Things We Say

We took the kids to a local Summer Concert Series on Friday evening; the weather was lovely, the music was good, and the kids had a blast. They ran around with a pack of insta-friends, the kind only kids seem to be able to make.

At one point, I noticed both of my girls doing the "gotta go" dance while trying desperately to keep on playing. So off to the bathroom at the pizza place.

Once inside, my four year old decided she didn't have to go after all. This has got to be one of the most frustrating bits of parenting: getting a kid to pee when you know she has to and when she chooses that moment to assert a little pre-K control.

So what brilliant words of wisdom did I pull from my arsenal to get what I wanted? For your edification, I present what NOT to say in this situation: "Fine, Elizabeth. I know you have to go, and I'm not bringing you back here in 10 minutes when you realize how badly you have really have to go."

Yeah, that'll show her. Cause I'm sure when she's back to the gotta go dance, I'll just let her pee down her legs and leave her standing in a puddle, just to make my point. She'll learn her lesson then, won't she?

What compels a person to say something so ridiculous? Because really, all it will do is make me look less credible in the future, for issuing empty threats and inventing unenforceable consequences.

Sure enough, 10 minutes later, I was back in the bathroom with Elizabeth. She won.

It doesn't seem like it should be so hard to keep one's mouth shut when one is in danger of saying something extremely stupid. Apparently it is.

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In other news, the girls and I made cookies yesterday. When I cracked the egg into the bowl, Lola announced to her sisters that a raw egg is really a baby chick. I was a little concerned that this would be upsetting to them, especially since right after this piece of news, I turned on the electric mixer and the little baby chick got all mixed up. These girls are hearty: they immediately got these bright smiles on their faces, waved at the bowl, and said: "Bye-bye, baby chick! Bye-bye!"

Not one to abandon a small defenseless animal, Elizabeth announced that after we ate our cookies, we could rub our bellies and thereby take good care of the little baby chick.

A little weird, but compassionate none-the-less!

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