Coronary on High

I was on the roof a couple of days ago cleaning out the gutters. Yale was on the ground and had just handed me the hose when I turned around and was absolutely SHOCKED to see little Sophia standing about 10 feet from me ON THE ROOF! She emphatically stated, "Look, Mommy, I'm on the roof!" I gasped and as calmly as I could, asked her to sit down. She replied, "But I'm not scared, Mommy!" After a bit of coaxing, I got her to sit down, told her I was glad that she wasn't scared, but that getting on the roof will have to wait until she's older. While I was talking with her, Yale climbed up the ladder and Sophia and I carefully scooted over to him so that he could help her down. She was quite upset that he didn't let her climb down the ladder by herself. She didn't want help! So the lesson learned here is that kids will try things that you never imagined, so in the future I will try to imagine it and be more mindful!

Advice from the Doctor

I will often rely on the power of doctor authority to get the girls to do something they don't want to do. If the girls don't want to eat any protein for dinner, I'll say, "Dr. Bacon says you should eat protein at every meal." And, yes, our pediatrician's name is Dr. Bacon. Or if one of the girls doesn't want to let me help them brush their teeth I'll say, "Dr. Strange says Mom or Dad should help you brush your teeth once a day." And, yes, our pediatric dentist's name is Dr. Strange. Anyway, Sophia has started using my own strategy on me. If I say it's bed time, she'll say, "Dr. Seuss says that I should play now." Or if I tell her she can't want TV, she responds with, "Dr. Seuss says I need to watch TV." It's kind of nice that she thinks Dr. Seuss is in her corner.