Out of the mouth of my babe

A few things Biscuit has said recently:


You gotta have friends: Some afternoons at day care, the director or assistant director will pick a couple of the 4-year-olds to go into the school-agers room in the afternoon.

It's a big deal for the 4-year-olds because they're getting to hang out with big kids. And it's a big deal for the school-agers because they get to dote on these younger kids.

Yesterday, it was Biscuit's turn to go. The assistant director told him what was going to happen, but Biscuit told her he didn't want to go.

"Why don't you want to go?" she asked him.

"Because if I go, I'll have to leave my best friend here by himself," Biscuit said.

The assistant director eventually talked him into going, explaining that Biscuit's best friend would have the chance to go on another day. But when she told Jeff about it, she said, "He can be such a little old man sometimes, but I like the 'no man left behind' attitude he has." 


Poor Dad: Jeff and I tease Biscuit sometimes just to see what he'll say. But Jeff didn't expect to hear Biscuit's response recently.

Biscuit will occasionally show off a defeatist attitude when he doesn't get his way. He'll flop down on the floor, cross his arms dramatically and say, "I'm just gonna sit here and do NOTHIN'!" And depending on what caused the drama, we'll either tell him to get over himself or talk to him and figure out what the problem is.

Jeff was doing a pretty good impersonation of this behavior one day, and he was addressing it to Biscuit. Biscuit's response surprised us both.

Biscuit turned around, clearly exasperated and said, "Dad, you're just gonna have to deal!"

And the bad part is, Jeff couldn't call him out about his attitude because he started it!


Turn lessons: Biscuit has always had a good sense of direction. He pays attention when we're in the car.

Not long after we turned his car seat from rear-facing to forward-facing, Biscuit and I were coming home from day care, and I remembered that we were out of milk and some other things. So instead of going straight, which would've taken us toward home, I veered off to the right to go to the store.

From the back seat, I heard a tiny little voice say, "Not home? Don't go home?"

I explained to him that we had to go to the store, so no, we weren't going home. But I was so impressed that he knew when we turned that we weren't heading for home.

Now, he loves to give driving directions to Jeff and me. We'll tell him where we're going, and he'll tell us how to get there. Or more often, we'll be driving, and he'll say, "Mom, this is the road the pancake restaurant is on," or "Mom, this is the road Station 21 is on." (He knows the numbers and locations of at least four fire stations.)

So when Jeff's parents were down for the winter, Biscuit told them that he wanted to give them "turn lessons." They weren't sure what he was talking about, but he explained that turn lessons are when he tells them how to get somewhere. My in-laws trusted him, and they got to where they needed to be.

His turn lessons have been updated a bit since he started his new day care, but it makes me feel better that he knows the way home.