Help I Could Do Without

Makayla: "Mommy, the apple juice was low, so I added more water. Now we have lots!"

Oh no. Really? Samuel had just poured himself more juice, poor kid.

His reaction: "It takes like sour water."

Close, but not quite

Elisa was playing with her toy snake (prize from the dentist). "My snake is a veterinarian. It only eats plants."
"Your snake is a vegetarian?" I tried to clarify, but she didn't notice and kept on playing. So I guess it eats its vegetables while caring for other animals?

"We're going to turts! I love turts," said Makayla.
"Really? We're going to turts?" said Dad.
"No, Daddy, we're going to turts, not turts," said Makayla.
"Turts?" asked Dad.
"Turts!" said Makayla.
"Turts?"
"Turts!"
And they continued like this for 5 minutes, all the way to church.

Making grilled cheese sandwiches with deli meat, I asked Benjamin if he wanted ham or turkey or both. Dominic said, "Hammer turkey? Watch out Benjamin, Mom's going to hammer you with a turkey."

Can't get past pull-ups

Makayla's interest in potty training is sporadic. She can be very successful peeing in the potty when she's in the mood for M&Ms, but she has rarely pooped in the potty. Often when I'm cleaning her up, I tell her that she should poop in the potty because it's easier to clean and she won't stink. Today our conversation went something like this:

"Remember to pee ..."
"... in the potty."
"And poop ..."
"... in my pull-ups."
"What?! No. Poop in the potty, not your pull-ups."
"Ohhh," as if it was a big revelation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a quick little side note, I've discovered that the M&Ms I use for Makayla's potty treats are helpful for encouraging her siblings to get things done. From finishing chores to helping me get things done more quickly to helping their siblings, all of my children work faster and more willingly in order to get an M&M or two. I am not above bribery.

Lucky Girl

I was in the kitchen cleaning up dinner. Rachel came in and asked if she could have the last biscuit. "Sure," I said, glad I didn't have to save just one biscuit.

A minute later I heard Dominic laughing from the living room. He came and told me that Rachel walked right up to him, leaned in, smiled mischeivously, and whispered conspiratorially, "I got the last biscuit, Daddy."

Time to go grocery shopping

Lisy: Mom, can I have a banana?
Me: No, because we don't have any bananas.
Lisy: Can I have an apple?
Me: No, we don't have any apples.
Lisy: An orange?
Me: Nope.
Lisy: Do we have any fruit?

St. Patrick's Day to a 2-year-old

Rachel: "Yay! I love St. Patrick's day," and started dancing.
Me: "What does St. Patrick's day mean to you?"
Rachel: "We make green pancakes!"

Tailoring to your audience

Samuel doesn't like cheese. He avoids eating anything he thinks might have cheese in it. Benjamin, on the other hand, eats more food with cheese on it. One night last week, we had a cheesy broccoli side dish at dinner.

"Hey Benjamin," said Dominic as he set the table, "this broccoli has a cheesy sauce."

"Yay!" said Benjamin.

Then Dominic turned to Samuel. "Hey Samuel, the broccoli has a special sauce. You'll love it." Samuel just looked at him skeptically.

Poisoned food

Benjamin did not want to eat his vegetables. He told me they were poisoned. Eventually he ate the cucumber.

"HA! You didn't die! It wasn't poisoned after all!" I exclaimed. Benjamin laughed so hard, he almost fell out of his seat.

When he finally choked down his tomato, he jumped up and down saying, "Mom! I didn't die! The tomato wasn't poisoned, either! Uuugh." And he fell down dead.This time, I was the one who laughed.

The onion

There is a town nearby that has a lot of onion farms. It is now harvest season. As we drove through the onion fields the other day, we saw quite a few onions by the side of the road, having obviously fallen off the trucks. Dominic commented that we could collect all those onions and fill up a bag.

Then from the back seat Lisy said, "I need an onion."

"Oh? What would you do with an onion?" asked Dominic.

In her sweet little voice she replied, "I will pick it up, and I will eat it, and it will be yucky (said in a disgusted voice), and I will throw it away!" she ended happily.

Dominic drives through those same fields on his commute, so when he could, he pulled over and picked one up for her. She was thrilled when she saw her onion. It was just what she wanted. I sliced off a piece and gave some to her, Rachel and Benjamin to try. Poor kids, they started out so eager as they each took a bite and then were so grossed out.

"She was right," noted Dominic."She knew exactly what would happen."

However, Lisy did not want to throw away her onion. I put it in a plastic bag for her, and she carried it around for the rest of the day.

Visual impact of food

I don't buy candy very often, but recently I had a craving for a Kit Kat. So I bought some for myself and the kids to share. Lisy started eating her piece, then stopped suddenly. I asked her what was wrong.

"I can't eat letters," she said. So I told her that it's still chocolate and that it won't change the way it tastes. She finally ate the rest of her Kit Kat.

an order of meat with a side of meat

For dinner we had hamburgers and hot dogs. There were enough hot dogs for everyone to have one, but not two. Benjamin quickly ate up his hot dog and wanted more.

Dominic said, "You can have a hamburger. What do you want on it?"

"Half a hot dog," Benjamin instantly replied.