Kate loves popcorn.
Loves.
It surprises us considering she’s really not much of a food person yet, but the first time I popped up a bowl of popcorn for us to enjoy during a movie night she didn’t even hesitate to try it, and was soon shoveling it into her mouth by the fistfuls!
I love me some popcorn too (and also subscribe to the “fistfuls” popcorn eating method), so Kate and I have turned our movie/popcorn nights into a little weekend ritual. We snuggle up on the couch under my favorite T-shirt quilt, put in her favorite Cars DVD, and balance a heaping bowl of popcorn between our laps.
More recently, however, Kate has been less and less inclined to share the popcorn. She’s figured out my hands are bigger than hers and when I dip one into the bowl it leaves quite the dent. She tried to shoo my hand away one night, but I reminded her that “we have to share.” She then asked me to sit in the chair (across the room, and safely away from her precious popcorn), but I told her no, and that this was our cuddle time, as I scooted closer to her and went in for another handful.
Finally, she had had enough.
She took the popcorn bowl from between our laps and moved it to her other side (away from my reach), looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said with all sincerity:
“I just need some space right now.”
We now eat out of separate popcorn bowls.
Something that she loves almost as much as popcorn is trains! I got her a wooden train set from IKEA and she’s so enthralled with it. We also started recording Thomas the Tank Engine on TV and she’s hooked! She runs around the house chanting, “Chugga, chugga, choo-choo!”
When she’s not chugging like a train we’ll often hear her spontaneously burst into song! The Itsy, Bitsy Spider and Ants Go Marching are two of her current favorites, but she’s also perfectly comfortable making up her own songs to fit whatever occassion. Hearing her sing throughout the day is one of my favorite sounds!
Something else that makes my heart sing is hearing her recite a “Thank you for the world so sweet…” prayer she learned at daycare. I’m assuming they say this prayer before lunch because Kate will often follow up her “Amen” with “Now it’s time to eat! Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom!” Here’s audio of Kate saying her prayer at bedtime:
(And here’s the next audio of me reading to Kate at bedtime if you’re interested – the book is “It’s Time to Sleep, My Love” by Nancy Tillman.)
In more fun 30 month news – remember when I shared that video of Kate dancing at the mall? Well I caught her on camera again! This time we were at Francesca’s Collection – one of my favorite stores. We were the only two customers in the store when we walked in and I could see the saleswomen giving us the side eye (I worked in retail; I get it), but Kate has such great manners when we shop (asking permission before she touches things, carefully putting them back where they belong when she’s done) that soon those saleswomen were completely charmed by Kate, and ooh’d and ahh’d and showered her with compliments as she piled bracelets all up her arm, put on a pair of oversized sunglasses and danced in delight throughout the store. By the time we left they were laughing and calling out, “Come back and visit us again soon!” I think it’s safe to say that Francesca’s Collection is now one of Kate’s favorite stores, too!
On the potty training front, we have phased out giving Kate M&Ms when she uses the potty (I told her they were all gone) and she handled that shift in the routine really well. Her big draw for using the potty now (especially when we’re away from home) is that she loves seeing what kind of soap people have in their bathrooms! When she’s showing signs that she needs to go (but tells me otherwise because she doesn’t want to stop what she’s doing), I ask, “Want to go and see what kind of soap they have in this bathroom?”
“Yeah!” she cheerfully replies.
Once I have her in the bathroom she’s so excited to wash her hands, but I remind her, “First we have to go potty, then we wash our hands…” and that does the trick!
(Foam soap is her favorite, for the record. Who doesn’t love a good foam soap?)
Kate (and the rest of us!) enjoyed a visit from her Aunt Lesley and soon-to-be Uncle Ben this month, and even though we don’t see them as often as we’d like, it’s clear that Lesley and Ben rank pretty darn high on Kate’s list of favorite people. Here’s a video of her wrangling them (and Daddy) into doing “Ring Around the Rosie” while they were here:
I’ll end with my favorite story of Kate from this month. We were driving to my friend Erica’s house for a pool party, and we passed a farm on the way. Kate noticed it from the back seat and cheerfully remarked, “Oh look, a farm!”
A second later she spotted a man outside and casually added:
“And there’s Old MacDonald.”
Kate (30 months old) enjoying a visit from her Aunt Lesley and soon-to-be Uncle Ben! |
Popcorn is a choking hazzard. The recommended age is four or five. It’s especially scary because if it gets caught it’s like a hook and almost impossible to dislodge. Sorry to be annoying!
Well, technically, all food is a choking hazard, lol. Just saying. What’s important is chewing the food completely before swallowing, not necessarily the popcorn itself.
I have to say as cute as she is, the popcorn story isn’t cute (and no, I’m not the anonymous from above). When I told my kids to share, they shared. No “I want my privacy” or other ways of phrasing it. But, we’re all different parents and teach differently.
I don’t presume to know what kind of parent you are like the two anonymous busybodies that already commented but you seem like an awesome mother and Kate seems like an awesome little girl so keep doing what you’re doing!!
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Wow! Such angry comments! She was just sharing one incident about the popcorn (Kate not being interested in sharing), and I think it’s very obvious from every other story she has ever posted that Kate is a very polite little girl. If that is the worst she does, she is better off than most children I know of any age.
@Anonymous #1: Thank you for sharing. We will be especially careful.
@Amanda: Good point!
@Anonymous #2: I’ve taught Kate the concepts of privacy (when she uses the potty) and needing space (when I’m all up in her face too much) because I think it’s important for her to understand that her body is her own, and her personal space is something she can influence. I think the humor in the popcorn story is that she used “I just need some space right now” to get me away from the popcorn bowl – that’s pretty clever in this Mom’s opinion!
To your other point – Kate is an excellent sharer and has great manners. That said, I’m not trying to raise a daughter who is 100% compliant. I’m trying to raise one who can advocate for herself and be assertive when she needs to be. Sure, I could have made her bend to my will and insisted that we share the popcorn, but I think there are times when we need to treat our children with respect and honor their requests. I have no problem doing that over something as silly as a bowl of popcorn. If Kate was a poor sharer, or sharing was something we were trying to teach her, the popcorn story would’ve played out differently. I’ve seen firsthand the effects of not teaching children how to have good manners – they turn out to be rude adults. Which leads me too…
@Anonymous #4: You should consider reading any number of the fabulous decorating blogs highlighted in my sidebar in you’re interested in reading more about decorating. This blog is about my life, which is filled with many lovely things in addition to decorating, such as my perfect daughter, my generous sponsors, and (you forgot) my perfect husband. I will be deleting your comment now as it is offensive to my daughter and that is not something I will tolerate.
@Anonymous #3 & 5: Thank you for your kind words. This is a post that celebrates my daughter’s life at 30 months old. Thank you for respecting that.
Kate is a precious little girl and the story about the popcorn is adorable.
Dusty, I think you are such an amazing mom and Kate is such an adorable and SMART little girl. The popcorn story was cute. Thank you for sharing with us.
I have to say, bravo to you for both the post and your responses! As mama to a 14 month old girl, I really love your thoughts behind space and privacy. Will definitely be channeling those into future techniques of my own! You sound like a wonderful mother, and your daughter is delightful. Keep up the great work!
I’m constantly impressed by Kate’s manners, brilliance, and awesome communication skills! Adorable stories!
Here’s how I know I’m not ready for kids. I would TOTALLY have this GIANT bowl of popcorn and give little miss ‘I need some space’ a regular size bowl.
‘Mom’ for the win.
LOLOLOL <3
Kate is adorably hysterical! What a fun little girl you’re raising
xo-Ang
I didn’t know that popcorn was such a choking hazard until recently. Before that my 18 month old had a few pieces with close supervision. As for the other comments, I admire you for teaching Kate about privacy and how to ask for it. This is something I never thought of but you have inspired me to teach my son.
Thank you for sharing your life on the interwebs. I don’t know how you do it, because my ears would be red and my fingers would hurt from pounding responses tp annoying commenters. I love reading your blog & both you and your daughter are adorbs. My son is 3 months younger than Kate, every time you post a milestone of hers, he follows. For the record, I let him eat popcorn & have for a while. & he too has moments of wanting his space (which I think is healthy)…”momma, leave me alone for a minute”. Not that you needed me to validate anything, you sound confident in your parenting abilities.
Thank you for your kind responses! Regarding the “privacy” issue – I have to admit, I originally taught Kate the concept of “privacy” because I wanted to ensure that I’d have privacy when I wanted it. It made sense to me to teach her this concept by applying it to her first (isn’t that how kids learn?) and then transferring it to me (and others). Now when I want privacy in the bathroom and Kate flings the door open I can say, “Mama needs privacy, please” and she understands what I mean and she respects that. This has saved me from some potential very embarrassing situations while peeing at parties, lol! In all seriousness, though, I do think it’s a very good first step to teaching children that their bodies are their own and they have say over who gets to be around when they’re half-naked and using the potty. It really touches my heart to hear that some of you are also considering teaching this concept to your children. Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Growing up, my mom would make one large bowl of popcorn and we would get small bowls to take from the big bowl. Then there was no need to fight over the big bowl. (This includes high school years.) I don’t think anyone shares popcorn well…it is too good!
I love that you are teaching Kate privacy. I will definitely be teaching the same concepts to my K. Thanks for the look into Kate’s 30th month and for your great parenting tips.
I love your blog, and appreciate the range of topics that you cover. It’s nice to be reminded that we, as moms, can have interests in other areas of life as well.
I give my son (26 months old) popcorn when we have movie night, too! He loves it. Good point on the privacy topic… I hadn’t thought of that, but I appreciate the nugget of knowledge!
I love popcorn… with BUTTER.
That’s all.
I am in good company with Miss Kate and D!
I love your blog and have read it for months now – can’t remember when I first came across it, but I was immediately hooked! I have a 21 month old son and another baby on the way. I also work full-time and aspire to have a somewhat organized, healthy,stylish and fun life. It’s always fun to read your posts and hear about Kate – what a smart and lovely girl! The previous rude comments are so uncalled-for…I just wanted to say you’re amazing and those people are sad.
Thank you so much, ladies!