A nice relaxing bath...

After 8 hours on my feet, ringing in sofas and tea lights for Yuppies and college students, all I wanted to do was run a hot bath and soak my feet. Aidan thought it would be a great idea too...

My feet had barely touched the hot water, when the bathroom door flung open and Aidan asks "What you doing Mom?" I tell him I am just having a bath and will be done in a few minutes.

"Okay Mom. I have wash my hands okay?" Sure Aidan use the sink and get cleaned up. Aidan is at the sink for a minute or so when he eyes his bath toys.

"I play toys in sink, okay Mom?" Sure, just don't make a mess. Aidan plays with his toys in the sink for a minute while I close my eyes and try to forget about bookshelves and Swedish meatballs. I open my eyes just in time to see Aidan with his plastic watering can right above my knee. I didn't see him in time though and ICY water pours over my leg. Aidan giggles loudly and says "You are a tree Mom...you need me water you." Grrrrrrrrr...I don't want to be a tree!!

Just then, Aidan decides he wants to make up a new song...this one is very creative, but contains only 1 line and is sung at the top of his lungs to maximize the echo effect of the bathroom.

"1...2...3...SHOUT...1...2...3...SHOUT"

I tell him it is too loud and to find something else to do. (preferably something downstairs with his Dad) His next idea is that we should make bubble hats. He scoops up bubbles and puts them in his hair, then takes another handful and puts them in my hair. He looks in the mirror and cracks right up. He says "I'm so funny!" He notices his sleeves got wet while making bubble hats and wants to take his shirt off. "I won't get in bath though mom."

So now, he is shirtless and elbow deep in the bubbles...throwing in toys to see if they will sink. He tells me he is going to take his pants off, but he isn't going to to get in. (Sure he isn't!)

A couple of minutes later, he tells me he is just going to sit on the edge of the bathtub and "pedal" his feet in the water. Soon there is water splashing everywhere and I finally relent and tell him to just get in the tub.

That's when he brings out his pretend razor and asks if he can shave my arms. I tell him sure and he says "But not your nipple boobies right?"

It is at this point I decide it is time for me to get out of the tub. There is only so much "relaxing" I can stand in one day.

My little "crappy" mirror...

They say children are little mirrors of their parents. They pick up all of your behaviors and reflect them right back at you. Tonight my little mirror showed me just what he has been learning from his parents...

Nathan and I have both tried to clean up our potty mouths and be a good influence on our little talker. Aidan knows that there are some bad words that you are not supposed to say and will call you out if you let one escape. In the car especially, if someone cuts me off, I immediately assume they are a Jackass and have no qualms about calling them such a name. Aidan will instantly say "Mom, you no say that word!" I have to apologize and promise to try not to say it again.

I never gave much thought to the other phrases that we use that aren't really "bad", but are not exactly age appropriate for 3 year olds...

Like tonight...

We saw a preview for the new movie "Ice Age 2" on t.v. Knowing how much Aidan loved watching Curious George at the theatre (or The BIG T.V. as Aidan calls it), Nathan asked if he would like to see Ice Age at The BIG T.V.

Aidan just shrugged his shoulders and said "No fank you, it looks kinda crappy."

I guess I better polish up my little mirror before preschool on Thursday!

Wet toes...

No one will ever want to kiss me after this post (not that I had many takers before), but this was too funny not to write about...

Aidan finished going to the bathroom the other day and came running out of the bathroom a little too quickly and stubbed his toe on the door frame. He started crying A LOT and I ran to comfort him. When he started to calm down, he asked if I would kiss his toes better. As we all know, a mother's kiss is the best cure for a stubbed toe, so I bent down and kissed it better.

That's when I noticed his foot was wet.

I asked him why his foot was wet and Aidan casually says "I pee floor" and scampered off to play.

There's just not enough Listerine out there people...there just isn't!

You think they aren't listening??

You never know if you are doing a good job of parenting. Most of the time, you close your eyes and hope for the best. Discipline is always tricky...Aidan seems to understand what he has done wrong and seems to be upset when he gets in trouble, but you never know if he is really learning anything or if he will remember the lessons a few days down the road.

Today I got a little glimpse into his mind and maybe, just maybe, he is retaining some of these life lessons (and making up a few rules of his own along the way).

The back story...

A couple of weeks ago, Aidan used his new markers to draw on the wall...just 2 minutes after being reminded that markers were for paper only. He got his markers taken away for the day and was sent to his room to think about what he had done. He of course, in true Aidan fashion, FLIPPED OUT!! I'm talking screaming, flailing, pleading. I stayed strong though and he did not get his markers back for the entire day, even though the 12th temper tantrum of the day almost cracked me.

Fast forward 2 weeks...

We were playing in the livingroom and as always, Aidan has his favorite toy, Mr. Monkey, in one hand. I notice that Mr. Monkey has a marker in one hand and stop to observe what will happen next. Mr. Monkey pretends to write on the wall and Aidan instantly starts telling him. "You not write on walls! You no have markers all day now! You go to your room now!"

I can't help but smile...our parenting is working. He is learning consequences to his behaviour and is retaining all the lessons learned. He is well adjusted and certainly on the path to becoming a productive member of society.

UNTIL...

Aidan continues to scold Mr. Monkey...then starts beating him against the side of the couch and then throws him on to the floor. My jaw hits the floor and Aidan looks at me and says "Mr. Monkey draw wall, so I hit him on the couch."

Okay, so maybe not so well adjusted and perhaps in need of therapy, but at least he won't be writing on the wall anytime soon.

Bon Voyage Uncle Luke!

This is Aidan's Uncle Luke, my brother-in-law. He is a great guy and Aidan loves him to death. (Uncle Luke is the only person who can play finger monster just right!) Tonight we found out that Luke is going on a tropical vacation next week. He is going for some fun in the sun and Aidan was talking to him about it on the phone.

I jokingly ask Aidan to ask Uncle Luke if he was going on holiday to get a lady.

Something got a little mixed up in the relay of that question and Aidan ended up asking Uncle Luke...

"You going on holiday to get a lay?"

(It has been about 4 hours and I still can't stop laughing!)

I am sure that it had probably crossed Uncle Luke's mind a time or two, but I bet he never expected his 3 year old Nephew to be asking about it!

Bon Voyage Uncle Luke...I hope it is paradise!

Random Aidan...

Just a few quick few quick stories from the past few days...




It has been a warm few days around here and the snow is melting quickly. Aidan loves to splash in the puddles, so I let him wear his rubber boots instead of his winter boots. He put them on and proudly exclaimed..."Wow mom, these are pretty fancy!" They certainly are...especially when you wear them without pants!

Another quick story...

While taking a shower today, I am surprised to find Aidan standing with the shower curtain open, watching me. He says "Mom, you forgot to wash your bellybutton." Then closes the curtain and leaves the bathroom. Thanks for the reminder...no one wants bellybutton stink.

One last thought...

We are moving into a new era at our house. Aidan has been potty trained for well over a year, but he always wears Pull-ups at night, just incase. He has stayed dry for 5 nights in a row and the Pull-ups package is almost empty. We have made a deal that we will not be buying another package and that he will have to be a big boy and get up in the night to go pee on the toilet. Wish us luck and pray that the plastic sheet holds!

Don't look in the bathroom, Mom!

I was sitting at the computer a little while ago, when out of the blue, Aidan is at my side. He has a booger on his finger and a brand new DOUBLE roll of toilet paper in the other hand. (Please remember the fact that this is a big-ass roll of toilet paper...that fact is important later in the story)

"Mom, you help me get this booger?" Since boogers are part of my job description, what can I do? I take a couple squares of TP and collect the booger for him. Then I hand him the roll of TP and tell him to put it on the counter in the bathroom. I hand him the used TP and tell him to toss that in the toilet. Then tell him when he does that to wash his hands really good with soap.

I quickly forget about the booger and the TP and return to reading my email. A moment later Aidan returns to my side...

"Mom, you don't look in bathroom okay?"

My mommy senses are tingling instantly and I ask "Why can't mommy look in the bathroom?"

He repeats "You no go bathroom."

Now I have to go and look. I get up from my chair and Aidan instantly grabs my hand and says "You not going be mad right?"

Now my heart is sinking wondering what sort of mess he has made...

marker on the wall? toothpaste on the floor? more boogers??

I walk into the bathroom and don't notice anything out of the ordinary right away. Then I notice the crumpled booger TP on the counter.........but no TP roll..........

Sure enough, there in the toilet, is the ENTIRE brand new DOUBLE roll of TP! I guess my instructions got a little mixed up!

I fish out the rapidly deteriorating roll before it clogs the pipes. Aidan looks up at me with that beautiful little face and says "you not be mad mom?" I tell him no, I am not mad. It was an accident.

I am tempted next time to tell him to wipe it on his shirt though.

Is this punishing me or him?

On Saturday night, we went to the mall with friends. We met for supper and then were going to take the kids on a carousel ride. Aidan was really misbehaving at supper time and would not eat his supper and wanted to keep getting up to run around. We gave him 2 chances and told him that if he didn't sit down and eat his supper, there would be no carousel ride. Less than a minute later he is up and running again. Seemed like a hard punishment, but I had to take a privilege away. So the other kids got to ride the horses and Aidan had to stand there and watch. He handled it well and seemed to forget about it as soon as we walked away from the food court.

So I thought...

It started on the car ride home..."Mom, I forgot to go on the horsey ride!"I explain again that he didn't get a horsey ride because he didn't listen at supper time.

Then when we got home..."Mom, I did good listening now...I go horsey ride now?" "No, you lost that privilege.'

Surely by the next morning he would forget about it right? No dice.

I pry 1 eye open only to be greeted with "We go horsey ride now?" After breakfast, we ask Aidan what he would like to do today...you guessed it! HORSEY RIDE!

We never give in though! There will be no horsey ride for Aidan this Sunday morning! We take him sledding, we take him for a Slurpee...we have a great day together. He forgets all about the horsey ride...

until this morning...

I am again awoken to the desperate voice of my son "We go horsey ride now??"

So I have to go...I have a mall to get to...I can't stand this punishment any longer. Even if he hasn't learned a lesson, I surely have!

Band-aids lead to violence

Band-aids are a new thing in our house. I recently bought a box of Dora the Explorer Band-aids in case we should need them.

My first mistake?

Telling Aidan I bought them.

He now runs to me with mysterious toe injuries...bumps on the head that seem to come out of nowhere. Last night I had enough.

"No more Band-aids unless you have a real owwie and I see it happen."

That was my second mistake...

Aidan then proceeds to say "okay mom...you watching??" He walks over to the living room wall and hits it full force with his tiny hand.

What's a mom to do? I had to give him the Band-aid just for sheer determination. (Plus I am sure it had to hurt!!)