The Apple Bandit and Other Misadventures

Whoever said being a mom/parent wasn't intellectually stimulating? These kiddos are constantly challenging me to be a novel problem solver, linguistic interpreter and have given the term "think on your feet" entirely new meaning. Some of my more challenging moments lately have involved the washroom/bathroom/toilet. Peach is fascinated by the porcelain bowl. Since potty training Kai about a month ago we've spent ALOT of time on, near, around the toilet and Peach must figure it is a pretty important venue. When we hear random splashing sounds and she is not within an immediate eyeball's distance we find her enjoying a splash-fest in the lou!

The other day I took Teia with me into a fairly spacious public bathroom. She immediately sighted la toilette and made a beeline. I quickly thwarted her and tried really hard to get her interested in rolling all the toilet paper off so I could do my business and keep her hands relatively clean and occupied at the same time. Usually she would love an opportunity to unravel or rip an entire roll of toilet paper but the public bathroom was far too interesting and seeing as I had occupied the toilet she went for the garbage. I managed to keep her out of that and get myself up but as soon as I had done that she pounced and nearly got her little hand into the as-of-yet-unflushed-toilet. She was fast but I was faster and I gripped that mischievous mitten in my hand, only to be foiled as she swung the other hand in, complete with the container of cheerios she was holding, right into the pee. Yuck! And guess who got to carry the pee-covered cheerios container home in her pocket? Yep, Mama. The things we do for our kids.

Given that we have potty trained Kai over the past month we obviously could write a number of blog posts on that topic but I thought I'd stick to the public restroom theme for this post. Unlike some newly trained tots, Kai has no problem with public toilets. At home he can be particular about whether he wants to use the green winnie the pooh seat or the blue diego seat but out on the town, anything goes. I think he likes the novelty. So at our favorite playground the other day he used a porta-potty for the first time. Now imagine how this must seem to a little kid: a toilet in its own little house, with a very big door and large easy to manage lock on it, not to mention the fact that it is a made of plastic and is bright green. Oh, and it had no sink, Kai mentioned that a few times. Well he asked repeatedly during our time on the playground to go to the washroom (yes, he does speak Canadian). At first I was proud of his thinking ahead of the pee attitude (it doesn't always go that way), until after our 3rd visit with only the tiniest tinkle, I realized I was being duped. At least I didn't have to retrieve anything on this outing!

Mealtimes also make great blog topics and provide many challenging parenting moments. We learned long ago never to try to reason with a person under 4 feet about eating. If Kai wants cheese and there is a cheese pizza in front of him, it matters not if the cheese on that pizza does not look like the cheese in his head. As he has become more verbal over the last year he now has names for the various cheeses he chooses to consume. Problem is, he doesn't always let us know which cheese goes with which name so we are left to try and figure it out. The other day he asked for "big cheese," apparently not satisfied with whatever he had in front of him. In a stroke of brilliance Dada guessed that big cheese was cheese cut into cubes, just like the free samples at Whole Foods that Kai loves. BINGO! Kai happily ate his big cheese. Tonight Kai asked for "big regular cheese" apparently the Whole Foods style cubes in front of him were not cutting it. Dada to the rescue again, shredded cheese this time. Who would have known?

And finally the capers of the Apple Bandit. The Apple Bandit stands less than 3 feet tall, has been known to shout "ba!" assertively and sneaks into the kitchen unseen and unheard until she emerges with a big apple in hand, teeth biting into it. Said apple has not been washed or peeled so it is taken away. She then plays for a few minutes to throw her parents off the trail and then sneaks again into the kitchen to steal another apple. Finally, mom gets smart and the bag of apples is relocated to a higher spot in our spacious ;-) kitchen, but not before tiny teeth marks are discovered in nearly all the apples in the bag! I can only imagine what adventures await us once we have a Christmas tree and presents in the house!