Well, I just have to brag on Bonner - and capture this story so the next time I get frustrated with her, I can "remember when" :-) Night before last, Bonner woke up about 4 am and came and got in my bed. She was talking away while I slept. About 4:45 am, Ian woke up to go tee-tee. Well, after that I put them both back in their bed in hopes that my "Chatty Cathy" had worn herself out. I stayed up about 20 minutes listening for them and sure enough, they were in their room talking and laughing. With that, I turned over and did what any "Mother of the Year" would do and went back to sleep :-) Now, for those of you about to call DSS, keep in mind, that my children are pretty good and usually stick to their toys so I was worried more about my beauty sleep than their safety at that point ... ha! Anyway, at 8:15 am, they both came in my room to tell me "Good Morning, mommy. The sun is out!" Super sweet.
The house looked like a toy truck had exploded in the middle of the living room, but that was fine. They had actually played for 3 hours without hurting each other or even crying! Perfect! Well, needless to say, with so little sleep, I knew a nap would be in order. Bonner melted down first when I asked both of them to help me clean up the living room. For once, Ian went right to town - he's somewhat compulsive with his toys so he does not like to clean up at all! I told Bonner that she could either help clean up or go lay down. She opted for her bed and was asleep in a matter of minutes! Ian and I worked an hour to sort toys and clean up so we could once again see the carpet! I let Bonner sleep for about 90 minutes and then woke her up (trying to avoid another night without sleep); Ian finally passed out later in the day for a 25-minute power nap in his chair. So fast forward to the real story!
Last night, I asked Bonner to do 4 things:
1) To not rip up a piece of paper she had drawn on;
2) To pick up the pieces of paper that she ripped up (nice, eh?);
3) Pick up the lincoln logs since Ian had cleaned up her stuff earlier in the day; and,
4) Come brush her teeth.
Instead of doing any of those things, she started crying and screaming, "Mommy, read me a book! My mommy is being mean because she won't read me a book." I responded very calmly that I had asked her to do several things that she hadn't done and, for that, I wasn't reading her a book. I went out to the den and read Ian a book one-on-one while Bonner just cried. I know it sounds like I was harsh, but I also knew that she was beyond the point of rationalization; I had missed the bedtime window by about 5 minutes. Anyway, when Ian and I were finished, I went into the bedroom, got Bonner "snuggy bug"; said her prayers where we asked God to help Bonner to honor her mommy by doing what her mommy asked so that she could, in turn, honor God; and, sang her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". She was asleep before I finished singing! Another day in the record books ...
Well, this morning, I went into their room and sang, "Good Morning to you!" as usual and then I went into the kitchen to make breakfast and lunches. Not too long, Bonner came into the den and said, "Mommy, I'm going to clean up the paper I ripped up last night. And I need to pick up the lincoln logs before we go to school!" I must say that a huge smile crossed my face ... it was like validation that my parenting isn't for naught. Needless to say, with everything else going on in my life, I often wonder whether I am cut out to be a single mom ... so I was so proud of her and even me this morning! When she finished cleaning up, I called her into the kitchen where I gave her a big hug, told her how proud I was of her and how proud God was of her! She actually seemed thrilled herself! Well, that was alot of typing to capture what I think is a great story - forgive me if I bored you :-)
And now for what I have heard throughout the holidays at my house! Some of these are funny; some are just here for me to capture the vocabulary and logic of my 3-year-olds :-) I hope you enjoy and remember that these words are "from the mouths of babes"!
Bonner-Lingo
- "Mommy, we need to bake some pumpkin pies for our carnival." (You know we go to so many carnivals - clearly something on Disney :-)
- "Mommy, you are not being nice. Santa is not going to come see you."
- "Pretzels give you more energy."
- "If I don't put bubbles in my spit then my spit will go away."
- We were talking about Halloween one day a while back and Bonner asked me, "When do we get to hide the eggs, mommy?" Uh, that would be in the spring :-)
- I had a fever blister a while back and Bonner noticed it when I was buckling her in her seat before school. She looked at me in all of her innocence and said, "I will pray for you when I'm at school, mommy, that your lip boo-boo feels better."
- "Jesus doesn't live in mean people's hearts like the Abominable Snowman."
- Bonner got a cleaning "trolley" for Christmas but she refers to it as her Cleaning "Trough".
- With the cleaning stuff came a broom and she told me, "Witches can put their legs through it, mommy!"
- B: "I love our old house." Me: "Our old house? Are we getting a new house?" B: "We are getting a new house that's small so I can find you, mom." (I guess she gets this because I always tell her that I could never live in a castle because I wouldn't be able to find them.)
- They were sitting on their bed one day looking at a book. I asked them what they were doing and Bonner immediately replied, "I am just reading this book to Ian." (Note to Bonner, she doesn't know how to read just yet)
- "I love our house. Our house loves us."
- "Mommy, God loves people that are sad, mad, and glad."
Ian-isms
- My mom was sick a few weeks ago so Bonner decided to make her a Get Well card. I asked Ian what Bonner was doing and he said, "Bonner is making Gigi a GIFT card". (I am sure Gigi would have like that more)
- "You are the best mommy ever!"
- After taking a bite of some pumpkin muffins we cooked, Ian looked at me and said very matter-of-factly "It is delicious!"
- Ian got a pair of Buzz Lightyear wings to wear on his back for Christmas and one day to take them off, he slid them down to step out of them. Well, they got to his bottom and he laughed and said, "My bottom is a Buzz Likeyear!"
- The first time the kids were in their new jeeps from Santa, Ian turned on the radio and said, "I love this song." (Of course, it was a song he had never heard)
- Bonner thanked Ian for the gift he picked out for her for Christmas to which he replied, "Your welcome TO your gifts!"
- We have a house in the neighborhood that decorates like the Griswald's. The children refer to this as the "Amazing House" and we rode past it many nights during the holidays. Well, one night we went by and they must have been out of town because the lights weren't on. Ian was very disappointed but simply said, "I think it ran out of batteries."
- "I have so much fings to play with. My other toys upstairs are breakable." (Note to Ian, we have no upstairs :-) when you are playing in the den)
- One night, I was asking them what in the sky had gone to sleep: "The sun, mommy!" And then I asked them what had woken up: "The moon, mommy!" A couple of minutes later, Ian said, "I think God is already asleep, mommy!"
- "Mommy, you are the goodest!"
- In the middle of the night the other night when he got up to tee-tee, he told me totally out of the blue "Doggies can hold their breath under water, but my doggie lovie cannot!"
- Last night at dinner, we were at one of our favorite restaurants and they had the candy dispensers for a quarter. The children were looking at it while I was paying. I have no idea what the question was but I heard Ian say, "But I don't have any money, Bonner!"
- And this morning, Ian came into the bathroom where I was helping Bonner tee-tee and the first thing he said, "Hug, mommy!" I picked him up and gave him a bear hug. While I was hugging him, he said, "I love you, mommy!" (I'm capturing this to remind him of it when he's a teenager and not into hugging me!)
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