Everyone's Smarter than Mommy

Driving to breakfast at Dino's last Saturday morning, Jonathan sees a familiar landmark and cries "I don't want to go to Dino's! I want to have breakfast at Chili's!" Mommy tells him "Jonathan, Chili's is closed right now. We go there at dinnertime." Jonathan replies "But look! There's a car in the parking lot!"

Alexander is standing, one hand on the coffee table, when he spots the remote buried in the chair cushions a few feet away. He reaches out an arm but can't bridge the gap. Mommy tells him "You'd better crawl over there, Alex." Alex promptly lets go of the coffee table and takes three independent steps before grabbing the remote.

Jonathan and Mommy are putting on their shoes for an evening walk, since it is an unseasonable 64 degrees outside. Jonathan is balking a little and insists he wants the tan shoes, even though the brown ones are already on. Mommy says "Look, Jonathan, your shirt is brown, so the shoes match your shirt." Jonathan grabs up his blue sneakers and says "Mommy, I'm wearing blue jeans!"

Mommy tries to introduce a bedtime story to Alex's nighttime routine. The "Touch and Feel" farm series seems popular. Mommy takes Alex's little fingers and shows him how to stroke the horsie and the chick. Alex takes the book out of Mommy's hands, flips through until he finds the doggie, and starts to enthusiastically rip out the fur.

Jonathan has gotten out of bed to use the potty, and demands an audience and a kiss for not wetting the bed. He's so proud to show he knows what to do: "First pants back on, then we flush, then we wash our hands!" "That's right, Jonathan." "Our hands are all dirty! Don't touch anything!" "Good listening, Jonathan!" (Reflecting, Mommy notes that this only took two solid months of repetition.) Jonathan smiles slyly and holds his hands behind his back. "Mommy, you need to turn on the water for me. My hands are all dirty!"