The perfect memory of a 2 year old.
It never fails to amaze me when it comes to the memory of my children.
As you probably know from my posts, we are a Dr. Who household. Love that series and have watched it for years. We own every season as soon as it comes out and even have the older versions back to the 70′s.
This obsession run through all of my kids, even the babies. Simon was a fan the moment he saw his first show when he was 2 years old. But I didn’t know how much he loved the show until recently.
When a good friend of mine came to pick me up for the Game Creators Guild meeting, he came inside for the first time since we moved here. Simon didn’t know who he was and…being Simon and a whopping 4 years old, he drilled my friend to see if he was worthy to be in his domain.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Do you like Doctor Who?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You DO?!? …I do too! Do you like the one where…”
Simon proceeded to talk about shows he’d not seen since he was 2 and my jaw dropped. Described in perfect detail were the villains, the plot and how the Doctor won the day (with full sound effects included of course). This has continued for the last few days–Simon sharing all the things he’s remembered to such an extent, we pulled out the old DVD’s and started watching them over again.
Simon, of course, had to point out the details and say “See,…I told you that’s what happened.”
Read MoreJonah and the Flood
Less than a week ago we had a flash flood. It devastated us. Our home is a basement, where all the water pooled. We are very grateful for the help we received from kind and loving friends who came to our immediate rescue. The experience was rough, yet it became a tender example of how well children listen to their parents.
The Sunday previous, I had spent some personal time with my little son Simon. He’s a brilliant boy and I wanted to tell him a great story with strong visuals to help him remember–which ended up being about Jonah, the Whale and Nineveh. He listened with great intensity as I described the wickedness of the city people, and also why the big fish swallowed the Prophet. I knew he would remember the story, but not the concepts behind it.
I was wrong.
While our home had adults wading too and fro, bailing water, trying to save what furniture was left and personal belongings, little Simon was slowly walking through the muddy water, tears in his eyes, looking to the left, then to the right.
When his mother put her arms around him, she asked if he was ok.
“No mom. Look.” he pouted, pointing around him at the muddy water. “Heavenly Father is mad at us. We have been bad mom. Very, very bad. We need to be the good guys!”
Though he eventually learned that sometimes negative things happen for a good reason (I explained the big fish was there to take Jonah to Nineveh to do his initial job, and during our flood damage control, we received word that we had been accepted for a new place to live.), it helped me see that the personal time we spent with our little ones, instructing them and sharing is never in vain.
Read MoreHappy Birthday Simon!
My awesome 3 year old who has delighted people everywhere with his wit and storytelling turned 4 today.
His oldest sister called him to wish a Happy Birthday and ask him what he wanted:
“A cake. Presents. …uhhh, and a Christmas tree.”
While adventuring out in the backyard as Super Simon the Four Year Old…he came to the conclusion that he is NOT in fact immune to angry wasps, which pursued and bit him repeatedly over the face.
So what was the plan? Retreat tot he house and watch Return of the King with Dad.
FACT: Simon is the only child I have ever met who can interject a dragon into any conversation and have it seem as natural as breathing. A storyteller at heart, he still lugs around his favorite ‘binky’ and sucks on a plug at any sign of distress.
We are currently getting up the nerve to hunt down and slay the dragon-wasp that attacked him, and in his own words…was trying to kill him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIMON!
Daddy loves you with all his heart.
Coolness by Association
I’m riding in the car with Simon (3) and Nathan (12). We’re cruising to WalMart to find a fun shirt for their older brothers party tonight, the windows down, listening to the stories come out of Simon’s mouth.
He’s talking about all the dragons he’s tamed and how they’ll roll over when he scratches their bellies and if the neighborhood kids call him another bad name, the biggest dragon said he’ll eat them right up.
There’s a pause.
“Dad?”
“Yes Simon?”
…another pause.
“Do you know Jackie Chan?”
I look in the rear view mirror and his eyes are locked on me in a puzzled expression.
“Um,…no. I don’t know Jackie Chan. Why son?”
Simon shrugs his cute little shoulder and looks down at his hands.
“Well Jackie Chan is really cool and you’re cool too so I thought he’s your friend.”
I couldn’t help but give the biggest, goofiest grin in my life. My son just compared me with Jackie Chan…and to him, I was equal in coolness.
Oh the wonderful mind of a child.
Coolness by association.
I bought him a treat at the store. =)
Read MorePotty Training
Those of us who are parents know that one of the great marks of progress is when our little one can use the toilet like their parents and older siblings. We appreciate is for the savings on diapers, able to take the children to public locations without worry of changing nightmares and more.
Yet there’s always that moment when the practice and the timing go wrong.
Simon as you know, is the Mr. Incredible of our family. He was so excited to start potty training and wanted to be like his big brothers, refusing to wear diapers one morning, because ‘he’s big now’. Well, we learned that his intense concentration when playing can become a huge distraction to the more important body functions we were trying to teach him about.
He was out jumping on the trampoline and chasing the chicken, giggling away when he suddenly froze still. His eyes looked left and right and then dropped to check the front of his pants. It a blue blur, he ran across the yard, dashed down the cement steps and into the house, screaming that he needed to pee.
We all chuckled (for he still feels he has to ask permission from someone before he goes) and he throws open the door to the bathroom. You hear the lid of the toilet thrown back with force, and then a small scream. Simon comes bolting from the bathroom and runs up to Leilani in the kitchen wide-eyed and red faced, screaming ‘Help! You need to unbutton my pants!’
Kneeling down, my daughter tried to get a grip on the front of her 3 year old jumping bean brother. But when she finally got a hold of the button, Simon froze, the expression on his face instantly relaxed.
“Ahhhh.” he whispered….as a puddle formed under his feet.
The kid still gets an A- for effort. We now have a working program to show him how to undo his own button…or we put him in elastic pants (grin).
Read MoreMy Latest Book
