Switching Roles

Today after work/school, we were surprised when we got to Mom & Dad’s to see Mom sitting outside on the patio reading her Kindle.  Usually she refuses to go outside, but it was in the 70’s with a light breeze and she said it was cooler outside than inside.  So, we went in the house and warmed up some scrumptious left overs from yesterday and went and ate outside w/ her.  After eating, Autumn decided she wanted to sit in my lap and promptly proceeded to prop her feet up on the table as if she were reclining in an office chair at work.  She’s so funny.

We were sitting & talking when I noticed a few dark spots on the branches of the fig trees in the back.  Autumn & I went to investigate and were thrilled to see there were about 5 figs that were a dark purple and were ready to be picked and eaten.  We haven’t had very good figs this year (they have been few and far between and the ones we did find were really dry), so I was beyond excited to find that these few we found were soft and so sweet they tasted like candy.  I offered Autumn a piece of fudge that Aunt Mary had made and she chose the figs over the fudge!

While we sat there and enjoyed our figs, I noticed Autumn’s tricycle and realized she hasn’t tried riding it in forever.  So, I put her on the tricycle (I know, I’m naughty and should have made her wear a helmet) and tried to teach her how to push on the pedals.  She wasn’t quite getting it, so I stole a sneaky  idea from Dad that I had seen him try before and used a broom to push her along.

I was hoping she would get the hang of it by feeling her feet go up and down on the pedals, but she still didn’t quite know how to push hard enough to propel herself forward.  So, I helped push her down to the end of the driveway and back.  She was so proud of herself and thought she was pretty hot stuff.

She wasn’t quite ready to go back inside yet, but didn’t want to ride her tricycle anymore, either.  So, we laid down in the middle of the driveway together and tried to pick out shapes in the clouds.  That only lasted for about a minute before she got bored and wanted to do something else.

She wanted to run, so I told her I would time her on how fast she could run to the end of the driveway and back.  I only had my little point & click camera (not my big nice one), but I remembered it has a setting on it where you can pick up just one color in the photo.  I set it to only pick up the purple since that’s the color of shirt and shoes Autumn was wearing.  I love how her hair flies behind her when she runs.

I know these are blurry (b/c the lighting outside wasn’t very good), but I still liked them and had to include them on the blog.  Autumn’s a fast little runner and Dad keeps saying we need to teach her how to dribble a basketball so she can play sports.  Maybe I should get her into soccer since her oldest 1/2 brother is really good at soccer?

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!

We went back into the house to get a drink and I forgot Mom had gotten me this egg nog for my birthday, so I had a little glass of that.  I love me some egg nog and am glad they start selling it a little bit before Halloween so I can enjoy it on my birthday.

Autumn didn’t want to go home, but I needed to clean and get some things done.  So, I decided to play a game w/ her and pretended like I was her and that she was the Mama.  It was really funny and she was all on board w/ that.  I kept saying, “take me home, Mama.  I am tired and want to go to sleep.”  It was a little sketchy there for a minute when she went to get in the driver’s seat to drive us home (LOL) and then when we got home she helped me brush my teeth and put on my jammies.  I thought I was so smart and so slick and that this was working like a charm.  Well, it was until I had her tuck me into my bed.  We sang a Primary song and then I told her to leave my light on (she always asks for me to leave her light on) and told her good night.  I thought she was going to go get in her bed, but next thing I know I feel her climb into MY bed w/ me!  Dang it!

So, I used my quick thinking and went and got in HER bed and said, “good night, Mama.”  That didn’t work either.  So, we had to go back to our normal roles and I told her it was really time for bed.  She fussed about it for just a little bit and then finally climbed into her bed and we sang a Primary song and she stayed in her bed.  I was pretty surprised that she played along for so long and was really good about calling me Autumn instead of Mom.  I’ll have to remember to play this game in the future, right up until it’s time to go to bed.

It was interesting to see how she perceives me.  I heard her say a lot of things to me that I say to her like, “Go in and go potty before you get in bed.”  “What song do you want to sing?”  “Do you know your Mama loves you?”  “We be nice to our friends, huh?”  It gave me a little glimpse into her world and how she sees things.  If life were only as simple as it seems to a 3 1/2 year old!  You should try it sometime w/ your kids b/c it’s a lot of fun and is a real eye opener.