Swimming

The kiddos were in Quiet Time just now, and Joshua yelled to let me know that, once again, Anna was naked. (Anna tends to see clothes as more suggestions than anything else.) I went to their room to explain ONCE AGAIN that she is required to wear clothes.

Her response?

"But MOM, I'm SWIMMING!"

Apparently her bed was doubling as a swimming pool, and of course, you can't go swimming in your clothes, so since there was no swimming suit available, she figured the next best thing was to skinny dip.

I explained that we would be swimming in the bed with our clothes and put her pants back on. Thus far that has been the end of it, but time will tell...

BIGGER

“Oh Anna, you’re my big girl.”

“No I’m not, I’m little.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, Daddy and Joshua and Matthew are big, Anna and Mommy are little.”

“Daddy and Joshua and Matthew are big and Anna and Mommy are little?”

“Yeah.”

“So boys are big and girls are little?”

“Yeah boys are big and girls are little.”

“But Anna, I’m bigger than Matthew.”

“Yeah you’re bigger than Matthew and I’m bigger than Daddy.”

“You’re bigger than Daddy?”

“Yeah and I’m bigger than Mommy.”

“You’re bigger than me? No you’re not.”

“No I’m not.”

“Anna, I love you, give me a hug.”

“HUGGIES!!”

Things Overheard in My House, Take Two

"I'll be right back, toast!" - Anna talking to her dinner as she got up to get something.

"Mommy, what are you doing?"
"I'm putting on your clothes, Anna."
"But why?"
"Because you have to wear clothes, Anna."
"I DO?!"

"MOM! Anna is touching the lion picture!"
"Anna, are you touching the lion picture?"
"Ummm...not anymore."

"REALLY big kids go to SECOND GRADE!!" - Joshua (Second grade is like a preschooler's promised land.)

"ANNA! Are you in the kitchen?"
"No, I'm not in the kitchen now." (That girl has a wicked grip of the concept of tenses.)

"DA-DY-DA-DY-DA-DY!" (No, Matthew is NOT saying Daddy, no matter what his father says!)

"MOM! I see a squirrel!"
"Really Joshua? What's it doing?"
"A guy is changing its diaper!" (What?)

"God loves cheese. God does NOT love green beans." - Anna during prayer

"And Jesus died on the cross and He lives in our hearts and He LOVES FOOD!" - Anna, same prayer

"Mom, I can't clean my room."
"Why not, Anna?"
"Because I don't want to."

"I can't close my eyes!" - Anna protesting bedtime

"HEY! Get your feet off your brother's head!"

Tales of a First-born

My husband was outside playing with the kids last night, and it came time to go inside. He announced, "Ok guys! Time to head inside!" Anna immediately started protesting - "I DON'T WANNA GO INSIDE!!" (Anna does nothing at a low volume. Unless she is being sneaky.)

Joshua, coming to his father's aid, said, "No Anna, it's time to go inside."

"NO NO I DON'T WANNA GO INSIDE!" Anna continued to yell.

Then Joshua, in his best, I'm-the-big-brother condescending voice, said:

"Now Anna, Daddy and I said it's time to go inside."

Daddy and I?

Who exactly is in charge around here, and who are the adults?

Reality According to Joshua

As I have mentioned before, the two older kids have what is affectionately known around our house as "Quiet Time" every day. This is also known as please-give-Mommy-one-hour-to-herself-time. It is not a naptime, and we try not to encourage sleeping because if they take naps, it'll be 10 or 11 before they fall asleep that night...and since they go to bed at 8:00, that's two or three hours of "Mom! I need to go to the bathroom!" "Daddy! I need water!" "Can I get a book? " "JOSHUA HIT ME!"

This afternoon, however, I lost the nap battle. Both Joshua and Anna were out within 20 minutes of being sent to their room for Quiet Time. Trying not to think about tonight's repercussions, I enjoyed the one-on-one time with their little brother (poor little third child that he is), and then when he went down for his nap, I enjoyed a long, hot shower. Ah, life's little luxuries!

About three hours after they were sent to their room, Joshua came out rubbing his eyes. I went over to give him a hug, and the first words out of his mouth were "Anna fell asleep!"

"Joshua," I said laughing, "you were asleep too."

"No I wasn't, Anna was sleeping, I wasn't sleeping."

"Joshua, you went to Quiet Time three hours ago, you've been asleep."

"NO I WASN'T SLEEPING! ANNA WAS SLEEPING!"

I'm not sure what he gives up admitting that he was also asleep, but it seemed to be very important that he believed he was not. And you know, some arguments are not worth having.

So we switched to snack time, and all was right in the world.

Things Overheard in My House

"Anna, put that down!" "But I'm THIRSTY!" "Anna, that's not a drink, that's hairspray."

Joshua, commenting on his Cars-themed chicken and noodle soup: "Lightening McQueen is from Cars, and I love him. But I don't like this."

Anna: "I have toys in my bottom!" (She then proceeded to pull toys out of her pull-up.)

Matthew: "BA-BA-BA-BA-BA!" (Not that exciting, but I wouldn't want him to be left out!)

Anna commenting on the popcorn in the microwave: "The cock-corn is making a silly noise!"

Anna, talking to the flock of birds she saw outside the van window: "Hi birds! My name is Anna. And this is Mommy, and Joshua, and Matthew. He's my BROTHER! We're taking Joshua to preschool."

Anna talking to the spider cricket in the bathroom: "Hi, I'm Anna! And this is my mommy, Mom. And this is Matthew. I'm going PEE!"

Anna: "I am not the cheese."

Joshua: "I'm taking off my shirt because I am JOSHUA."

Joshua, to his father: "I'm big, and you're big, but you're taller than me, so I've got to get taller when I'm five."

"ANNA! YOU HAVE TO WEAR CLOTHES!"

Anna: "Joshua, you're a princess."
Joshua: "No, I'm a prince. I rescue you."

Matthew: "DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA!"

Anna: "I think I'm Anna...yup, I'm Anna."

And finally, not overheard in the house, but in the van...

Joshua: "Anna, Knock knock!"
Anna: "Knock knock!"
Joshua: "NO! You're supposed to say who's there!"
Anna: "I don't WANT to say who's there!"
Joshua: "Why?"
Anna: "BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO SAY WHO'S THERE!"
Joshua: "NO! You're supposed to say 'I don't know'!"
Anna: "I DON'T WANT TO SAY THAT!"

Pause.

Joshua: "Anna, knock knock!"
Anna: "Knock knock!"

...and so on and so forth...

Princess Anna, part 2

Earlier this week, Anna and I were in the doctor's office waiting (because that's what you do in the doctor's office) and to pass the time, we started another story about Princess Anna and her horse, Cereal. I like to let her fill in the blanks, so the conversation went like this:

Me: "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named..."

Anna: "ANNA!"

Me: "That's right, Anna! And she lived in a beautiful castle and had a horse named..."

Anna: "Cereal!"

Me: "Cereal, ok, still Cereal. And one day Anna and Cereal were riding through the town when they saw a..."

Anna: "Ummm...TRICERATOPS!"

It's a good thing the doctor came in shortly after that, I was laughing too hard to really add much more to the story!

Dinnertime

Some families, when they gather for the evening meal, share intellectual discourse. Some laugh about the events of the day. Some even use it as a time to learn new things, such as a foreign language or the history of Ancient Rome.

Here's a list of things that happened at my family dinner tonight:

- Daddy let Joshua choose whether Matthew would start with his pureed pears or carrots. He chose pears, which meant Matthew did not EAT his carrots when it came time to feed them to him.

- Anna jumped up halfway through dinner, ran to the other side of the room, yelled "Look what I can do!" and proceeded to do a somersault.

- Joshua discovered that if he shut his eyes tight and swung his head back and forth, he was hilarious. At least to himself.

- Anna got down on all fours in her chair and started barking like a dog.

- Joshua began crowing like a rooster. "Cock-a-doodle-do!"

- We had an identity crisis as first Anna claimed that Daddy was Joshua, then Joshua claimed the same. It's hard to keep these things straight after all.

- Joshua flung his arm in a dramatic fashion out to the side, hit his milk, and sent it crashing to the floor. As I ran to get towels, Joshua had started to whimper when his sister came to the rescue: "Don't worry Joshua! MOMMY will clean it up!!"

- Anna ate two bites of biscuit. Joshua ate a serving of roast, a serving of peas, and two biscuits. When we tried praising Joshua in an attempt to encourage Anna to eat more, she simply joined in: "Good job, Joshua, good job!" When asked if she was going to eat any of her dinner, she paused and then responded "Ummm...no."

Perhaps the intellectual discussions will come later on.

Then again, maybe not.

What are we teaching them?

Recently, Joshua and Anna received a dollar each from their great-grandmother. Both bills are currently sitting in our change jar, waiting for me to figure out what to do with them, exactly.

The other day Joshua asked me if we could get him new sunglasses. I refuse to buy him sunglasses anywhere but the Dollar Tree - I am not spending more than a dollar on something that is going to last less than 48 hours. He loves sunglasses, takes them everywhere, wears them everywhere...and subsequently breaks them everywhere. He is harder on sunglasses than my brother Sam is on toaster ovens.

When he asked me for new sunglasses, I decided this might be a good opportunity to teach him about money and making choices. I went and pulled out his dollar bill and sat down to have a deep, one-on-one teachable moment with him. I showed him the dollar and asked him what it was. He didn't know, so I explained it was money, a one dollar bill.

"And what do you think we do with money, Joshua?" I asked.

He thought long and hard for a moment, and then answered:

"Take it to Wal-Mart?"

I admit, I started laughing so hard that we didn't get much farther in the conversation. Oh well, maybe next time!

A story about Princess Anna

Anna climbed up into my life and said, "I want you to tell me a story."

"Ok, Anna, what would you like a story about?" I replied.

"ME!" she said, clasping her hands to her heart.

"Ok then, well, Princess Anna..."

"ONCE UPON A TIME!" she corrected me passionately.

"Sorry, once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Anna, and she lived in a beautiful castle..."

Joshua chimed in at this point - "There needs to be HORSES!"

Well, of course, you can't have a princess story without horses, everyone knows this. So I added horses: "And she had a whole herd of horses of her very own. One day she and her favorite horse were riding through the forest...Anna, what should we name the horse?"

Wait for it.

"Ummm...cereal."

"Cereal? The horse's name is cereal?"

"YES!" she answered enthusiastically.

The story went on from there, involved bears and brave mice and more horses. But to me, this was the highlight of the experience. Apparently, Cereal is my daughter's favorite name. It's at least one of her favorite foods, I know that. The word seems to be appeal to her as well.

I love my kids and how their minds work.

It's BEAUTIFUL!

This morning I had to run over to our church with Matthew and Anna to grab a Bible my husband had left there over the weekend. I was trying to move fast in order to get back before he had to go to work. We ran in the building, and while hauling Matthew on one hip, I told Anna "Ok, head to the sanctuary."

"The SANCTUARY?" Anna asked excitedly. "Ok!"

We headed to the sanctuary, where I rushed in looking for the Bible. Anna, however, stopped in the middle of the room and took in a deep breath of awe.

"The SANCTUARY!" she exclaimed. "Oh, it's BEAUTIFUL!"

She walked up and down a row touching the chairs, saying, "oh, look at these chairs!" She took a moment to drink the whole room in.

Now, she was born in this church. (Well, not IN the church, but you know what I mean.) She has been here her whole life. That sanctuary is as familiar to her as her own living room. When she gets there for Sunday morning worship, she often just kicks off her shoes and starts running around. (And then she gets a time-out for running, but that's another story.) There was nothing new or breathtaking about the room. Yet when she walked in, her tiny 3-year old self was captivated by the beauty of God's house of worship.

On one hand, this is just a cute story about Anna and her drama queen-ness. These days everything is a dramatic event for Anna. She's becoming a pint-sized diva. One the other hand though, there is a deeper message for me.

Why don't I respond that way to the things of God? Why don't I walk into that sanctuary and exclaim, "oh, it's beautiful!" When was the last time I stopped to consider the greatness of what He has provided for us? This is the place I worship, where I connect with God. What is more beautiful than that? This is the place where believers gather together to marvel at God's greatness. Why don't I stop and consider the breathtaking beauty of that?

I am in our church building approximately 498 times a week. And today I realized that it has become commonplace for me. It's just, you know, the building, the sanctuary. But today I stopped and looked at it through my daughter's eyes - and, I believe, God's eyes. He doesn't see it as common and ordinary. He doesn't see it as just another room. He sees it as a gift He gave his children so they could have a place to gather and worship Him. He sees it as a precious meeting place for Him and His people. It's been anointed and set apart for a holy purpose. While it should be a comfortable, familiar place, it shouldn't be "just another room." It is a place of honor where I meet with the God of the universe.

Now, I know, I know, the Church is not a building, it's the people. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about something bigger than just the four walls of the sanctuary. I'm talking about an attitude of reverence for God and those things that are of Him. My relationship with God becomes commonplace too. I can talk to Him anytime about anything, so you know, it's just God, we're good and all. Nothing special. Nothing special?! The God that created aardvarks and sodium and Pluto and the electron and stardust wants to have a relationship with ME. How can I treat that as something ordinary? How can I just run in and out of it, grab what I need, whatever I forgot over the weekend, and run back out to the next thing? When was the last time I stopped and looked at Him for who He is as well as those things that are important to Him and said, "oh, it's beautiful!" I run from place to place just expecting God will be there, and He will be - but I don't want to treat Him and commonplace any more that I want to treat His ways, His power, His gifts, and yes, even His house of worship as commonplace. He deserves so much more than that, and I was created to worship and revere Him, not brush Him aside.

Today my daughter taught me a lesson in how I see and treat the things of God. She sees wonder and delight where I see commonplace. I want my perspective to be more like hers. This is surely a piece of what Jesus said when He said to have faith like a child. May we all hold a child's sense of wonder and beauty close to our hearts and see those things that are precious to Him as precious to us.

A Tree?

Tonight at Church, Anna was sitting on my lap while I ran the overhead projector. The background to our lyric slides is a big cross. (The default background to Open Song, for anyone who is familiar with the program.)

As she sat on my lap, she pointed to the computer screen and said, "What's that?"

"That?" I answered. "That's a cross."

"Is it a tree?"

"No, Anna, it's a cross."

"A tree?"

"No, a cross. Jesus died on the cross." I paused for a moment here, hoping that would kick her memory into gear, perhaps even paving the way for a deep, theological discussion, three-year-old style.

She paused too, thereby igniting my hope that she was pondering the deeper meaning of the cross. Then:

"It's a tree?"

Hope thwarted.

"No, Anna, just a cross."

"Can you get a tree?"

"Nope, can't get a tree, sorry."

"Ok, Mommy."

At this, she slid down my lap and ran out to the sanctuary to worship with her father...or maybe to see if she could con a tree out of him, for all I know. (All she has to do is bat her big blue eyes at her daddy and say "I wuv you, Daddy!" and he will pretty much do whatever she wants. If I ever come home to a pony tied up in the front yard, this will be the reason.)

So, no deep heart-to-heart with Mommy tonight. Maybe next week we can talk about bushes. Perhaps that will lead to something more....Moses and the burning bush, anyone?

Does It Count?

Yesterday Joshua ran passed Anna and slapped her on the arm. She of course protested with loud tears.

However, upon questioning, Joshua's defense was "I didn't hit her! I gave her a high five!"

So this begs the question - if the other person doesn't know it's a high five, does it still count for one, or does it qualify as a hit?

Jury's still out.

Justice Served?

Every afternoon, we observe a special time in our house known as "quiet time." The alternate name of this time is called "everyone aged 2-4 in this house needs to go spend an hour in their room before Mommy pulls out all her hair." It is what we do in place of naptime for the two older ones as naptime leads to late sleep time at night. (Not late bedtime. Bedtime stays the same, but if Joshua and Anna take naps earlier in the day, they won't fall asleep till 11:00 pm or later, no matter what time they go to bed.) The time is to be spent playing quietly in their room, but "quietly" is a loose term. Before long, frustrated screams will emit from the room, and wails of "She took my toy!" "He hit me!" "I HAD THAT FIRST! MOMMY!" will hang in the air. But for one hour, I invoke what I like to call "Mom's Selective Hearing." Unless the screams communicate that blood has been drawn, I just choose not to hear. For one hour, they can settle their own disputes.

Unless, of course, they come out of the room.

As I was sitting at the dining room table trying to eat my lunch in quasi-peace, Anna came flying out the room, red-faced with tears of injustice streaming down her face. "JOSHUA HIT ME!"

Now, the thing is, I had not heard anything preceding Anna's arrival at the table, which immediately made me a tad suspicious. But now that she was standing in front of me, I had to step into my judge-and-jury role.

"Joshua! What happened! Why is Anna crying?"

Silence.

"Joshua! Did you hit Anna!"

Continued silence. This did not help Joshua's case, and Anna's suddenly took on some credence.

"JOSHUA! COME HERE PLEASE!"

"I'M BUILDING A TOWER ON THE FLOOR!"

Finally! A response! Oddly enough, though, not quite the one I was looking for.

"Joshua, please come here and tell me what happened!"

Joshua came out into the living room with his best indignantly-oppressed-artist face on. After all, I had interrupted a masterpiece in progress to attend to something as trivial as his sister's feelings, both physical and emotional. Couldn't I see there were more important matters at hand, like Legos?

"Joshua, did you hit Anna?"

"I'm building a tower!"

Not helping your case, kiddo...

"That's not what I asked. Did you hit Anna?"

"I'm BUILDING A TOWER!"

Clearly we were not communicating.

"Joshua, yes or no. Did you hit Anna?"

"No."

A curve ball! I was expecting a confession; when pressed, he is usually pretty good about 'fessing up. Hmmm.

"Then why does she think so?"

"Ummmm, well, ummm, I said I was sorry."

Interesting. The plot thickens.

"So did you hit her?"

"No!"

"Then what did you say you were sorry for?"

"Well...I did."

Not sure at this point if the "I did" refers to the hitting or the apology, I turned to Anna to see how she was taking all of this. Her attention had wandered and she was checking out something behind her. It was obvious that whatever had happened had already passed from her small, 3-year old memory and was a thing of the past.

Shaking my head, I said, "Ok, was it an accident?"

"Yes!" declared my little suspect, eager to move on.

"Ok, and you said you were sorry?"

"Yes!!!"

"Ok, Anna, it was an accident, everyone go back to quiet time."

"Ok Mommy!" they both exclaimed, and they scurried back to their room.

I am still not sure exactly what happened, and like the Mystery of the Pink Face, I likely never will...but I figure if everyone is happy once more, justice has been served as far as it can be at this point. So I'll just do the best I can - and maybe get to finish my lunch in the process.

But it sounds like I will have to hurry, because there goes Matthew...

A Typical Weekday Morning

I'm standing in the kitchen, trying to get some breakfast and make some coffee.

Anna comes running in the kitchen...

"MOMMY! I don't want Joshua to GRRR me!"

Joshua comes in on Anna's heels, letting out a dinosaur-like "GRRRR!!!"

"Joshua, stop grrring Anna, she doesn't like it!"

(Disappointed sigh) "Ok..."

They both leave, I return to making my coffee.

Anna lets out another scream: "MOMMY, I don't want Joshua to ROAR me!"

(Lion-esque roaring is going on in the background)

"JOSHUA! STOP ROARING ANNA!"

"OK!"

A moment later Anna comes running through the kitchen.

"I have to go potty!"

Moved by my love for my daughter combined with the desire to do something to combat the morning's absurdity, I grab her on the way and give her a big hug and kiss.

She wriggles out of my arm and says "Sorry, Mommy, I'm sorry!"

Confused, I follow her in the bathroom and say "Sorry for what, Anna? You didn't do anything."

She pauses a second and then laughs and says "Good job, Mommy, good job!"

I am not sure what all just happened in the past few minutes, but I sure need to finish making that coffee...

The Rites of Passage for Boys

Rites of passage are important for development. (Our society has a distinct lack of them, but that is another rant for another time.) There are certain steps on the ladder of a young boy's growth, important stages of learning and growth that every boy needs to go through in order to take his place among men in the world. They must learn to perform certain tasks and take interest in particular matters to join that crazy world known as "manhood."

I speak, of course, of the male fascination with flatulence, how it is made and what influence it can have on the world around them.

Recently, my four-year-old son has taken a major step towards this important stage of a man's life. He was recently taught that when placed strategically in the armpit area, a straw can be blown into in such a way that the noise emitted sounds identical to that of gas come from his behind. Having discovered this all-important fact, he can now be found most of the time running around the house, straw in arm, blowing away and laughing his head off.

Ah, growing up. These are the moments that make a mother proud.

They are also the reason Mommy needs coffee and lots of it.

What Jesus Wants...?

Anna loves to make up songs. Some of them are nonsense words, and some of them are just phrases that catch her fancy. She breaks out into song about as often as she breaks out into Anna-dog, and sometimes she does both at the same time.

Today she made up the following song, to no particular tune:

Jesus loves me!
Jesus loves you!
Jesus loves Matthew!
Jesus wants me to SHAKE MY BOOTY!

This was accompanied by her sticking her little tushie out and shaking it all about.

Let's face it...that doesn't need any more commentary. It pretty much says it all.

Sometimes I Just Watch Them Sleep

I just spent several minutes standing over Matthew's crib, just watching him sleep. I watched as his tiny chest rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern, stared at his small hands folded over one another, took in his soft, wispy hair. I breathed in his baby scent, accentuated by the bath he fought me on earlier this evening. I just stood there and drank in his very existence.

Watching my babies sleep is an amazing experience. I can stand there and experience forever in a moment, just staring down at this tiny, complete person that God has placed in my life. In those moments, I can see the love, joy, pain, hurt, triumph, and failure to come in their life - all the ups and downs that will define who this small creature becomes. I can see their first step, their first bike ride, their first broken heart, their first hard-earned A, their first driving lesson, their first real encounter with God...I can see them in worship as a young adult, in despair as a struggling teenager, celebrating a marriage, struggling with crises of faith, rejoicing over the birth of their own little one as the dance of life continues on. The fullness of the destiny God has for them can wash over me in those few, forever moments as I stare down at them, watching their tiny chest rise and fall.

As I watch my babies sleep, breathing prayers for them and the life they have ahead of them, I am overcome with thankfulness that the God of the universe has allowed me to be a part of this incredible journey, the life and development of one of His children. I am bowled over with the enormity of the task laid before me, so aware of my inadequacies as a mother, and yet knowing that God has not called me to this place without equipping me and walking beside me every step of the way. I also realize in these moments as I watch them dream that my children are not my own - they belong to the Lord, and their destinies are ultimately His. I am just privileged to get to ride along the way and bear the all-consuming title of "Mommy" in their precious lives.

So much is ahead of us on this road of life. My oldest is only four, my youngest 5 months, and we don't believe our family is yet complete. My life as a parent has only begun. We have so much more to experience, so much more to come. I am humbled, blessed, and overwhelmed with the life God has given me with my family. It is a powerful responsibility, one that at times tries to knock me down. But the Lord has not abandoned me to this task, but has rather called me higher to walk through it with Him to see His purposes fulfilled not just for their lives, but for my own as well.

The best is yet to come.

For now, I'll just watch them sleep...

Cheerios! And the Adventures of Anna-dog

Matthew, the baby, has recently discovered Cheerios. He does not yet understand that they are food particles to be eaten; rather, he thinks they are toys to be flung. On the floor. With great excitement and joy. When I spread a handful on his high chair, he will grab them and fling them wide, laughing his tiny baby head off in the process. He thinks Cheerios are the greatest thing since plastic teething rings.

A few days ago, I gave him a few Cheerios to experiment with, and on the floor they went, in a wide perimeter. Sighing, I had resigned myself to getting out the vacuum cleaner, when I heard a soft noise like that of a small dog. It was my daughter in her favorite make-believe mode, a character we like to call "Anna-dog" around her house.

To put it simply, Anna likes to pretend she is a dog. She's two, almost three, with a very vivid imagination. And this is one of her favorite pretends. She can fall into Anna-dog at any given moment - during dinner, during playtime, when she has been told to clean her room...any time she feels the moment grab her, she will fall down on all fours and start barking like a puppy, playing fetch with various toys and - you guessed it - eating food off the floor.

See where I'm going with this?

As I watched in a sort of arrested amusement, Anna wandered around the floor under Matthew's high chair eating up all the Cheerios, dog-style, off the floor with her mouth. No hands, just lips. In moments, the floor was clear of Cheerios.

Oh well, guess I don't need to get out the vacuum cleaner...

A Birthday Mystery

I have been meaning to pick this blog back up in order to report the hilarious activities of my three small children. Today's events, combined with the fact that it is my 29th birthday, seem to be a good place for a fresh beginning.

A Birthday Mystery

Upon returning home from a nice, quiet (albeit HOT) ride around town, I was immediately ordered to the back of the house as my husband was in the middle of birthday surprises. My two year old and four year old children followed me to my bedroom, and as I leaned over to give my four year old son a hug, I noticed the skin around his eyes were bright pink. Initially I was concerned he was having a weird allergic reaction to something, but a trip to the bathroom sink with a wet washcloth proved it was some sort of foreign substance.

I tried to interview the suspe...err, I mean, my son, in order to determine just what had been on his face and how it had gotten there. However, his defenses immediately went into action with rapid protests of "I didn't do it! I didn't do it! My sister did it!" When asked if it was makeup, he nodded vigorously, but the makeup in my makeup bag seemed to be intact and all accounted for. He claimed his two year old sister had put the makeup on his face. When asked what he was doing while she did this, he simply responded "I didn't do it! I didn't do it! My sister did it!!!" He also claimed "Daddy took it from her and put it back." A-ha! A possible witness!!

We moved the investigation to the living room where Daddy was questioned, alas, to no avail. He was as confused as I. Comin' round the corner, Suspect #2, my two year old daughter, was found on the floor with an orange marker. A-ha! A marker! Now we are getting somewhere! "Where is the pink marker?" I asked, hoping for some answers. Instead of a location, my ever possessive daughter responded with "I don't want to share the pink marker!" Further inquiries resulted with the same response.

That's as far as we've gotten. To be continued...

A post script: Suspect #2 just appeared with orange surrounding her right eye. The marker theory is picking up more credibility as we go.