Our crazy kids

This past weekend, I was away at a Women's Retreat, so TJ was Mr. Mom and had a fun time with the kids. While I was having lunch with some other women on the retreat, we got to talking about our kids. And, as I was telling funny stories about Trip and Mady and their vivid imaginations, it occurred to me that we have some CRAZY kids! And, I wanted to be sure and write down all their craziness before they start acting normal. (Hopefully, they never will) So, let's start with Trip. I must say, he is by far the craziest of the two. Although, his craziness has started to decrease this school year, he's still got some hanging around. It all started right after Mady was born. Trip started telling us that everything...I mean everything was "still with him and could lots of things with him." This was the case for all things from food, to toys, to people we saw, to animals we saw, to things he made up in his head. It really creeped me out at first, but then I got over it. This has diminished to only living things like animals or people, and now they are only "still with us;" he dropped that they could do lots of things. Thank goodness! That was the weirdest part...I mean what exactly can an eaten pb&j that is somehow still with you do!? He also loves to ask us to pretend to be things we are not. This again has gotten better. We used to be asked to be all kinds of things, even the floor or the chair. Have you ever tried to be the voice of a chair? NOT easy. Now, he asks us to be things like characters from movies. The most annoying part of it though, is that he tells us what to say and if we stray from the script in his crazy head, he gets quite upset with us. I have to admit, I get a little pleasure out of messing up the script. :-) Especially when I'm asked to be something annoying like a bad guy who is really good. WHAT?! Because things are always "still with" Trip, he hasn't really had ONE imaginary friend. Recently, the one that has spent the most time with us is T-Rex, which is one Mady has adopted as her own as well, but I'll get to that later. So, even though Trip doesn't have a "real" imaginary friend, he does have "Joe." I am going to do my best to describe Joe, but it is not easy without being able to demonstrate in person. Have you ever used your pointer finger and middle finger together to be like the legs of a person? Well, that is what Joe is: a "finger person." He usually comes out at the table when we are eating and I am forced to remind Trip that Joe is not allowed at the table! Yes, those words actually have to come out of my mouth. Joe is really good at fighting off bad guys and when most bad guys encounter Joe, they choose to become good instead. I tell myself that all of this imagining means that Trip is REALLY smart. I just hope that is true and not my way of denying that actually he is a NUT!

Now, onto Crazy Thing 2, otherwise known as Mady. Mady has always been crazy in her own entertaining way, but now she is getting nutty just like her older brother. As I mentioned earlier, she has begun borrowing from Trip's ever increasing list of imaginary companions, specifically T-Rex. Her favorite friend is "Purple T-Rex." But their are other color options for T-Rex. There is also Green T-Rex, White T-Rex and sometimes Blue T-Rex. However, Purple T-Rex is the one that is always causing trouble. Anytime Mady does something she shouldn't, she blames Purple T-Rex. He either did it or made her do it. She has also started blaming her misbehavior on an alter-ego, she calls Pop-Pop! Sometimes, Mady will come up to me and say, Pop-Pop won't stop hitting me. To which I will respond, "Well, ask her to stop." Then, Mady will turn her head and say "Please stop hitting me." And, then she will turn back to me and say that Pop-Pop stopped. (although, sometimes, just like Mady, Pop-Pop doesn't listen the first time) Mady also switches roles with her with alter-ego and sometimes Pop-Pop tells on Mady for doing things like jumping on the couch. Most recently, as a way to prolong the bedtime routine, as I am leaving her room, Mady will call me back in to tell me that Purple T-Rex went potty, so can I please give him an M&M. I guess dinosaurs have to learn too! I know this is just the beginning for Mady, and if she is anything like Trip, it's going to get even NUTTIER!

TJ and I lay the blame on each other daily for the crazy kids we produced and their awesome imaginations. But, I wouldn't want it any other way. What good is a house with preschoolers if you can't be living in the land of make-believe!