Somewhere between the time they first started to talk and age 5, I seem to have managed to teach my first two kids to be reasonably polite. I'm not claiming that they are perfectly polite, by any means...but they are at least more polite than average children because strangers routinely comment on their pleasantries...
Just like the hat-training, I attribute my moderate success in this arena to the tutelage of my sister, and incessant reminders and consistent reinforcement: The "Mummy sounds like a broken record" method! As I work on ingraining the politeness gene into my third child, I am quite certain that I have heard myself say the words "Oh dear, you forgot to ask nicely!" about 40 million times!
Kenzie was an early and adept talker (who continues to be a socialite and conversationalist to this day!) By the time she was 2 1/2, my "Ask Nicely" campaign had resulted her being able to deftly string together excuse me's, pleases and thank-you's appropriately within context. She had quickly integrated the concept and skills associated with using good manners to win friends and influence people.
Cooper was a late talker who was plagued by an "antsy impatience" that I believe stemmed from the constant frustration of knowing what he wanted long before he could find the words to convey it. So Cooper was more of a "truncated blurter" when it came to making requests. "Not milk! Juice!" "No! A yellow cup!" "No lid Mummy!" The "Ask Nicely" campaign was slow to sink in for Cooper, and escalated his frustration accordingly...till one day, when he appeared to be thoroughly flummoxed by an "ask nicely" standoff, it finally occurred to him that maybe he would get what he wanted if he gave me what I wanted. He took a deep breath fueled by resignation, mustered a deliberately controlled sweet tone of voice, and a duress-inspired "pleasant" smile to match, and blurted, "NICELY!!?!!?!" I was so caught off guard by the simplicity and effort of his compliance, that my heart melted, and for almost a year afterward, a hearty, well-delivered "NICELY!!!!" became an acceptably polite form of request at our house!
Showing posts with label Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooper. Show all posts
Young Main in the 2nd row -- Nice Ears!
I fully expected that it would be a rack full of basic black ear hats with the classic Disney logo that I remembered. But in retrospect, I should have expected that the selection of ear hats would have increased during the span of 30 some odd years - and it sure had! There are now Pink Disney Princess ear hats, Bride and Groom ear hats, Goofy ear hats, Donald Duck bill hats, multiple varieties of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse ear hats, and so many others that I hadn't allotted nearly enough time for the store visit in between rides to inspect or try on every permutation!
While Kenzie was off on an "older kid" ride with Daddy, and Derek was hanging with Auntie Annette in the shade, Cooper and I ventured into the Disney Souvenir store to share the experience of buying him his very own Mickey Mouse ears. They did, indeed have the "classic" ears still, but faced with all the other more exciting hats, I knew that boring black would be a hard sell! As luck would have it, though, there was a particular set of Mickey themed ears that had 'Cooper' written all over it! He had no problem choosing which one he wanted, even with all the selection in front of him!
For Cooper the awesome moment of Mickey Mouse Ear Hat ownership was sealed the instant the lady at the counter offered to put his name on it in YELLOW thread (yellow being Cooper's all-time favourite colour!) A few minutes later, the hat that Cooper had been drawn to like a magnet amongst a shelf of every possible permutation of Disney character hats literally DID have 'Cooper' written on it! And the Coop proceeded to sport his totally-made-for-him Disney ears souvenir hat for the remainder of our trip. I lost track of how many people in line-ups, on rides, and shuttles commented on how "absolutely perfect those ears are on him!", and how "he looks like he should be a poster child for bringing your kid to Disneyland!"
But the most memorable and startling comment of all was toward the end of the Monsters Inc. ride, when a lifesize robotic version of the character "Roz" personally addressed Coop with the comment "Young man in the 2nd row...nice ears!!"
Future Careers 2008
Cooper (almost 5): "A pilot of a Helicopter that puts out fires"
Kenzie (7 1/2): "A Vegetarian who doesn't eat animals because she makes them feel better, and an Artist"*
*Artist still inspired by Auntie Flower
Kenzie (7 1/2): "A Vegetarian who doesn't eat animals because she makes them feel better, and an Artist"*
*Artist still inspired by Auntie Flower
You can keep your hat on...
The sun here is strong, and my kids are fair-skinned. But regardless of skin tone, I think parents need to be proactive when it comes to sun protection. So I am a self professed freak about my kids applying sunscreen and donning hats. Funny thing is, I never would have believed that you could keep a hat on a baby/toddler/child if I hadn't seen my sister 'hat-train' her kids with my own eyes! It's simple to do actually - if you don't mind putting a hat back on your child about a trillion times before they finally accept that Mummy isn't going to give up!So, suffice it to say, after several years of insistence, my kids are 'hat-trained'. I even went so far as to quest after the "perfect hat" -- and I found it! It's called the Booney SPF Hat and it's made by Columbia Sportwear. It's the perfect hat because it's made of an SPF30 breathable fabric, they are an adjustable fit 'one size fits most' (they snug down and have a chin strap so they don't fly away when it's windy), and they are my favourite color - taupe/khaki! (Though I broke down and bought baby blue for my daughter). My boys call them their "sunny hats", and they don't leave home without them atop their heads...
It's not until you go into public with hatted little ones, that you realize how few kids wear hats. So far, my boys haven't noticed that they are practically the only ones sporting fedoras, and it is my hope that when they do twig, they won't succumb to peer pressure!
But the most interesting part about having boys that wear hats is what a conversation starter it is. Everywhere I go, people seem to be compelled to comment. Often it's "Those are great hats!" or "Where did you get those fantastic hats?" (click on link above if you are wondering). My favourite is "Your boys are absolutely precious in those hats!" (of course, I agree :0). And very common is the question "How on earth do you get them to keep their hats on? I couldn't get my kid to wear a hat for 3 seconds!" (The answer to that also already addressed above).
My problem, ironically, arises in instances where, due to being temporarily misplaced or accidentally left behind, I have to convince one of my boys NOT to wear a hat!
Dancing Celery
Some days, the prospect of tackling the task of tidying the house just makes me want to go back to bed. Other days, I’m full of vim and vigor and go at it with gusto. Today was one of the vigorous days, which was nice (I don’t seem to get as many of them!)
When I’m in cleaning mode, I like to crank the tunes on the stereo. Today we were all dancing to disco era favorites as we went about our respective business. I was doing a deep clean and reorg in the kitchen. The kids were playing contentedly in various parts of the house, with periodic visits to the kitchen to “check on Mummy” which is their typical modus operandi…
I had unloaded the contents of the fridge onto the counter, and among other things, there was a see through container with water and celery sticks in it (the water keeps the celery hydrated and fresh). Each time Cooper stopped by to visit he would shake the celery container, in his fidgety little way. I kept telling him to stop because the lid didn’t have a very good seal and it was spilling water on the counter (which I explained to him), but as soon as I would go back to my task, and/or each time he came back to the kitchen he would start shaking the celery container again. After about the 4th time I caught him shaking the celery, I was pretty annoyed, and I snapped at him and said “Cooper!! Why do you keep shaking the celery after Mummy told you not to?!!” He pulled his hand away with a sad look and said “The celery wants to dance, Mummy”.
*SIGH* When will I learn to ask first and snap second? My kids almost always have a perfectly rational explanation for doing the things they do!
Cooper is a Trooper!
I lean a little bit to the “overly protective” side, and have even been accused of “babying” my kids a little. My husband is the opposite. He’s not as bad as the “never too soon to toughen them up type” but he likes to throw challenges in front of our kids “so that they have a chance to surprise themselves when they succeed”. I guess since I’m so careful not to expose them to failure, it’s probably a good thing that he insists that they get to try new things?
A couple of days ago, he announced that he thought that Cooper was ready for his first hike, and that he wanted to take him and Kenzie on the Cecret Lake trail at the top of Alta. Honestly, if I hadn’t accidentally (ahem, Nova) seen how tenaciously Cooper handled a VERY long walk to the post office in Cora, Wyoming a few weeks ago, I would have told husband to go JUMP in Cecret Lake, and to leave my precious little boy out of his he-man endeavors. But the Wyoming eye-opener, coupled with the fact that Cooper’s ears had perked up and he was prancing around in Cooper-like fashion at the prospect of getting to go on a “big boy” outing with Daddy and Kenzie, added up to a reluctant ‘okay’ from Mummy…
I outfitted the kids with good walking shoes (they’ve been wearing Crocs all summer), I made Daddy promise to stop often for drinks, snacks and rests, and they toodled off to start their adventure around 4pm. Poor Derek was devastated to be left behind! He and Cooper are usually in the same boat when it comes to getting left behind with Mummy, but not today! Mummy was left to fret and wring her hands — visions of horrid blisters on Cooper’s feet and Daddy coming home grumpy from having carried Cooper most of the way, and even more paranoid visions of Cooper losing his balance on the rocks on the banks of Cecret Lake and falling in — I had to divert myself, so Derek and I went grocery shopping (he’s been hounding me to buy ‘damanas’ all week!)
Around 7:30, my little troupe of hikers came home, all flushed and beaming with stories to tell (fodder for another post :0). Cooper had one minor slip, that (according to Daddy), anyone might have had on a section of trail with loose shale, and he was a trooper about getting up and carrying on. Apparently, I am a completely paranoid worry-wart!
The Cooper Scoot
Mackenzie was a 'stiff' baby. Cooper was all noodle-y! I suspect his lack of tension was part of the reason he walked late, and never crawled! But hey - why crawl when you can scoot!?! (Bythe way, he is saying "cat" -- and you can hear the cat meow in the background at the beginning -- I was using the cat as scoot bait!)
This was very early in the scoot era. As you can see he struggles quite a bit to gain just a little ground. Later, as he became stronger and slightly more coordinated, he got pretty fast with a side-scoot method where he would launch himself off his buttcheek, stabilized by one arm and propelled by extending his bent leg. He would even catch a little air with each scoot motion!
This was very early in the scoot era. As you can see he struggles quite a bit to gain just a little ground. Later, as he became stronger and slightly more coordinated, he got pretty fast with a side-scoot method where he would launch himself off his buttcheek, stabilized by one arm and propelled by extending his bent leg. He would even catch a little air with each scoot motion!
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