The following is a short conversation Elias and I had as I got him out of the bath this evening.
Elias: I blame you, Daddy.
Me: Me? What do you blame me for?
Elias: I blame you for me.
Me: I made you the way you are?
Elias: No. I'm like you!
Ouch.
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On another note, Elias and I have been getting along really well lately. I haven't raised my voice to him in almost two weeks, and although I have given him a few of timeouts, he's been pretty cooperative. One main thing is that he's back to saying "Bog Dammit!" when he finds himself in a situation where someone, perhaps me, might say something that sounds similar. He first picked this up in December, but had mostly forgotten about it until last Saturday morning when I took him out to run errands. When I was getting him out of the car at the drugstore, I managed to drop the prescription for my medicine in a large, deep rain puddle, and as well I dropped his bottle of water, which then rolled under the car behind the rear wheel. I let loose with a barrage of swears much to Elias' delight, and he started repeating them immediately and joyfully. Oops.
Anyway, thanks to more timeouts, he now knows "Dammit" is a naughty word, so he tries to say it slightly differently - say, "Mammit" or "Babbit." He likes alliteration.
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Speaking of timeouts, Elias also has gotten in the habit of giving Wendy and me timeouts whenever we are doing something he doesn't like. This only worked the first time, when Wendy tried to model good timeout behavior by going to the timeout spot and sitting quietly. But he still gives them out pretty indiscriminately. My response now is always, "You can't give me timeouts. I'm Daddy and you're Elias, and only mommies and daddies can give timeouts." This works all right unless he is feeling particularly ornery, in which case he responds, "No, I'm Daddy and you're Elias, and you get a timeout!"
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4 comments:
Oh, thank you for this. I am still laughing...ah, it's so fun to see the future in living color.
Elias is so far advanced, only 2.5 years old and already experiencing teenage angst...Maybe you could make up some T shirts that sat "Dog Mammit".
He tried to put me in a time out the other day and when I asked why, he said, "Because you talk too much, Mommy!!"
I wonder how many timeouts I will get when I visit and as an old and wise?? visitor, will I have to take those timeouts? Grandma Norma
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