Moddy

Sometimes Nate gets confused about who is talking to. Mommy? Daddy? And, so, has taken to calling us Moddy.

Moddy milk.
Moddy blanky.
Moddy Tv.
Moddy pee pee.
Moddy ruff owie.
Bye bye Moddy.
Moddy work now.
Moddy home!

Define the word guess for a two year old

While getting Nate ready for bed, I told him, "Guess who is coming over."  His Aunt is on her way with Barb.  They went shopping after work at her companies warehouse sale.

"Guess?" He asked.

"Yes, guess."

"Guess" he asked again.

At that moment I realized I have no idea how to explain the word "guess" to a two year old. "Hmm. I'm not sure how to put it in terms you will understand." I said as we finished getting into P.J.'s, well Nate finished getting into P.J.'s.

Now that he's settled into his evening TV show with a sippy cup of milk, I looked up the formal definition and it's not much help.

   
Guess: Estimate or suppose (something) without sufficient information to be sure of being correct.

I'm still clueless about how to translate that word into terms he could understand.

Anyone got a suggestion?

Time Out Alternative - 800 White Lie

Nate wanted to go see if the neighbor boy was home. "I see Ocklan."

"No, we can't go see Lochlan. I have to make dinner."

"I see Ocklan."

"No, Nate." I tried to reason with him, but he wasn't having it. He started to pout and cry and carry on  with a big long face like stretched taffy complete with crocodile tears. I did not feel like giving him a time out. Instead, I dialed 800-white-lie and asked the silence if Lochlan could come out to play. 

The silence told me, "He would love to, but he has gone to the moon."

"Oh, okay." I said and hung up. "Sorry Nate. Lochlan isn't home. He has gone to the moon for the evening."

"Oh, Ocklan no home?"

"No. Sorry."

"Oh. Ok. Melk?"

"Milk?"

"Yes, melk."

"What do you say?"

"Peese."

"Ok." I said and gave him a sippy cup of milk.

I busy!

My wife and are both workaholics. We  constantly check emails, Facebook, work docs, etc.  A typical day starts by waking up, bathroom, start the coffee, check email, Facebook, Nate gets up, sippy cup with milk, Sprout TV, email, some conversation, email, get ready for work, pack Nates lunch, email, she goes off to work, I take Nate to daycare, then back home to work all day which, of course, includes email, Facebook, phone calls, until 5pm when I pick Nate up, email, make dinner, email, Nate runs around and watches tv, plays with toys, email, wash dishes, Barb comes home and eats her dinner, email, Facebook, Nates bath, email, Nates bed time, book, song, email, Facebook, tv, email, Facebook, bed and the cycle starts over.  Through this Nate often wants our attention for a minute. Some times we say, "In a minute Nate, I'm busy at the moment."  Then, we do attend to him, but apparently he hears that phrase often.  The other day he start using it. "Nate, it's dinner time."

"I busy!"

"What?

"I busy!" He said while smashing his toy truck into the toy kitchen set. This of course made us laugh. I suppose this should be a red flag of not spending enough quality time with him. Or, as I prefer to think of it, he's learning a strong work ethic which is much better than a parent that dotes on his childs every whim. Of course, I could be wrong. I often am.

Either way, this has become a regular occurrence. At least once a day he says it. Sometimes it's cute. Sometimes it's not. Yesterday, while unpacking groceries, I asked him to pick up the bags I tossed on the floor. I like to un-bag everything onto the counters in loosely organized groups so I can see whats what and where to put it away. I find this saves time vs opening the refrigerator twenty times.

"Nate, can you pick up the bags?"

"I busy!" he said driving his toy dump truck over the bags.

"Yeah, I think you are busy picking up bags."

"No. I busy." He said trying to make an escape.

"One. Two..."

"I busy!" He said again as he dismounted his dump truck, picked up the bags and threw them in the trash.

"Thanks." I said patting his head.

He mounted his ride and drove into the living room.

Later, when we were making a fire together, Barb called him over for a hug. She though it was just too cute that a two and half year old was helping build a fire.

"I busy! I help daddy." He said and went to get another piece of wood for the fire. She sighed the sigh of mother sad her child is growing up to fast and took a photo. I'm she'll email and Facebook it later.