Browsing Tag

mischief

kids inc

Girls just wanna have fun

September 16, 2009

I’m starting to realize that having a girl is entirely different from having a boy. Now that Kirsten can do a lot more than ingest milk and scream, it’s becoming quite apparent that I’ve got a girly girl on my hands. Not just any girly girl, but the kind that speaks softly, bats her eyelids and preens when she walks. I’ve gotta say, I am actually terrified surprised.

I had my money on the fact that she’d be the spunky sort but no, looks like that’s not going to happen. For starters, she doesn’t like to be spoken to loudly or harshly, which will instantly cause her mouth to turn into a pout. And we all know what that leads to. We’ve been so used to shouting at Tru from across the hall or singing at the top of our lungs that it’s so disconcerting to have to keep real quiet and talk gently to Kirsten.

Feeding her is also an art form. All the elements have to be just right in order for her to enjoy her milk. I used to just prop Tru on a pillow and hold his bottle with one hand while still surfing the net or reading. But with baby girl, I’ve got to cradle her close, look into her eyes and whisper sweet nothings before she will take in a full feed. If I so much as look away or get distracted, she’ll start to fuss and refuse to drink. So much so that Superdad has acknowledged defeat because he is too restless to do nothing but look into her eyes for 30 minutes.

Then the playing. My boy is an adrenaline junkie. Any form of playing that requires throwing, swinging, hanging him upside down or drowning is a sure hit. He’ll giggle himself into fits and make you repeat it a million times. I tried swinging Kirsten once and she broke out into the loudest shriek of her life. True story. I almost thought I sent her into a cardiac arrest. And even after I spent the next hour holding her and whispering sweet nothings, she still sulked and pouted, as if to say “DON’T YOU DARE SWING ME LIKE THAT AGAIN, MAMA.” I got the idea.

To be honest, I have no idea how to handle a girly girl because I’ve never been one. My favorite color is blue (the husband claims it’s yellow), I love soccer and cars (the faster the better), I outplay boys at basketball (yes, even the husband) and dolls *really* freak me out. When I got Barbies as presents as a kid, I used to beat them on the head with various objects and  trade them for remote control cars with my brother (the going rate was 3 limited edition Barbies and a full set of accessories for a Lamborghini Murcielago). My sister was the one who loved the clothes and high heels and ballet.

Although having a girl has its perks. She’s content to just lie in my arms and gurgle when I talk to her for hours. She’s got none of that restlessness or mischief and she’s got a smile that turns you into mush. Tru never smiles. He grins or giggles, and either way, he’s up to no good, so it’s a refreshing change to have baby girl sit on my lap without squirming.

It’s a good thing I’ve still got some time before she’s into the whole Barbie/Bratz thing. Or the day she starts to make me pick out sand from between her toes.

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kids inc

Monsters are under my bed

June 23, 2009
Boo

Boo

Watching a kid grow up, you don’t really notice the small changes that take place, like how they start to understand you when you say certain words, or the glint in his eye that has developed into full-blown mischief. I have to fight the tendency to baby him and give him the space to explore and grow, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

Soon, he’ll be a big boy and that will be the end of my snuggles and smothering kisses. Sometimes, I wish he’d be a baby forever. Or I could just keep having more to replace the ones that are all grown up.

Recently, I’ve noticed that Tru’s been having all sorts of irrational fears. I think he’s beginning to understand that some stuff are pretty scary and not so fun. It all started with this yellow duck puppet that he used to love. Then one day, he decided it didn’t look so friendly and he was terrified of it. And of course there’s the B-A-W Penguin. Which I saw him trying to stab with a spoon.

Just last week he was having fun at the nursery playgroup when he stopped dead in his tracks and crawled back to my arms faster than you can say “scary purple lamb attack”. Apparently he saw a life-sized lamb plushie/riding thing that was all green and purple and it really scared him. Granted, the lamb looked pretty bizarre, but I’m sure just a month back, he would have smacked it on the head and moved on.

Then the most surprising one happened during bath time at my mom’s house. I kinda lost his bath tub (it’s a long story) so I decided to improvise and made him sit in his Bumbo chair while I showered him with the shower spray. He used to love being sprayed with water during his bath, but he suddenly decided that he didn’t like it anymore. Now every time he sees the Bumbo in the washroom, he screams bloody murder like it’s some ancient torture chamber.

So it’s quite a dilemma. I have this urge to make him confront his fears to show him that it’s really irrational. Ducks and penguins and lambs aren’t scary. Ok, the shower incident, I’ll give it to him (remind me to get a new tub ASAP). But the rest of the stuff ain’t gonna hurt him and I want him to grow up without any of these irrational fears.

Although I know if I push him too hard now, it might just backfire and he’ll end up with a whole new set of issues. So I’m trying to talk some sense into him, and somehow help him to overcome his fears. This is probably just the start though, and the list is only going to get longer. Soon there’ll be monsters under the bed or ghosts in the closet or a whole host of scary-looking animals.

Maybe I’ll buy him a lightsaber. Who knows, it might help.

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kids inc

Double, double, toil and trouble

April 10, 2009

Ever wondered where babies learn all their naughty stuff from? I’m constantly amazed by the kinds of nonsense Tru is capable of conjuring on a daily basis. He recites this motto every morning. “I solemnly swear that I will be up to no good.”

I thought it was a given that I’ll be able to preempt his moves, since my superbrain is like 10,000 times more powerful than his. But I’ll be honest. More often than not, I’m caught totally off-guard, gaping at his ingenuity. I’d like to take credit for it, but it’s certainly not from me, and unless a gnome is secretly having mischief lessons with him in the dead of the night, I’m completely stumped.

For example, whenever he does something naughty, he will laugh like this. “HA HA HA” (complete with mocking tone). It’s not a giggle nor a grin. It’s more like a cross between a smirk and a taunt, as if he knows he’s got the upper hand and he’s rubbing it in my face.

He’s also learnt to recognize locations. Whenever he’s at Grandma’s house, he knows he can get away with murder (as opposed to being put on trial at home). In the hierarchy chain, he seems to know that Grandma trumps Mommy and he’s got her all nicely wound around his little pinky.

Whenever he gets nagged at or scolded, he’ll take his tiny hands and cover the offending person’s mouth. Somehow, he’s worked out that the sound coming out from there is highly unpleasant, and he needs to put a stop to it.

And for his finishing move. When he knows he’s in deep trouble (the kind that will result in an ass-whipping), he’ll snuggle his head on your chest and hug you real tight as if to say “I’m sor-wee I was naughty, and I just want you to know that I love you so much.”

The baby discipline books all say the same thing. Laughing encourages bad behavior. Kids know that as long as parents laugh at their misdemeanors, they are less likely to get spanked. But it’s not that easy to remain deadpan in the face of such brilliance. I try to keep a straight face, but then Tru will suddenly burst out giggling like it’s the funniest thing in the world, and all my disciplinary efforts will be down the drain.

I think I’ll have to send him for obedience classes with Mickey the next time around.

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