A Habit and A Hobby

When I was pregnant with d1, I read a lot of books, magazines and articles on parenting. No, a lot. Some were very helpful and some were just plain evil and only escalated my new mother anxiety. I really thought I had read everything and would know what to do in every situation until the day the children went away to college. Funny, I know. The very definition of naïve.

Though I have learned a bazillion new things in the almost-seven years that I’ve been a mother, I never really thought I’d have to house break my child. Oh, not where the potty is concerned. We've managed to really succeed in that area {but I have a feeling d3 will want to be 'unique' when it comes time}. I'm talking about chewing. As ridiculous as that may sound, we have recently had to remove Woody from d2’s room because he has munched away the rim of his cowboy hat AND his nose. It was rather puzzling altogether but even more so that he chose his nose. I mean, why not the boots? They are long and pointy. You would think the nose was a little more work to gnaw on, given the fact that Woody doesn’t have a Pinocchio honker. And d2 is not really a nervous little feller. He has the carefree personality of the bunch but, for whatever reason, he’s taken up this new hobby. I don’t know. Maybe I should review his diet. Clearly there is something missing, though last time I checked, plastic was NOT added to a major food group.

Actually, as I think about this, I think he has too much time on his hands at night so he must be doing this out of boredom. Since he naps in K-4, he isn’t tired at bedtime and, though we could push his bedtime back a bit, the other two require a little more sleep so we put them all down at the same time. While d1 is out in minutes, d2 will lay in his bed for a while, sometimes up to two hours after we put him down, until he finally drifts off to sleep. I expect this will end next year when he starts Kindergarten and no longer has his little siesta. Lawd, I hope so. Maybe then he’ll cut down on his new habit…..

…..and his new hobby of spitting. I’m not talking about the normal, male-rite-of-passage spitting where it begins and ends in three seconds. Oh no, my son is an overachiever. Have you seen the movie, ‘Big Daddy’ where Adam Sandler ‘adopts’ a little boy and teaches him how to do ‘the thing?’ Here’s a recap for those having trouble recalling it up in your memory bank..



Good news, friends. The 'Big Daddy' in our house has passed on the same tips to d2. Oh and he's pretty good at it. I imagine he perfects his skills late at night after he's all gnawed out. I noticed it last week when we were at an 80th birthday party for D1’s uncle. Great place to find out that your son has that sort of gift. I’m sure I was just beaming with pride.