September 27, 2007

Bad Influence

I am often complimented on having well behaved children. I am frequently asked how I did that. The truth is, I really have no idea. I don’t tolerate temper tantrums and whining. I don’t indulge my kids to get them to do what I want them to do. I expect certain behaviors and they know there are consequences if those behavior expectations aren’t met. These things don’t seem like that big of a deal to me. It’s just how it’s going to be in this house and the girls know it.

I also got really lucky when I was blessed with my two awesome girls.

Today I took Lil C to her first story time at the library. The kids are anywhere between the ages of 18-36 months. When we first tried to walk in the room, Lil C put the brakes on. She will frequently do this. If we are about to walk into a store she doesn’t want to walk into, she will stop. I swear this toddler knows more about ki than I do, because she will drop hers, suddenly become 2000 pounds and practically impossible to move. It’s amazing. I think she was a zen master in a former life or something.

Today, she put on the brakes, but I was able to ease her into the room by pointing out the monkey puppets, the books, the kids. While most of the other kids talked during the story and/or wandered around (one little boy ran circles around the storyteller for a while), Lil C sat quietly on my lap and did nothing but pay attention. When I peeked around at her face, a slight grin rested on her lips. It was adorable.

After the stories were read, we did a craft. Crafts for Lil C at home go something like this. Big I gets out construction paper and markers. As soon as Lil C picks one up or starts drawing, Big I shows her "how to do it the right way" and a meltdown or a complete and total loss of interest then follows. Without her big sister to boss her around, Lil C was in heaven. She used a glue stick and made a monkey face. She glued googly eyes on and then used a marker to "decorate" her monkey further. She was an absolute angel.

As we were leaving the story room, she handed me her monkey craft so that she could pick up the monkey puppet on the floor. She held it and giggled for a couple seconds and then said, "Put it down. Time to go." She put that monkey back on the floor, grabbed her monkey and my hand and we left. I was floored. She’s a fabulous kid.

Sure, she occasionally rebels against anything that’s not pretzels or goldfish crackers; I sometimes spend entire days convincing her that she doesn’t need to eat another go-gurt. Sometimes her favorite word is "no" and she says it with her big sister’s attitude, but she is 99% a very good girl.

That’s why the recent additions to her vocabulary are that much more ~~amusing~~ ~~horrifying~~ ~~amusing~~, ~~no horrifying~~ (I don’t know-you decide). On Sunday, Mr. BBM was getting ready for his trip to Germany (Yes, I’m surviving-thanks for asking) and he happened to stub his toe on my dresser while he was running around trying to locate matching socks, etc. He said "ouch." Lil C said, "Something-that-rhymes with ‘odd’, dam (like what a beaver makes), it." If you know Lil C and have spent any time around her, you know that her pronunciation is exquisite. If you say a big word, she will repeat it with precision, often sounding it out into syllables, and trying it out slowly a few times before she nails it.

She’s not yet two and she can say near perfectly the words: ridiculous, disgusting, and Sleeping Beauty. It’s amazing. But what was even more amazing is that no one had said those three words in a string for at least 15 minutes or longer, and yet she still equated Daddy hurting his toe with using those words. It was brilliant and funny and the three non-swearing members of our family burst out laughing. It was just that funny. She then repeated it, and I think that Big I cried a bucket of tears from laughter. I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard (into my pillow of course to avoid drawing attention to it, but something tells me Lil C noticed that she was amusing us all).

Follow that with today’s choice word. Lil C had announced that she needed a diaper change, so I started to change her. I’ve been listening to a lot of Justin Timberlake lately and there’s this one song called "Damn Girl." If you’ve heard it you know that he repeats those words several times in a row and it’s a very catchy song. I’ve been singing it a lot. . . too much, apparently.

As I opened up the diaper, I couldn’t help myself. "Damn Girl" I started singing to Lil C. Big I was laughing her head off. Lil C giggled and then started rapping the song herself, "Damn girl, damn girl, damn girl, damn girl, damn." She did a perfect JT rendition and I about fell over.

I know you’re not supposed to react in any way, and the offending word will go away. But it is SO difficult not to laugh when she uses the words appropriately and with the proper emphasis with that little voice of hers.

I’ll tell you when I won’t be laughing though. . . when Lil C and I show up for cafeteria and recess chaperone duty this week. I’m hoping no one stubs their toe, and that she doesn’t need a diaper change. Otherwise, I’m going to have some explaining to do.