Momnesia The Book

Feelin' the Love

Ah, kids. They're so full of love, aren't they?

Just the other morning my four-year-old appeared next to my bed at the crack of dawn. "Go downstairs wif me," she commanded.

We did the whole, "Go back to sleep!" "No, I CAN'T, Mommy!!" routine for a while, then I finally dragged myself out of bed and scooped her up.

As I was carrying her downstairs, I noticed her little knees and little hands. I was overcome with how tiny and cute she was. So I plopped her down on the couch and said, "Claire, you are SO CUTE!"

Her response was somewhat chilly:

 
Me: "I'll turn on the T.V. in a second. Just look at your little PJs! And your little feet! How adorable are you??"

Looking straight ahead, she repeated:

 

Me: "Claire, I just love you so much! You're my little baby!"

 

I know: it was such a tender moment.

 

Later, I went upstairs to find my six-year-old playing in her room.

 

"Hi Kate!" I said merrily.

 

She took one look at me and excitedly shrieked:

 

This was not good news.

 
Rebecca

As I searched for the flat iron, I tried one last outreach to Claire. "Claire, how much do you love your mommy?" I yelled.

 

There was a pause. Then, finally, a response. "My show is over!" she shouted indignantly.

 

"I need to write these wonderfully magical moments down in her baby book," I thought to myself.

 

But wait - Claire's baby book is pretty much blank. Haven't quite gotten around to filling it out yet... hmm. I guess I'll blog about these tender moments instead. And so here we are. Feelin' the love.

 

"The List"

I was quoted in the Orange County Register, in this article about the link between childhood obesity and TV commercials. I was talking to the reporter, telling her that *yes* my kids see TV commercials and *yes,* as a result they totally recognize the sugar cereals in the grocery store.

Right now, in fact, my kids are in love with this Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercial where the cereal eats itself. (If you think that sounds disturbing, you're right.) They'll rewind the DVR and watch it over and over. And they'll shout, "WE WANT IT!"

Sigh.

They're like this with all the commercials. They want everything and they will memorize the whereabouts of each item. For example, Kate will often inform me that she wants a toy and it is:

The Register reporter was asking me what I do about all this. When the kids are yelling that they want X, Y or Z, what do I say? 

I'll tell you what I say. I inform the children that we will add the item to...

The List. The "official" List of Everything They Want. And you know what? They are entirely satisfied by this solution. I keep waiting for them to demand to see this List. This would be mildly problematic because no such list exists. At all.

Back in the day, I could have scribbled some stuff down and passed it off as The List, but that avenue of escape is closing as Kate learns how to read (darn school).

But so far, so good. Claire will go crazy in a store, overwhelmed by everything she wants.

And I'll nod my head, very seriously. Then I will tell her:

I won't even write anything down. Doesn't she know I can't remember anything??

Oh well, we'll see how long this charade lasts. I probably should just start making a list, but if you read my post about lists, you know I have a problem in that area.

Instead, I think I'll just let this roll. If they order me to produce The List I'll just start talking about that commercial for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. "Can you guys believe the cereal ate itself? How great is that!"