Mistress Mary, quite contrary

I keep thinking of the old nursery rhyme lately. Why? Because my three year old daughter contradicts you no matter what you say. Sometimes it’s semi-legitimate: That’s not milk, that’s pink milk. Sometimes it’s just plain obstinacy: No, I’m not playing, I playing. (Now, I thought that’s what I said…)

So she’s learned a new word: Nooookay. When someone suggests something, her first response is often No, but she realizes halfway through the word that she really means yes.

And it led to a really funny conversation in our house the other day at lunchtime. Keep in mind that this is Amanda, talking to her finger (dinger) which was evidently pretending to be a pirate.

Arr, I’m pirate dinger!

No, you not. You… dinger.

Yes I am, I pirate dinger. Arrrr!

I love that she’s even contradicting herself!

Amandaisms 3

This is just one long conversation we had the other day:

A: Oh, those are daddy’s cookies. Maybe try one of daddy’s cookies?

M: No, but you can try some of mommy’s. I’ll share with you. We have to ask daddy if you can have one of his, and he’s not here right now.

A: Oh. Maybe… talk on the telephone?

Little smartypants.

Amandaisms 2

Here’s a few more quotes from our silly kid.

A: Arrr, I’m pirate dinger. (speaking for her finger)

A: No, ball, not in the kitchen, soccer ball!

A: Mommy, please see how tall I is?
M: Ok… You’re 36 inches tall.
A: No I not 36. I 3!

(And here’s my personal favorite so far:)
M: I love you, Amanda.
A: (in her best growly pirate voice) I love you, Captain Mommy.

(Mostly) Successful potty training

Well, we haven’t had any accidents in a while, so I’m hoping this doesn’t jinx it. Amanda seems to pretty much have this whole using the toilet thing down. It helped that she got some dolls for her birthday that had undies painted on them – she wanted to be like Cinderella and June. And she definitely wants to be a big girl, unlike her sister who is too little. She loves telling us that Kaitlyn is too little to use the potty.

A few days after we got back from Oregon, while I was putting Katie to bed, Mike caught Amanda as she “assumed the position” – those of you who have little kids know exactly which one I mean, right? He told her she needed to stop, and go poopoo in the potty instead of her panties. She ran away, but he caught her, put her on the toilet, and hugged her til she got through the ordeal. She liked the M&Ms she got afterwards.

He caught her again a couple nights later, but this time when he called her on it, she ran to him instead of away, and she asked for her treat when she was all done.

A few nights later, she was sitting at the table, and she said, “Daddy, I go poopoo.” At first, Mike thought she meant she already had, and he was not too happy about having to clean up the mess. Then he realized she was asking him to take her to the potty, and ever since, she’s done a really good job. Because she likes to go at bedtime, when I’m putting Katie down, it took another week before I finally got her to go, but now she tells us anytime she needs to go do some business in the toilet.

The funniest part of all this is, whenever she does something in the toilet, she always says really quietly, “Dat sound like…” (big dramatic pause) “A POOPOO!” or a peepee, as the case may be. She yells the second part, so that even if you’re not in the bathroom, you know exactly what she’s done. Mike and I were joking about how funny that’s going to be the first time she uses a public restroom. I can see it all now. I just hope she doesn’t start announcing what everyone else is doing, too!

A moving discussion

We’ve had such a long discussion about California’s Proposition 8, about preserving traditional marriage, that I decided to move the discussion to a new blog totally devoted to Proposition 8. Most people who come to this blog are trying to find out how my family is doing, and so they won’t have to sort through the political brouhaha, I moved the discussion here.  I’m going to stop accepting comments on the posts previously made here if I can figure out how; all your comments should be preserved on the new site; http://voteyesonprop8.wordpress.com/.

Go ahead and make yourself heard.

More on Prop 8

As I find other discussions out there, I’m going to add them to this list for your reading enjoyment.

http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/its-not-just-about-love/

http://www.iprotectmarriage.com/

http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

http://www.protectmarriage.com/

Check ‘em out.

Recipes

I was reading on my friend Carly’s blog about how she is learning how to cook and plan meals and menus for the week, being a newlywed. I have always loved cooking, but haven’t always taken the time for it. Now that I do it most days, I find I really enjoy cooking. Most of the time. I do love leftovers, too.

So in sympathy with Carly, who is enjoying the world of cooking for two now, I thought I’d start a second blog, all about recipes and cooking. Go check it out here. I don’t know how often I’ll update it; probably once or twice a week. I might run out of recipes if I post more often than that! Hope you enjoy it!

Amanda-isms

I saw this very cute idea on my cousin Sarah’s blog (Sarah Jane studios over on your right side). She read on another crafty blog where this mom had decided to start writing down all sorts of silly things her children said on whatever paper happened to be handy. Decorate a jar according to your taste, and keep the papers in the jar. Pull a few out whenever you’re having what I like to call “a bad mom day” – one of those days when you need to be reminded why it is you love being a mom. Or any time you want a good laugh. It also helps me keep track of the silly things our girls do that I want to share with my husband, who misses so much at work.

Here’s a few to whet your appetite:

(While we are putting on shoes) A: I love that left foot.

A: I a pretty princess, mommy. M: Oh, is Katie a pretty princess too? A: No… Kaybee’s a queen! M: Oh, she’s a queen? A: Yes! And I’m da king!

A: What’s my name, mommy? M: Amanda. A: That’s a good name for ‘Manda.

On second thought

I didn’t realize that blogging about Prop 8 would lead to a migraine. So I am going to take a break from answering your comments for a day or two. Feel free to continue the discussion amongst yourselves.

I do sincerely appreciate that we have kept our discussion just that – a discussion, and not an argument. I know this is a sensitive issue for a lot of people, and I am glad that we have been able to discuss it without resorting to negativity. In the end, those of us who have made up our minds one way or the other are highly unlikely to sway others who are already committed, but I appreciate hearing both sides of the issue.

Tolerance, and why I support Proposition 8

I’m going to stun you all by writing another serious post – I promise it won’t become a habit, though.

I would like to think that I am a fairly tolerant person. When some of my friends left the Church in middle school and high school and started drinking and smoking, we stayed friends. I made an effort to be kind to those kids everyone else picked on, having been that kid myself. I had several boys fall in love with me simply because I was the only girl who had ever been nice to them. (Sometimes, being nice and kind has its odd consequences ) I got picked on a lot in school; I wore glasses, had frizzy curly hair, sang in the choir, was bad at sports, and I was Mormon. Especially because I was Mormon. It still amazes me how many of the pastors in the area I grew up in spent most of their time preaching to their youth about the evil Mormons, instead of on things like abstinence, not taking the name of the Lord in vain, and reading the scriptures. I had friends joke about tarring and feathering Mormons for fun. I watched people march around outside my chapel with signs saying things like “enter here for the gateway to Hell.” Having grown up with people being intolerant of me, I sympathize with those who feel discriminated against.

I have gay friends. I admit it. I don’t think they are horrible people. I don’t preach to them about the evils of their lifestyle. While I don’t think what they do is a good, moral choice that pleases God, I respect their freedom to choose their lifestyle. It is not my place to be their judge. In the case of Proposition 8, though, I feel it is my place to draw the line.

To the best of my understanding, gays have the majority of their rights protected in California. They are simply denied the right to the name of marriage. If Proposition 8 fails, same-sex marriage will, by default, become legalized. (And that’s a point I don’t quite understand… shouldn’t we also have to vote on whether or not same-sex marriage is legal? It seems odd that it will pass into law simply by default if Prop 8 fails.) If same-sex marriage becomes legal in California, people from all over the US will be able to come to California to get married. The issue will carry over into other states, and those states will have to decide whether or not those marriages will be recognized as legal.

In addition, our own pastors, preachers, bishops, and reverends, will have their right to freedom of speech suppressed. Our right to hetereosexual marriage will be suppressed. Our right to freedom of religion will be challenged. How? You might ask. Well, if gay marriage becomes legal, it then becomes illegal to preach against homosexuality. It becomes a hate crime. Our spiritual leaders will be sued. Churches that refuse to perform same-sex marriage will not be allowed to perform heterosexual marriages, on the grounds that doing one and refusing to do the other is discriminatory. If you are not gay, but support gay marriage, think about how you might feel if your own chapel is suddenly hosting gay marriages. Does it change how you feel? If our pastors can’t preach what they believe, and we aren’t allowed to worship as we choose within our church buildings, doesn’t that sound like suppression of freedom of religion to you? It does to me.

I am all about equality. I am all about tolerance. But not when protecting the rights of a minority comes at a suppression of the rights of the majority. Please join me, and vote Yes on Prop 8. To learn more, or to donate, go to http://protectmarriage.com/.

Please, feel free to comment on my post, whether you agree or disagree, but keep it clean. This is a family-oriented blog. If you use profanity, I will have to delete your comment.