plain wrong! It's really disturbing to see misinformation spread and healthcare withheld by a professional. She should google "contact dermatitis".
Thanks for all your input and reassurances, Phyl. You're right, he needs lights. And come to think of it, I will get all red ones and then we can kinda sorta pretend his trike is a fire truck!
DeleteOooh----white headlights in front, red lights all around, and to top it off, a flashing helmet light to be like the light on top of the firetruck cab! Great! (Expertise aside, I'm a kid at heart.)
DeleteOf course, there are also bells and horns (and maybe even sirens!), but that can get old pretty fast for folks within earshot.
--Phyl
My mom wants to get an "I'm with the Band" shirt.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the book "Cock-a-doodle Moo" which was a favorite of my kids back in the day. Funny is good!
ReplyDelete