The art of distraction -- and its sabotager

Let me tell you the beauty about being a young toddler. They have SO many things to say, yet their language is completely lost in translation. Maddie's frustrations lately lie entirely on the fact that she is CLEARLY telling me something, yet I have no idea what, and she'll say what she means a hundred times and I'll still look at her like she's an alien because I cannot, for the life of me, decipher what's coming out of her mouth. I sympathize with her frustration.

Frustration #2 comes when I CAN understand what she's saying, yet it's something I simply cannot deliver. Because she wants every. single. thing. she. can't. have. For instance, she wants the knife I'm holding, the diet coke I'm drinking (or the beer I'm guzzling - take your pick), the candy I'm sneaking, and the computer I'm working on. She wants the hair on my head, the teeth in my mouth and the belly button on my tummy. MADDIE! NEWS FLASH! You cannot have these things!

But, the other beauty of being a young toddler is that they are easily distracted. That is, until, their 4 year old brother consistently REMINDS them of why they were previously upset.

Case in point. We were leaving baseball practice today and Maddie is screaming "AH-CONE!" in the back seat. SCREAMING it. If you don't speak toddler, she was screaming "POPCORN" which also stands for "Pirates booty". They seriously must lace that stuff with baby crack, because my kids cannot get enough of it. I calmly explain to her that I don't have any popcorn and offer her a number of other tasty snacks, none of which she is interested in. Still screaming "AH-CONE", I manage to fish out a paci and her blankies from the diaper bag which seems to calm her and distract her from the fact that she really wants some popcorn. Phew. The screaming stopped.

Until my lovely 4 year old leans offer and says "I'm sorry Maddie. I'm sorry Mommy doesn't have any POPCORN." To which Maddie starts screaming "AH-CONE! AH-CONE!"

Thanks Jacob. My 30 seconds of peace quickly faded away...
It's a good thing I love that kid!

Baseball/Wiffle ball is going great so far. I cannot BELIEVE his team name is the Longhorns. It was absolutely fate. :)