light of my life

I always feel better about sending my kids into an unfamiliar situation if I prepare them a little for what they are about to face.

Just to use a random example, if they had never been Easter egg hunting, I would say something like: "We'll go to the park, you, you sister and brother will go with Dad or mom while the other parent hides the eggs, then we'll go find them and we'll all be together and its just supposed to be a fun time. Don't worry about how many eggs you find, just have fun looking for them."

My oldest child loves to mimic everything I do, so since she was about 3 she has explained things to me in the same way I explain things to her to make her feel more secure.

Lately, even my little boy has picked up on the information cycle and he'll tell me, "Mom, first the garbage truck comes, then it brings the garbage, then it takes the can and then it goes home"

Its so funny to listen to it all drawn out in such a logical manner.

The little ones are also learning how to tell time, and they argue about it constantly on the days we have to pick their sister up from school: "Mo-o-m!! It's twenty o'clock!!" My boy will say, while my daughter, who does know her numbers, will jump in: "NO its not!! its 85-3!!" Which would translate to 8:53 for others of us. And they go back and forth until I quit laughing long enough to explain to them what time it really is and how much time until we have to leave.

There are others, too. The freezer is the "frozen" tv is "tewa-bision" and everything is said with a southern accent even though they have pretty much been raised in CA.