Sharing vs. Not Sharing

~Warning... this post is completely random and follows no logical path... if you are OCD you MAY not want to read it!~

I am pretty much an open book; I think to some degree you have to be if you blog (or have small children, for that matter). I tend to tell on myself… a lot! I imagine my superiors appreciate that, but then again it has been known to get me in trouble. I also have a knack for sticking my foot in my mouth. There are some things that I don’t like to talk about and there are some things that people have told me in confidence, and those are things that I won’t share, but beyond that it’s pretty much fair game.

Today, I am reminded of the verse in the Bible that says, “Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” Matthew 6:3b. This is a verse that is often taken out of context, and this afternoon, my actual hands are guilty of such and have in fact tried to take this verse literally. I was using the cutting board… there was blood… I think my right middle finger was on a suicide mission and my left hand, oh if it had just known, maybe it could have rescued or at least talked that finger out of the attempt… BUT, no dice.  Luckily, the suicidal finger failed and, while it was forced to spend some time in therapy with a double tourniquet of rubber bands around the band-aid to stifle the bleeding, it remains attached with a sizable cut (though not stitch worthy… I don’t think). Lesson learned? Your hands DO need to know what they each are doing when a sharp object is involved.

My children at this age have no shame, and as a good mother I have no shame in sharing their potentially embarrassing toddler experiences.

Brayden likes to share his food and our food. If we are eating, he WILL find a way to take the food of our plates so he can eat it. If we aren’t eating, but he is, he will LITERALLY jam his food into your mouth. He LOVES it! He gets SO excited when he feeds someone else… as long as no one EVER feeds his food to him – that’s HIS job! (The kid is super independent!)

Peek-A-Boo

Cheetos – I don’t know that Landen has ever eaten Cheetos before. The other night, he came in the kitchen asking for “Teetos”, of which A) we have no Cheetos B) where did he learn about this messy, crunchy  unhealthy, delicious junk and C) he was repeatedly asking for demanding (and progressively getting louder). Keith and I looked at each other confused, a frighteningly common occurrence in our house, then repeated to Landen what we understood him to be saying, “Cheetos? You want Cheetos?” Landen agreed that was what he wanted. We were completely perplexed. Keith and I both explained to him that we do not have (nor have we ever, that I can remember) Cheetos at our house, but since it was approaching dinner time we would be filling his tummy with real food… burritos to be exact. Landen, clearly disappointed traumatized stomped off to the living room pouting and squeaking (not quite crying). Meanwhile, Keith assembled a burrito for Landen and called for Landen to come to his seat to eat. As soon as Landen saw his burrito, he started bouncing up and down saying “Teetos, Teetos, TEEEEEETOS!” We were so excited. We finally knew what he was saying! So we said, “Oh! You were saying burrito!?!” The bouncing stopped. The excitement, though still there, significantly fell. Landen, straight faced, “No. Not rito!” oh. Back to square one. Landen started pointing to the counter saying, “Teetos!” What the heck is “Teetos?” Keith, in his brilliance asked Landen to SHOW us the “Teetos”. Why didn’t we do that in the first place? Landen hopped up and went straight into the kitchen and pointed to a stack of tortillas and said, “TEETOS! DADDYMOMMY!” THAT’S IT! The kid was asking for tortillas. I have NO idea how he got the word Teetos from tortillas, but he did. And if he ever asked you for “Teetos” just give him a tortilla and let it go… he is NOT interested in changing the name.

Mommydaddy/Daddymommy – Landen often calls us by one of these names. Even if only ONE of us is actually present. It’s usually associated with excitement, but then it’s kind of confusing. I guess, in the moment, maybe we are interchangeable?

Yes ma’am/Yes sir & No ma’am/No sir – We’re trying to teach our kids manners, and being from the south and living in the south this includes ma’am and sir. I don’t think Landen fully understands which to say to who so his typical response is to just say both. Occasionally, he’ll pick one and say it no matter who he is speaking to… (i.e. No sir, mommy. Yes ma’am, daddy. Etc) but more often than not BOTH sir & ma’am are included in the answer.

Woffers – These are the treats that Landen gets when/if he successfully goes potty. He gets 1 Whopper candy for going #1 and, you get the idea.

Noises – Our house is full of noises… between kids, toys, life, etc… if Landen EVER hears something that could (in ANY way) be construed as being associated with a bathroom/diaper noise, he will start asking each person whether or not they went potty in their pants. It is one of those things that can get pretty embarrassing (if we are in public or other people are around), but I’m afraid we can’t really correct him for it because we do the same thing to him if we think/know he is going potty.

By the way… the older I get, the more I realized there is some degree of potty humor that is just funny. Apparently getting older is not exactly making me more mature, but it definitely is expanding my realm of laugh-worthy experiences.

Buddies – On the way home yesterday, when I picked the boys up from daycare, Landen told me that he couldn’t reach brother’s tummy. (note: In my car, the car seats are on opposite sides. In Keith’s car, the car seats are right.next.to.each.other.) I looked back and I saw Brayden’s little hand reaching out from his pumpkin seat and Landen reaching out of his car seat to hold hands. And they were. We were driving down the road and my precious little boys were holding hands! They’re so cute!

I hold you – Any time Landen wants to be carried or held he says, “I hold you, mommy (or daddy). I hold you.”