Saturday, March 06, 2010

attitude


whenever i happen to think of my boys entering their teenage years, i shudder and force my mind elsewhere. i was not really the wholesome, happy teenager that every parent dreams of having, and josh was even less so. that can only mean one thing: we are both in for it when our kids hit puberty. i figure we've got 10 good years left before our sweet, obedient children turn into cocky, sullen young men and i fully plan on enjoying every sweet, obedient moment until then. nothing, however could have prepared me for the little attitude that my oldest son decided to begin sporting yesterday.

upon his enthusiastic request, i had somewhat unwillingly consented to make him his favorite lunch... macaroni and cheese. (*interesting tidbit: mac and cheese is such a popular quick-fix meal in canada that its simply called "kd" by many, which stands for "kraft dinner." see? americans aren't the only ones who can eat nothing but junk and call it a meal.) since i don't often allow tristan to consume something so nutritionally empty, i steamed and chopped up some asparagus and tossed it in with his noodles. half way through the meal, i noticed that there was a large abundance of green things left in his bowl, while he meticulously tried to get only macaroni in his mouth with each bite. i calmly told him that he had to finish his asparagus, that it would make him big and strong, and that if he didn't want to finish it now, then it would stay on the table, waiting for him to get hungry again because he wouldn't be getting anything else to eat until his bowl was empty. tristan gave a big, dramatic sigh, and then said, "what eber, mommy."

oh. my. goodness. did my three year old just throw, "whatever" at me? i was shocked and honestly didn't know quite how to respond to that, seeing as i thought i had 10 years before he would even think of whatevering his own mama. i started out by asking him where he had heard that word. "does johnny say that?" i asked him, thinking that spending last weekend with his 5 year old cousin may have taught him a few new things. "no, tristan says it" he replied. its really tough to explain to someone so young that its not the actual word that is naughty, but the tone that it is said in. how do you describe "attitude" to a three year old? well, i tried to explain it the best i could and i have no idea if any of it made sense to him, but within minutes he was eating all of his asparagus, declaring them "yummy in my tummy and in my heart" and back to his sweet, adorable self. still, my sense of security has been shattered as i know it will only be a matter of time before some more attitude comes out of his previously innocent little mouth. yeah, i know. i need to get over it.

and, just to prove to you how gushingly adorable my little boy is, i've tucked a few cute moments in my memory just so that i can blog about them (no easy feat, tucking things away in my memory these days).

while leaving the library, josh called me on my cell phone and, after hanging up, tristan asked who was on the phone.

me: that was daddy on the phone.
tristan: my daddy?
me: yep, your only daddy.
tristan: i love my daddy so much (except his much sounds like march)
me: i love your daddy so much too.
tristan: i love my daddy wots and wots and wots
me: well, i love your daddy to the moon and back
tristan: i love my daddy hurt him back too.

which sort of makes sense because josh did hurt his back last week

then, the same day as the asparagus-attitude incident, tristan was sitting at the kitchen table eating a snack while i was washing dishes in the sink with the sun streaming through the window. tristan asked me, "whats wrong mommy?" "nothing is wrong" i told him, "why do you think something is wrong with mommy?" "because you eyebwows all naughty, mommy." which meant that i was frowning a little since the sun was in my eyes.

whenever josh comes home from work, he opens the door and, if there are no little people there to greet him, he gives a little whistle which immediately alerts his boys to the fact that DADDY'S HOME!!!! and we all go rushing to see him and give him hugs and kisses. tristan and i were discussing the way daddy whistles and i was trying out a few "mommy whistles" to see if i could come up with a special whistle of my own. tristan was trying very hard to imitate the sounds i was making, but only succeeded in using his voice to say "wooo wooo" instead of actually whistling. "my whistle not working, mommy" he told me. "my mouth broken. tell daddy to put new batteries in it."

oh, the cuteness. i am so loving this age.

12 comments:

Claire said...

oh girl, I am telling you - three has been the hardest age for me so far. two was great and four is proving to go mostly quite nicely - but three!! yikes. Hang in there. A good book that helped disarm the showdowns a bit was "playful parenting". good luck! :)

M.R. Tumnus said...

Adorable - the cute sayings I mean. Isn't it amazing how they can use the exact inflection in their voices to show the meaning behind what they are saying? ie "whateber". Remember what word you came home with when you were two and used it at precisely the "right" time? Enjoy, I still love the 3 year old stage. XO

Shannon said...

yes... I too blogged about sending my daughter to preschool with a bowl of solidified cold oatmeal for lunch. she called my bluff.

kids are cute.

Z-Mama said...

Oh my goodness, those are all the cutest stories! Raegann and Kammie both *think* they can whistle...Rae feeds our dog every morning and calls him by saying "Redgie! Fruit, Fruit!"

Also, I've recently discovered The Sneaky Chef and am so in love with all of her recipes! I made homemade mac & cheese the other night, which the girls loved. Hidden inside were: carrots, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and zucchini! She also has a recipe for a quick fix for boxed mac & cheese making it quick and easy and more healthy!

Lovella ♥ said...

big sigh .. .love this post. It is like yesterday that I was a mom with two adoring little boys.
Well done to see how amazing this time is ..

christine said...

love it too, so cute, so innocent (or hopefully!) love those boys!

Unknown said...

How funny!

Darcy and Sharon said...

They grow up so fast - it's great that you're writing down all these cute things - even the "Whateber".

Thirsty said...

too funny Heidi!

My child was born with attitude *sigh*! Today, for the first time ever, as he was heading of to sunday school, he yelled, "I don't want you to come Mommy." What a change from the tears a year ago when I would attempt to leave him.

But I too am loving the 3's.

Hallam Family said...

You're such a good mom, Heidi. You invest so much in your family. Even if your boys get some attitude in their teens they will have a strong foundation. Your blogs posts are great. Love the cute Tristan moments. Missing you guys. :)
-Chandra

Julie said...

Cute little sayings by Tristan! I loved reading them.

rachel joy said...

I know. I'm terrified! Our scary stage is going to start in about 6-7 years. Yikes. My neighbour who has a boy in middle school told me start praying about those years NOW! Until then, I'm proud to report that my boys have never been served KD without a smattering of peas (unless I'm not the one feeding them, ahem.) They get so excited for "yellow noodles"! with peas! and ketchup!