I have a love/ignore relationship with my kids when they are four years old. It is that time frame that they are budding with independence, are trying to figure out the world, and when their language is complex enough to really tell you about the profound thoughts in their mind.
I try very hard to ignore the negative energy that radiates from their little bodies as they: flop on the floor and wail in the middle of a funeral visitation; scream in my face how they detest my lasagna; or holler at me from three stories away that they need assistance on the toilet.
But, I savor every moment of tenderness and LOVE it when they: wrap their whole little body around me like a monkey for me to carry around the house; greet me under the covers in the cold wintry darkness, while I punch the snooze for 30 more minutes; and (MOST of all) present me with fabulous attempts at language-play and "deep thoughts."
Ben is at that age now, and here are some of his most recent pondering...
He jumped into my bed a month ago, caressed my face, smoothed away my hair, and lay there quietly. Then, as if out of the blue (the most random color of blue you've ever seen) he says,
As he waited for the answer, I realized that the response must be logical and yet somewhat exciting....the typical reply of: "to keep stuff out of our eyes," is just boring. So, I decided to give him the full explanation on facial expression and non-verbal communication....in four year-old language, "So that people can see our feelings better!" (That is actually true, by the way :)
He was VERY happy with that answer and lay there for another 10 minutes monologuing the fact that fish don't have feelings, so they don't need eyebrows...(smile) what reasoning :)
Tonight, he jumps into my face as I type....
"Mom, can you come look at my...um....my whack...I mean my whacker...I mean....Mom can you come look at my Wacko Mode."
I try very hard to ignore the negative energy that radiates from their little bodies as they: flop on the floor and wail in the middle of a funeral visitation; scream in my face how they detest my lasagna; or holler at me from three stories away that they need assistance on the toilet.
But, I savor every moment of tenderness and LOVE it when they: wrap their whole little body around me like a monkey for me to carry around the house; greet me under the covers in the cold wintry darkness, while I punch the snooze for 30 more minutes; and (MOST of all) present me with fabulous attempts at language-play and "deep thoughts."
Ben is at that age now, and here are some of his most recent pondering...
He jumped into my bed a month ago, caressed my face, smoothed away my hair, and lay there quietly. Then, as if out of the blue (the most random color of blue you've ever seen) he says,
"Mom, do fish have eyebrows?"
Me: "Um...hmmm, no. Well maybe they have a brow bone; but no, not an actual eyebrow."
All the while, in my sleepy haze, I'm doubting myself. Well, DO they have eyebrows? I asked myself. I scanned all of the fish images in my gray matter storage...let's see...eyebrows would indicate hair....and finally ma
de a confident conclusion that "no, they don't" (whew...a sigh!).
Me: "Um...hmmm, no. Well maybe they have a brow bone; but no, not an actual eyebrow."
All the while, in my sleepy haze, I'm doubting myself. Well, DO they have eyebrows? I asked myself. I scanned all of the fish images in my gray matter storage...let's see...eyebrows would indicate hair....and finally ma
de a confident conclusion that "no, they don't" (whew...a sigh!). Then Ben takes it to the next step, "Well why do WE have eyebrows?"
As he waited for the answer, I realized that the response must be logical and yet somewhat exciting....the typical reply of: "to keep stuff out of our eyes," is just boring. So, I decided to give him the full explanation on facial expression and non-verbal communication....in four year-old language, "So that people can see our feelings better!" (That is actually true, by the way :)
He was VERY happy with that answer and lay there for another 10 minutes monologuing the fact that fish don't have feelings, so they don't need eyebrows...(smile) what reasoning :)
Tonight, he jumps into my face as I type....
"Mom, can you come look at my...um....my whack...I mean my whacker...I mean....Mom can you come look at my Wacko Mode."
It is SO hard to keep a straight face..."Your wacko mode?" I ask innocently (I want to say, "You mean the wacko mode that you displayed this morning when it was time to leave the house!?")
His sweet reply,
"Yes, come watch me...you take Buzz and you WHACK him,
"Yes, come watch me...you take Buzz and you WHACK him,
and he flies across the kitchen floor. Come, I'll show you!"
Oh, so THAT is the noise I keep hearing down there! He says this while grabbing my face and pulling it close to his, until our eyes are a half inch apart...undivided attention, you know?
"LOVE relationship" moment with my four year-old!
"LOVE relationship" moment with my four year-old!
No comments:
Post a Comment