Mad Potty Ninja skeelz are inherited

Sim:  Tessa needs to go poop!

Michael:  What?

Me:  He’s usually right.

Michael:  Really?

Me:  Yep.

A few minutes later, Tess having pooped, just as predicted…

Michael:  Sim takes after you, my love.

Something clicked

for me the other day.  One of my least favorite things is having the kids accuse me of NEVER doing something or NEVER letting the them do something.  Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it’s not, but the accusation is generally way more dramatic than the situation warrants.  So this week, I came up with a response:

Sim:  You NEVER let us go to that playground!

Me:  Then why do you keep asking, if you know I never let you?

I suddenly realized that if I’ve discovered that someone never lets something happen (for example, “You NEVER give me $500!”), I stop asking.  I don’t keep asking and then dramatically tell them they NEVER do it.  That’s silly.  They realize that they NEVER do it, I realize that they NEVER do it, we don’t have to revisit it.

Of course, this logic did not really resonate with the children, but it did help me figure out one of the reasons it’s so irritating to have the “You NEVER” statements flung at me. 

The real problem here isn’t that I NEVER let them do something.  The real problem is that I sometimes do and sometimes don’t, and when the don’ts add up, the NEVERs start flying.  This is because of intermittent reinforcement, I imagine.  I do not intend to reward the “You NEVER” statements even once, though, because extinction of this behavior is my goal.  So there’s my Applied Psychology 101 class for the day.

She’s starting to understand

Hannah is making something for her cousin for his birthday.  The party is today.  The craft was decided about a month ago, but it’s one she needs my help with.  Here’s the interchange from this morning:

Me:  Hannah, we can start working on [that craft].

Hannah:  The party’s today!  Why haven’t we worked on it yet?!?

Me:  [still in a calm, pleasant voice]  Because we’ve been sitting on our tushes doing nothing all week.

Hannah:  [with resignation and amusement]  Okay, I get it.

Easter together

She’s a morning person

Hannah:  When I grow up, I’m going to allow myself to get up as EARLY AS I WANT in the morning!

70 degrees

Mama:  Girls, you might want to take off your tights and wear just your sandals. 

Naomi:  WHAT?!?  JUST SANDALS?!?

Hannah:  Can I take off my cardigan, too?!?

Mama:  Yes.

Naomi:  NO CARDIGAN?!?

It’s been a long winter.

Happy Easter!

The kids got some Easter gear in the mail from Grandma Ellie and Grandpa Larry.  And they have put it to good use. 

We’ll be celebrating at Easter Mass this morning, and dinner with the in-town relatives this afternoon. 

We hope you have a blessed Easter season!

In which I admit that my skepticism was incorrect

When Hannah first talked about walking the bunnies on leashes, I was skeptical, as I reported.  Of course, I also admitted that I might be proved wrong.  And I have been.  Hannah has taken Gypsy outside on a leash a couple of different times now.  I don’t have pictures yet, but someday I’ll get one, and you’ll see Gypsy outside, on a leash, meeting the neighbors, eating grass, jumping up steps, and generally being a bunny on a leash outside. 

I still entertain doubts about the wisdom of this, but will pray that all continues to go well with the bunnies.  I hope Gypsy doesn’t meet an off-leash dog on her travels.  Hannah poo-poos my concerns, though, and is confident that she can keep Gypsy safe.

Hildy isn’t allowed to go outside.  Hannah isn’t doing leash training with her these days.  Hildy isn’t interested and is much more forceful about her lack of interest than Gypsy is, so she remains peacefully sleeping in her cage during Gypsy’s outside adventures.  Of course, Hannah could conceivably decide that two bunnies outside is her dream, and then I’m sure she’d overcome even Hildy’s objections.