I Beg You

It's so much fun and a little scary to start hearing grown-up phrases coming out of your 4 year-olds mouth.

Last weekend, Ben and Kyle were arguing about who was going to get to use the car out in the back yard. Eventually they both ended up in it with Kyle on Ben's lap. This didn't last for too long before Ben started complaining that he couldn't steer or move the car with Kyle in his lap.

"Kyle!! Get out, I can't move the car... Get out please! I beg you!"

No Rest for the Weary

Kyle and Ben have been watching the Cars movie every chance they get lately and it hasn't been nearly enough for them, but let me tell you, they are starting to quote the movie at random and amusing moments.

The other night at the dinner table, I was bemoaning the fact that I still had a lot to do after dinner like mowing the lawn and cleaning up the backyard. As I was getting up from the table to clear my place and get started I said, "No rest for the weary."

To which Ben promptly responded with the Lightning McQueen quote: "Not today old man!"

Not sure if he was directly responding to my statement or not, but he sure got quite a reaction from Mindy and I.

What's a Girl? Vertebrate or Invertebrate?

The other night at dinner, Ben posed the question: "What's a girl?"

Mindy and I looked at one another trying to decide how to answer such a broad question. Then Ben let us off the hook. He has been learning about classifications of animals at school recently and so the question was more specific.

"Is a girl a vertebrate or an invertebrate?"

Whew, we can answer that one.

"A girl is a vertebrate," I say with relief.

But then he follows up with this gem. "So are boys invertebrates?"

Naturally, I'm left to answer this one as Mindy is occupied with trying not to dissolve into gales of laughter.

So I explain that all humans are vertebrates and both boys and girls are humans. Then I start to quiz him on what animals he is learning about in school. He starts with some "I don't know"s but then clearly doesn't want to talk about it anymore because he says in his best commanding tone, "Less talking, more eating."

I guess he told me.

Mommy is Smarter than Daddy

This was the pronouncement of Ben to his younger brother this morning. Mindy heard it from the other room being told in all earnestness as if it were a life lesson he were passing on to Kyle.

To set the context, you have to know that Ben and I made cookies on Saturday morning to help Mindy out. When we got to the part where we spooned the cookies onto the cookie sheet, Ben looked at the two spoons that I had and asked where his were. I told him one was for me and the other was for him.

"But mommy uses 2 spoons," he said.

"Oh, well, I think one spoon apiece will be fine for us."

So we proceed to drop the cookies onto the sheet and it does seem to have its challenges. Then Ben is tired of it and puts his spoon down in the bowl to go do something else. After a couple minutes I decide that maybe 2 spoons would be better and it was so much easier. I know, that's kind of obvious if you think about it, but I don't bake much.

When Ben came back into the room, I told him that we should have used two spoons because it was much easier.

Hence, Ben's declaration to Kyle that "Mommy is smarter than Daddy. She knows that you should use two spoons for making cookies instead of one."

Being like Daddy

It's really fun to see how Ben perceives the adult world as he begins his interest in becoming an adult.

A couple weeks ago when most of our family was fighting one sort of sickness or the other, I had a really bad cough for a few days. One evening at dinner as I was getting over my cough, Ben coughed really hard. It sounded like it hurt, actually.

When he was finished Ben looked at me and said, "I thought I had your cough, Daddy, it was so loud."

I guess the idea of colds being contagious will have to wait...

Then last Saturday, Ben was looking at his arms and started talking about he was growing up because he had little fuzzes on his arm.

"Then when I'm grown up, my arm will be really hairy, like Daddy's."

It's such a joy and such a responsibility to realize how much my boys look up to me. I just hope I can be as good a role model as my dad was.