1 Mother 2 Another

Brian and I are recovered, though I can
tell that Cora’s hovering on the edge of falling into the
nasty cold he and I both had last week. But even though I was out
of commission, I managed to jot down a few funny comments during
the week – you never know when I’m listening with a
paper and pencil.

Maddie’s friend Sam came over for a
play date at the end of the week, and sure enough they found
themselves outside playing football. At one point I saw Maddie kick
the ball towards and end zone – which is usually how they
kick off a play: kick, run to grab it, and run towards the end
zone. But Maddie made no move to get the ball, instead just
watching it tumble along the ground. “Run, Maddie, run and
get the ball!” I shouted encouragingly as the two kids stood
and watched. Sam turned to me and said scornfully as if speaking to
someone not quite all there, “She’s going for the extra
point.”


Oh. Sorry.


The night before that, Cora hit a wall during dinner and started to
get bored. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her begin to play with
her food, walking it along her plate. I turned to Cora and said,
“Cora, don’t play with your food.” She looked at
me, laid a hand gently on my arm and said, “Mommy, trust me
on this one. Don’t talk to me while I’m playing with my
food.”


Yet again during Maddie and Sam’s play date football game,
Maddie tried to tackle Sam and didn’t bring him all the way
down, though she did knock the ball out of his arms. “Fumble,
Maddie! Fumble!” he yelled, trying to get her to scramble to
the ball with him. “I don’t care about the ball,”
she screamed back through gritted teeth, still hanging on to him,
“I’m bringing you down!”


And before that game had begun, Maddie and Sam were playing with
dolls when Sam turned to Maddie and said, “I know!
Let’s pretend we’re the mommy and daddy, put that baby
to sleep, get someone else to watch it, and go out and do fun
stuff!”


Out of the mouths of babes.