I Like Bad Stuff!

Rachel keeps asking me to tell her stories about when I was a kid. I do my best to find the most entertaining stories, and to tell them with as much enthusiasm as possible. The last couple of days she has had a specific request. She wants me to tell her all the stories about bad things I did as a kid. There are plenty of stories to tell, but I am worried about giving her any ideas. I asked her yesterday why she wants to hear about all the bad things I did as a child and she said "I like bad stuff." I have a feeling we are going to have to watch that girl.

Poor Lilly is such a middle child. Sometimes it seems like her identity gets lost in the crowd of three children. Carson is a little kid, Rachel is a big kid, but what is Lilly? When Rachel is allowed to do something Lilly isn't, or if Rachel is better than her at something, she tells me "I don't want to be a little kid anymore!" Later in the day, when something is required of her, such as to clean up a mess or take her thumb out of her mouth, she declares "I don't want to be a big kid anymore!" another middle child trait, she absolutely does not want to make anyone feel bad. Yesterday we asked her who her best friend in her primary class is and she proceeded to list every kid in the class. We get the same response if we ask "who do you like better, mom or dad?" Rachel would not hesitate to choose one, depending on who had recently been the nicest to her. Lilly cannot bring herself to choose, and always says "I like mom and dad!"

The game is on with stubborn Carson. I know he can talk, he just won't! On Saturday he wanted me to pick him up and I wouldn't until he said "up". I figure this is a nice easy word to start with. The little stinker would not say it! So I didn't pick him up. Instead of fighting with me about it, he shrugged his shoulders and ran off to find some other form of entertainment. He wanted to get up on the counter today so I tried again. "say up." Carson nods his head as if to say "yes up is what I want," I shake my head and repeat myself "say up!" He signs the word "please." I shake my head and repeat myself again. This time he shakes his head no as if to say "I'm not doing that." After about 10 minutes of trying to get me to pick him up, he finally said it! I made a big deal out of it and he seemed pretty pleased.  I won the battle. I will let you know how the war turns out.

Rachel asked me to tell her a story about when I was a kid. I told her that when I was her age my favorite dinner that my mom would make was pizza with pineapple and sausage. This is a meal she made frequently, but has not made in years. Rachel said she wanted to call her and ask her to make it for her. My mom was a great sport about it and invited us over last night for pizza. Rachel liked it fine, Lilly was too preoccupied with her cousins to bother with eating, and Carson ate a whole bag of Captain Crunch during church, so he was not interested. The rest of us however scarfed it down. I enjoyed it just as much last night as I did when I was 6.