Mommy Monday: WHO TAUGHT THE TWO YEAR OLD TO COUNT?

I’m a mom to 4 little monsters (it is October, they deserve the title), and so I’m dedicating Mondays to all those crazy mommy related things I talk about on the playground, with my friends, with other mommies, to random strangers, to whoever may be or may not be listening…because sometimes, mommies have to VENT share too. :)

So welcome to the first edition of Mommy Monday: 

I’ll brag, my kids are smart.

Maybe in the smarty pants sort of way, but we’re proud of them anyway.  They each have their own quirks and they all have a real thirst for knowledge.  Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with what they know and where they learned it from.

Being a mommy is sometimes exhausting, and sometimes my brain goes numb.  Did I teach them that?  Do they know this? After four kids, the repetition of each age and stage blends into one another, so I end up relying on the older kids to teach the younger.  Not always the smartest thing.  A couple of years ago I was saying the 2 yr old has the humor of a 6 yr old boy (and it hasn’t gotten much better since).

When I try to realistically look back at all those ages and stages, and evaluate my emotions about them for each child, I realize just how differently I’ve reacted to each child:

1. When missyM, my oldest was able to recite the alphabet and recognize random letters before she turned two, we were proud.


2. When we realized MrA, the second child, had such a large vocabulary before the age of 3, we were relieved (the child didn’t talk until 2 and then had a speech impediment, so we were always asking him to use a different word to explain his garbled sentences.  Like the time he couldn’t say “turkey” instead translated “you know that bird we have for Thanksgiving.”)


3. When missyD recognized all her colors and started telling us what “matched” around the age of 2, proclaiming herself a budding fashionista, we were amused.


4. When missyT, the fourth child, the youngest, the one who picks up everything from her older siblings does something at, above or below the curve, we just roll our eyes, sometimes burst out laughing or just thank the Lord that this is our last child to raise.

Number four is our stubborn child.  The one I fully expect to give us headaches as she goes through all the fun girl stages.  Hopefully she surprises us only in good ways (knock wood, say prayers, wish on stars...well you get the picture).

But while on the subject of surprises, who thought it would be a good idea to teach that child to count?

missyT: "I want a two egg omelet."

Me: "OK "(as I take one egg out, I know from past experience two eggs is too much for her)

missyT:  "not one egg mommy two!" (Standing at the fridge, ready to pitch a fit)

Me: (too early in the morning for missyT’s fit) "OK, mommy’s cracking another egg, see two eggs."

missyT: (nods looking satisfied, sits to wait for omelet)

Me: (cut omelet in half, serves her up a half)

missyT: (looks at plate, looks at me, puts on angry face and yells) "NOT HALF OMELET! WHOLE OMELET. NOW TWO PIECES!"

OMG! Seriously?  She knows the difference between half and whole?  You bet she does.  Once she got the other half on her plate she happily munched away, sending me the evil eye every so often.

Really, did we really thing it would be a good idea to teach this child anything when it always comes right back to bite us.

I can’t say she’s the best fit pitcher in the world, that honor would go to our son when he was her age.  But it’s never fun to start the morning with her throwing one, and being the stubborn child that she is, we can’t talk her out of her fits once she starts.  It’s her way or no way.

And it’s hard not to give in to the little terror.  Which is funny, because I never gave in to the three before her.

So of course, the morning went according to missyT’s schedual.  I swear she’s smarter than all of us combined to be able to make us all jump at her command.

Of course she only ate half of her omelet…and took a good long time to do it.

 MissyD said it best to all her preschool teachers today:

“daddy had to drive me because my little sister was screaming”

Teachers: “do you mean crying?”

MissyD: “no, screaming.  Nothing gets done when she’s screaming”

Out of the mouth of the 4 yr old…I couldn’t have said it better myself.