Good Morning Sunshine

I was awoken by the faintest touches on my arm. It felt like a butterfly's wings. I opened my eyes and looked into the wide awake, shining eyes of Lydia. She grinned and whispered, "Hey there mommy."

"Hi baby," I sleepily yawned wondering where the sun was. Lydia fell asleep at six last night after a busy day without a nap and I knew it was early!

"I missed you, Mommy," she whispered into my ear. What beautiful sweet nothings to wake up to!

She then rolled over and whispered good morning and love you to Daddy. Now that she had us up, it was time for her to start talking. She asked us the whereabouts of her favorite toys (figurines from the show "Little Einsteins") and when told they were in the car and we'd bring them in later, she said "I can't WAIT to have my brothers inside with me (two of them are girls, though). I will have Quincy and Leo and Annie and June"

Next on the list of discussion was how angry she was at two of her friends from Grandma's daycare. I asked, "Why are you angry with them?"

"They got sad, so I am angry at them"

"Well what made them sad?" I wondered.

"Grandma did."

"What did Grandma do, honey?"

"She was helping everyone wash their hands and then they got sad at her and that makes me ANGRY"

Ah, the lightbulb clicked, she is mad at them for being upset with her Grandma. Wanting to be sure I understood, I asked "So you are angry that they got upset with Grandma for trying to help them?"

"Yes, I am"

"Well, can you forgive them?"

"Ummm...yes I will forgive them balls!"

"You'll forgive them BOTH?" I asked trying to decipher what I'd just heard.

"No, I will forgive them BALLS mommy."

Another lightbulb. Oh forgive. For GIVE. Give them balls. I see. Time to explain the concept of forgiveness, it's very early in the morning for this, I think.

"Forgiving someone means to stop being angry at them and become happy with them again." Maybe I missed the boat on this one, but how do I put this in words a two-year-old will understand? Hopefully that will be enough.

"Oh okay....so I'll forgive them balls."

"Well, no, if you forgive, it means you're not angry anymore, can you stop being angry with them and be happy with them?"

"Yes I can do that. Then I will give them balls, okay mommy?"

"Yeah, that would be nice to give them balls and to forgive them. God wants us to forgive our friends."

"I don't want to remember God."

Uh-oh, yet another philosophical discussion with a toddler at six-thirty in the morning.

"It's good to remember God, sweetie," I explained. "God made each and every one of us, He made puppies and trees, leaves and rocks, all the wonderful things you love, God made them. And God loves you very very much. You should always remember Him and love him."

"I don't like God" (a new thing with Lydia is to say she doesn't like things to see what the reaction is. I think this is "normal" child behavior, so we just talk about why it's not very nice to say things like that).

"Oh honey, God would be very sad if you really didn't like Him."

We continued to talk about how God made Mommy, Daddy, Lydia, and Charlotte and He has given us such wonderful gifts it wouldn't be fair not to love and appreciate Him. We talked about how much He loves us, how He put Lydia together in my tummy just like He is doing with Charlotte.

She then decided that she DOES love God because He is pretty nice. Whew.

Our next topics of discussion were not as deep, Lydia went to hug Daddy and noticed his nipples. She looked at me and said "Mommy, Daddy's nahs are not nahs (nahs is the word she made up for nursing and the breasts of lactating women)."

"No they are not nahs, what are they?"

"They are just nipples for pinching."

"What are they for?"

"Pinching," she answered plainly

"No! Don't pinch Daddy's nipples, they're not for pinching. They're not for anything."

Then Daddy and I said simultaneously, "They are for decoration"

We then discussed how Lydia was "scary" (or so she says). When I feigned fear and hid under a blanket, she gently pulled the covers back and said "It is okay Mom, 'One Man Band' can't get you. I'm here." "One Man Band" is a Pixar short that is the current source of her newfound fears, but that's for another blog.

Weekend mornings are my favorite times. I love laying in our family bed together and talking about all the things on her mind. It's really amazing the level of understanding a two-year-old can have and how much she can make me think. She's definitely already been testing my ability to teach her our Faith and how the world works. She's testing my ability to explain abstract concepts in a way that toddlers can understand. It's amazing how my toddler has helped me grow in my understanding of interacting with others, my Faith, and as a person in general. What a little blessing!!!