The Baby

My children have been talking about, "the baby" for a day or two now.   I wasn't sure what they meant until this afternoon when I figured it out.  Now I'm taking part in the game with them.

My children play well together some of the time.  Some of the time they seem to want to inflict harm on each other and a portion of the time they just do their own thing, ignoring each other.   Over the past few days they've been saying things like, "I'm a baby" and making funny noises.  Sometimes they've told me I was the baby and there have been times when they've referred to the baby as though it's in another part of the house.

They have several dolls, but I didn't remember if any of the baby versions were out in their room right now (their toys aren't all out at once).   When I went upstairs to get their clothes this morning—amongst baby-related comments at breakfast—I saw a naked baby doll on one of their beds and realized this was what they must have been talking about.

This afternoon during snack, I noticed my children were suddenly missing.   I also noticed they didn't put their snack bowls on the counter after leaving the table.   That's not good because the dog will jump up on the table and eat food that's not put away—and my children know this.   But when I looked at the table, not only were their bowls not there, their cups were gone too.

I yelled out to them that they had to come back downstairs because we eat our food at the table, not other areas of the house (this being true for the smaller members of our household who are also the most messy).

They immediately came back downstairs, popcorn bowl and juice cup in hand.  My son said, "but we wanted to go feed the baby."  It struck me that they've never tried to take their snack away from the table before, and that this was a real gesture of sharing so I told them to sit back down at the table and I'd be right back.

I got the baby from the bed, brought it downstairs and sat it on one of the chairs at the table with them.   They were both very happy to see the baby there with them.   Then they finished their snacks and went outside, telling the baby goodbye.

I wonder where I'm going to find the baby next and what mischief its going to have gotten into?

The Big Boy Update:   My son was excited when Ryan and Kiera came over this afternoon and rang the doorbell.   They ran out into the back yard ready to play together.   About ten minutes later my son was back at the door, looking dejected.   I asked him what happened and he told me he told Ryan and Kiera to go home (they did).   From what I gathered, he wasn't getting his way so he told them to leave.   He told me, "I'm going to be the ruler when I grow up until I'm five!"

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   Pink and blue painting.   My daughter must have gotten a lesson in painting in school this week.   I've substituted before and I know this isn't just slapping paint on a piece of paper.  There is an entire series of steps the child must learn to do the "painting work" at school.  They have to put on the smock, put the paper on the easel, paint the paper, remove the paper and lay it to dry on a rack, wash the easel, clean the brush and return the smock so that the next child can have a turn.   knowing all of that, I was impressed to see her come home with a painting today, knowing she'd been given a lesson in painting.   My husband and I liked her painting—we thought it had good composition: