Wednesday, June 01, 2011

You see what I am working with?

Molly really tests my mettle as a parent.  I recently asked her to pick up a wooden puzzle box that she was playing with.  She put me off twice with little excuses.  Finally I tripped over it and said very sternly "Molly, I just tripped over your puzzle again.  Pick it up now or I am going to get rid of it"  (Classic Grandma Karen technique, "The Throw Away Threat.")

She looked at me, walked over to the couch where my book was laying on the floor.  She deliberately tripped over it and said "Mommy, pick up your book, I just tripped over it."  Can you believe this level of sass from a two year old?

Tonight I was trying to herd them into the bath.  We were running late because we were out running errands.  Henry was very cooperative but Molly kept stalling.  She was going on and on about the fact that she was just getting the menus for her restaurant.  Whenever I called her, she would just ignore what I was saying to her and ask me another question "Mommy, where is the food for my restaurant" and so on.  I said "Molly, it is bedtime.  You cannot play restaurant right now."  She very sweetly ignored me and said "Oh, but I think Henry looks hungry!"

My little gourmet

Henry has inherited my strong sense of smell and has an amazing sense memory.  Adam and I always crack up about his crazy descriptions  He will smell something and say "Oh that smells like Doctor Lewis's office or that smells like the pool."   He was trying something to eat that he really wanted to like but didn't .  He said "Oh that was really good.  It kind of made me throw up a little but that's OK!"  We went to Friendly's after the pool yesterday and I noticed that he only took a  few bites of his cheeseburger sliders.  I asked what was wrong and he said "Oh, I didn't really like them.  They kinda tasted like dried fruit."

Don't Cross Brother Bear!

One of Henry's best qualities is how good he is to Molly.  He is ALWAYS looking out for her.  We were at the playground recently and there was a little boy waving a small stick around.  He poking it near Molly's face.  I was chatting with a few friends and heard Henry calling me in a very urgent tone,

I turned around and Henry had Molly tucked protectively under his arm.  Shy little Henry was almost screaming at this kid "Get away from us!  Leave us alone!  Leave my sister alone!"  I went over to intervene and Henry was pretty shaken up.  I sorted out the situation and walked them back to my friends.

This is pretty standard stuff for Henry but the other moms were quite impressed with the Big Brother.  They couldn't get over how well he stuck up for Molly.  One of the moms said "Wow, it was quite dramatic while it was going down, but I am amazed at how he looked out for her."