Miss Manners

A while back, Adam began to make it his mission to get Adly to start saying things like "please" and "thank you". I think that manners are SUPER important and I can tell you from experience that it is very easy to spot children who come from homes where politeness is considered important.

However I can't say I fully agreed with enforcing it so early. I'm not sure why, I guess I just didn't think it would stick yet, so why bother? Thankfully Adam is in charge over the winter, so he began enforcing it on his own while home with Adly. 

His biggies were to say "please" when asking for things-not just demanding. Say "thank you" when someone gives you something and say "bless you" when someone sneezes. Simple enough. 

Ironically, these small phrases began to stick pretty quickly. She especially took to saying "bless you!" after someone sneezes which, while polite, is also beyond adorable.

The other day as we were driving I sneezed a few times. When I was done I hear "Bless you mama!" from the backseat. I mean, come on. When I hand her things now, I usually get a "tank you mama" or when asking for things she usually adds on a "pleeeease". 

While she uses these phrases pretty regularly, I know that she still needs time to fully understand the meaning of being polite. Recently we had a dinner conversation that went like this:

Adly: Mama get a pancakes please.

Me: I don't have pancakes.

A: Mama get a pancakes please.

Me: Adly, I don't have pancakes.

A: Mama MAKE a pancakes please.

Me: I can't make you pancakes.

A: (growing frustrated, furrowing her brows, deep breath)

A: Mama make a pancakes! I SAID please!!

Here is where some more understanding of the word "please" might've helped out the situation. See, some days Adly decides to act like a finicky royal highness toddler at mealtimes and demands any other kind of food that isn't on her plate. This was one of those instances. Of course, I being the mean mom that I am, refuse to give her anything other than what is offered. But in this case, she was very frustrated and confused as to why she couldn't get the pancakes because, after all, she said please!

In an unintentional way, another use of "polite words" has entered Adly's vocabulary. These days I find that when she is annoyed by me touching her, or being in her way, she'll say, "I'm sorry mama". And move whatever is in her way. The other day we were on the couch next to each other, so naturally I put my tender loving arm around her. Apparently, this annoyed her and she immediately moved my arm off of her as she said, "I'm sorry, mama." Sometimes she'll move into my territory and decide she doesn't like something, only to move it saying, "I'm sorry, mama." Like when she came blasting through the house pushing her baby stroller and ran into my legs. She stated, "I'm sorry mama." But not because she was sorry she ran into me, because she was sorry I was in the way. So in other words, it was a "get out of my way!" type of sorry. This phrase always makes me laugh when she uses it in these situations. 

I love how people in the South use ma'am and sir to address adults, yet I don't think it fully fits in with our Northern nasally dialect. Therefore, using simple words like please and thank you have been our way to make sure we feel appreciated on some level throughout the day. And it's working! So I guess it never really is too early to try enforcing those small, yet very meaningful words. 

Daddy Daycare

I went into work yesterday to set up my classroom for when I return to work on Monday. Eeeek!

Adly will now be staying home with daddy for the next few months, entering into a real life Daddy Daycare. So we used the day as a trial run of what it will be like when mommy goes back to work. As promised, Adam sent me a picture in the middle of the day to show me what he and the munchkin were up to.

Let's just say, if this is what this winter is going to be like, I can't wait for the hilarity to ensue.

That's an oven mitt holding her arms down....

To help explain, Adly's favorite thing to do while eating these days is shove her right fist (the entire hand, if you will) and her left thumb into her mouth. She eats a spoonful of creamy puree, then puts the fist in the mouth to suck for a few seconds, then the thumb. She's probably showing early signs of OCD or her ability to create patterns. That's my girl!! But what you're left with is a huge mess when she's done eating. 

Apparently, today Adam came up with a new invention while feeding her by himself. To solve the problem of the fist and the thumb interruptions, he used an oven mitt from the kitchen to strap down her arms, thus creating a hands-free eating experience. 

I have to give it to him for the creative ingenuity it took to come up with that one....