Watch out Baby Sis'er, IT'S ME!!

Toddlers can say the funniest things.  And sometimes the reason they are so funny is because THEY ARE SO TRUE!

Yesterday, I was holding our Baby Girl on the couch and my Little Man kind of bounded onto the couch and randomly exclaimed, "Watch out Baby Sis'er, IT'S ME!"

Honestly, for those of you who know my Little Man, I am curious to know the image that just popped into your head that would cause that to be a valid warning.

With as rambunctious as my Little Man is, I kind of wonder if he will be able to come up with a more true statement to tell her for quite a while.  We have had quite a few close calls where flying objects....or flying toddlers.....have nearly pummeled our Baby Girl. And as much as I am trying to keep my Baby Girl safe, there are times that my ability to do so is lacking.

For example:

When Baby Girl was about 2 weeks old, against my better judgement, I gave into Little Man's request to stay in the bathroom while I showered.  I decided that would be okay because Baby Girl was sleeping in her bassinet in my bedroom.  Unfortunately,  Little Man got tired of being in the bathroom and I had not locked the door to keep him trapped (kind of, anyway).   When I came out of the bathroom, I discovered that Baby Girl was now sleeping peacefully on my bed.  I'm making a guess Baby Girl didn't jump out of her bassinet by herself. I can only hope the transport process wasn't to upsetting for her.  I suppose it wasn't too bad since she had gone back to sleep by the time I discovered her.

Last week, I had just left the living room where Baby girl was sleeping in her rocking chair.  I had barely made it down the hall when Little Man comes running up and says "Babes, Babes, Babes, Babes, Babes turn Baby Sister upside down." I returned to the living room to find Baby Girl grunting in her tipped-all-the-way-backwards rocking chair.

But perhaps Little Man's warning is more applicable to the future than the past.   Last night, as Baby Girl and I were sitting on the couch, Little Man came up to snuggle with us.  Not long after, he slyly said, "Babes take away Baby Sister's head, please, please?"  Say WHAT?  NO!  You may not take away Baby Sister's head!!

So Baby Girl, consider yourself duly warned by your big brother, "Watch out Baby Sis'er, IT'S ME!!"

Babes hold Baby Sis'er

Baby Sis'er taste like salsa!!

 
Disclaimer:  Little Man has expanded the game his Grandpa likes to play with him of "stealing your nose" to include stealing any body part he feels like....and that is how he wanted to take away her head.  He (hopefully) doesn't really  want to decapitate his sister.

Adventures Not Quite in my neighbors driveway

So, winter has arrived in our little town. Those frosty little snowflakes now cover our lawns, house tops, trees, parks, and when the snow first falls....they cover up our roads and driveways.

There are snow plows and four-wheelers moving snow all over town attempting to restore our ability to travel to and fro.  And for the most part, they are successful.  Still travel shortly after a snowstorm can be treacherous--especially in the dark.  Such was the case for me last Sunday while I was traveling to my neighbor's house to help prepare handouts for our upcoming Relief Society meeting.

Though I can't recall actually going to this neighbors home before, I was pretty sure I knew which house was her's (this makes much more sense if you know how county addresses work around here).   This particular neighbor lives in what I consider the "other side of the Y" on a dead end road.  Because the road is a dead end, I haven't really been a frequenter of the area, though I am sure I have driven it a few dozen times over the years.  But that doesn't mean I had the area memorized.

Anyway, I headed over to her house just after 7 p.m. (remember it is dark then ;) ) on the day after our first  heavy snowstorm.  Since I was only mostly sure (not 100% sure) which house I was headed to, I was focusing on finding the house.  Focusing on finding the house must have been a little bit distracting because as I rounded the corner and saw the house I was headed for, I started searching for the driveway.  Remember it was dark.

In the shadows I saw what I thought was their plowed out driveway with a light snow dusting on it.  Did I mention they live on hill????  Anyway, since I thought there was a light dusting of snow on their driveway, I gunned it so I would be sure to make it up the hill.

Gunning it was my second mistake.....the first mistake was identifying the driveway.  It turns out that what I thought was the outlines of their plowed driveway was actually 2 sets of footprints on their yard. :(  So basically, I plowed my car right into the snowbank on the side of the road.  Of course, since the snowplow (or 4 wheeler) had been by, it was not just the fallen snow, but the extra snow from the road, and I was buried 3/4 of the tires deep in snow.  And Very Embarrassingly Stuck.

Fortunately for me, I live in a very friendly town and there was another neighbor heading home who took time to stop and try to push me out.  He wasn't able to get me out just by pushing, but he hurried home and got a tow rope and he and the husband of the neighbor I was headed to were able to pull me out fairly easily with a truck.  I was then able to drive the additional 50 or so feet and make it with no problems into their ACTUAL driveway ;)

No Con Se Ken Says

At first glance, the title of this blog may appear to be a foreign language.  It isn't.  Instead, it is the phonetic breakdown of how my Little Man says the phrase "No consequences."

The most recent use of this phrase was last night.  Jake and I are trying to teach Little Man that he needs to listen to what Mom and Dad say and obey quickly.  Our teaching this principle is feeling even more urgent since we have recently welcomed a Baby Sister to our family and she of necessity spends a (large) portion of the day not in our arms--leaving her exposed to the energetic and speedy actions of her overly loving Big Brother.

Last night, we were preparing to have our family prayer and had asked several times for Little Man to join us, but he kept running away.  We  have found that if we state a consequence for disobedience, he will do as we have requested.  Unfortunately, Little Man is occasionally SLOW to obey even with the stated consequence.  Perhaps it was my state of exhaustion that caused me to lose my patience, but there came a point that I started counting to 3 (which almost always elicits the desired response in a rapid fashion).  Tragically (yes, tragically) last night I actually made it to 3 :(.  

The tragic consequence for Mom making it all the way to 3 without Little Man sitting down for prayer was that he didn't get his sippy cup of milk while going to bed.

Upon hearing that he would no longer be able to have his "Sippy Big Milk" he rushed over to where we were kneeling and started crying, "Babes pray with Dad! Get Sippy Big Milk! Peas Peas Peas (Please)" We reminded him that not getting milk was the consequence for not listening to Mom.  This caused him to break out with a string of "No Con Se Ken Says!"

These "No Con Se Ken Says!" moments have taught me something that I never supposed as a child: Enforcing consequences is as hard or harder for parents than receiving them for children.  Not allowing my Little Man to have his "sippy big milk" last night made my evening much more difficult not only because I had to listen to him begging for milk (saying please over and over for it no less) and crying, but because I knew that giving him the milk would likely result in him falling asleep quickly and allow me to finish up some other responsibilities I needed to attend to.

But I did not give him the milk.  I couldn't because as a Mom, it is my responsibility to teach my child correct principles.  As a Mom, I need to teach my Little Man and Baby Sister to trust that what I say will happen, will happen.

I don't need them to know this because I am their Mom and want them to obey me, but because the home is the first place (and increasingly the ONLY place) that they can learn there are consequences for their actions. Despite what the government may do remove the hard consequences of unwise choices, the Lord has not removed them.

I want my children to know that they must obey the Lord to receive the blessings He so wants to give them.   I want them to know that they can not reach the judgement bar after a disobedient life and cry "No consequences!" and receive the same blessings as the obedient and faithful.  I want them to trust that God will do as He says He will, and the promised consequences, good and bad, will be waiting for them after their choices.  I am sure it is hard for our Heavenly Father to have to with hold those blessings from us, much like it was hard for me to not allow Little Man to have his milk, but He will withhold them if we have disregarded His Laws.

And I feel it is my role to teach my children this principle by letting them experience it in a small degree at home---so that they can develop the discipline to do it with a Heavenly Parent they can not see.  So, I'm sorry my Little Ones....there will be "Con Se Ken Says"in our home.