We are so proud of Bright for developing a sense of who he is. It is also driving us nuts. The other morning it took me two hours just to get him ready for our local house. "Don't want to wear pants, want to wear SHORTS," he insisted. "You can't wear shorts today, peanut. It's too cold." After a long dance of this, he finally explained his position. "They have buttons on them," he said. Fair enough. Buttons really aren't very comfortable. So I dug through his drawer to find all the pants with no buttons, and I laid them on the floor for his choosing. He deliberated over them, pacing slowly through the options like a judge at a cookoff. After making his selection, it took me bribing him with Swedish Fish candy to get him to put them on. Wouldn't you know, he had picked the dorkiest pair of pants he owns. Everyone that day probably felt sorry for the poor kid who doesn't have anything cute to wear. Most days we don't go anywhere, and he gets to wear whatever he pleases. An unannounced visit to our home would find Bright in his diaper, favorite T-shirt, and his backpack, swinging a broom. He also recently decided he doesn't like peas. Since he eats nearly everything else, I have agreed that he doesn't have to eat them. Now he tries to apply the same logic to other things. For example, I'll say, "Time for bed," and he'll say, "No thank you, there are peas in the bed." Or I'll say, "Time for your bath," and he'll say...you guessed it..."There are peas in the bath." It's a good thing, I keep telling myself, to have a child with a strong sense of self. I just wish he had a better sense of fashion:)
September 18, 2007
A mind of his own
We are so proud of Bright for developing a sense of who he is. It is also driving us nuts. The other morning it took me two hours just to get him ready for our local house. "Don't want to wear pants, want to wear SHORTS," he insisted. "You can't wear shorts today, peanut. It's too cold." After a long dance of this, he finally explained his position. "They have buttons on them," he said. Fair enough. Buttons really aren't very comfortable. So I dug through his drawer to find all the pants with no buttons, and I laid them on the floor for his choosing. He deliberated over them, pacing slowly through the options like a judge at a cookoff. After making his selection, it took me bribing him with Swedish Fish candy to get him to put them on. Wouldn't you know, he had picked the dorkiest pair of pants he owns. Everyone that day probably felt sorry for the poor kid who doesn't have anything cute to wear. Most days we don't go anywhere, and he gets to wear whatever he pleases. An unannounced visit to our home would find Bright in his diaper, favorite T-shirt, and his backpack, swinging a broom. He also recently decided he doesn't like peas. Since he eats nearly everything else, I have agreed that he doesn't have to eat them. Now he tries to apply the same logic to other things. For example, I'll say, "Time for bed," and he'll say, "No thank you, there are peas in the bed." Or I'll say, "Time for your bath," and he'll say...you guessed it..."There are peas in the bath." It's a good thing, I keep telling myself, to have a child with a strong sense of self. I just wish he had a better sense of fashion:)
