Man! I feel like I am always telling my kids "be careful", "watch out", "be safe". Those have been my catch phrases for the past 14 years. Hence no broken bones, no sprains, no surgeries, and some no bee stings. Everything they do - I follow up with a "be careful guys!" Natalie is now able to finish my sentences, "be..." "CAREFUL", "take your..." "TIME", "yes..." "MA'AM", and the best "be..." "PATIENT". Why is it every time you tell your little ones that the Pyrex dish, you just placed on the counter, from the 400 degree oven, is hot, and yet they still feel tempted to make sure your not lying? That reminds me, never put your 375 degree Pyrex under water, especially in the garbage disposal side of the sink - lets talk about shrapnel. That was an interesting 12 o'clock in the morning, making oven baked doll food for an order, setting off all eight smoke detectors, four of them in the kids' bedrooms. The oven was smoking and the "food" was done!. No one woke up - which is actually a little alarming, I guess you can have the best fire prevention plan in the world, nine hard-wired smoke detectors, but if your kids don't hear the alarm you've got bigger problems, yet the baby can hear the softest of sniffles during a nap.
Anyway, I digress Recently, I was with a friend, another "cool mom" of five, and I heard her just shoot the one word DANGER, as her little guy was toddling toward the baseball field. Perfect! Brilliant, I thought. Perhaps my language is jumbled and is processed in a confused manner when Natty translates it, or maybe she just doesn't care and likes to push buttons. I'd have to side with the latter. She is for sure a button pusher, but in the cutest of ways. Danger just about covers all situations: stairs, parking lots, open waters, general walking, playgrounds, door locks, standing on your chair, flushing diapers down the potty, running on the sidewalk, hot cheese on pizza (when you still take a bite and regret it for days). It's easy, simple, and can be modeled through play. Even better! So, I grabbed out Emmy the baby doll. Natty and I headed for the play kitchen. I really wanted to show her that playing around hot ovens and stove tops = DANGER. I'm pretty sure she understands that I don't want her to touch these things, but I believe she struggles with what the end result could be if she does touch hot objects, since she has never been hurt by something hot - she may just be curious what "hot" and "no" together really mean, since it receives a lot of attention in the kitchen. Emmy, the doll, will be a perfect guinea pig for this lesson.
We pretended to cook our dinner, being oh so very careful, using our play oven mitts and pot holders. I started walking Emmy around and had Natalie tell her - DANGER. After about 20 minutes of thoughtful, meaningful play, and after bandaging up Emmy a few times with the doctor kit, the big girls: Abby, Kate, and Natty loaded up to get our summer hair cuts. Hhhhmmm, maybe now would be the appropriate time to talk about scissors and hair, because she will be "that" kid. See you next Monday - as Kate and I explore sewing our first doll dress together.
Check out Jenny's latest creations in her Etsy shop Rita Pita Boutique by clicking here.
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