Category Archives: Sibling rivalry

The Difference Between Boys and Girls

Posted on by
3 
What are little boys made of?
 Frogs and snails and puppy dog's tails.
 That's what little boys are made of! 
 
 What are little girls made of?
 Sugar and spice and all things nice.
 That's what little girls are made of!

The other day Kenzie went to potty and she stood in front of the toilet and announced: “When I get to be a boy then I’m going to stand up to potty!”

Sounds shocking, I know.

But, if you’ve been following our adventure, you might remember that in my first post on this blog I explained how I had addressed this issue by telling her “Girls sit, boys stand.”

So naturally, I assumed that this little misunderstanding was settled.

I never imagined that she somehow believed that little girls grow up to become boys!

But since she lives in a house where she is the only female, I suppose I can see how she might draw that conclusion in some sort of twisted toddler thinking sort of way!

Continue reading →

Tattle Tales

Posted on by
Reply

Have you ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with a toddler?

The conversation never develops because toddlers don’t know anything!

Kaleb, I ask: “What did you do today at school?”

“I ate lunch,” he responds.

“Wonderful, what did you have for lunch?” I inquire.

“Food,” he answers.

Trying another line of conversation, I then ask: “So, who’s your best friend at school?”

Continue reading →

The Karate Kids

Posted on by
Reply

Kaleb and Kenzie are getting old enough to start participating in sports and other recreational activities. So the first activity I enrolled them in is martial arts training.

I’m hoping it will teach them some discipline because they don’t seem to be learning it from me!

So they have started attending a martial arts class for three- and four-year-olds.

They are cute little martial arts pupils, deshi, dressed in their special training uniforms called gi tied up with a sash or belt called obi.

The problem with them being in the same class is that they want to try out their new martial arts moves on each other during class!

Continue reading →

Original Sin

Posted on by
2

Raising toddlers can certainly make you believe in original sin.

There’s no way they could have learned all that bad behavior from me!

Let me rephrase that last statement: There’s no way they could have learned all that bad behavior from me in the short span of their lives thus far!

They fight with each other so much I feel like a referee. No, I feel more like judge, jury, and prosecuting attorney, trying to figure out who did what to whom and why and then mete out justice.

Sometimes I don’t see what happens, so I have to look for evidence. Most often that evidence is in the form of teethmarks, red handprints, or scratches.

Kaleb is bigger and can handle himself fine in hand-to-hand combat. In fact, with his superior strength he can easily subdue Kenzie. So Kenzie has to resort to guerrilla tactics. She swoops in from out of nowhere and inflicts a bite, pinch, push, or kick so quickly that Kaleb can only respond with wails and tears.

But toddlers don’t carry a grudge. And so one minute they’re fighting and the next minute they’re loving on each other.

Sometimes I wish grown-ups could be more like toddlers!