"I don't sink so."

My toddler, Jenny, epitomizes both what we dread and what we love about two-year-olds. Today, when I picked her up from playgroup, I said, "Jenny, say 'thank you' to Mrs. Ferguson for the playgroup."

"No," she said stubbornly.

"Jenny," I warned. "Say 'thank you' to Mrs. Ferguson. That was really nice of her to have you for the playgroup."

"No," she said again, and added, "I don't sink so. I don't siiiink so."

With a nervous laugh, I quickly excused myself from playgroup, vowing to teach my two-year-old better manners.



Also today, Jenny saw a "Sale" sign at the store. She brought it to me, delighted that she recognized a letter of the alphabet. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G!" She cried.

"That's right, Jenny," I beamed. "Good job! Those are letters."

But Jenny wasn't finished telling me about her amazing find. "H I J K LMNOP!"

"Yes, Jenny, that's right. Those are letters." As she worked her way through the alphabet, the decibels got higher and louder.

"Q-R-S-T-U-V-W--X--Y--Z!!!!!" She screamed the end of her ABCs. As I quickly shushed her, I couldn't help but laugh. She may have disturbed everyone in the store, but there was something beautiful about a child getting so excited about something as simple as the alphabet.



As I am sitting on the bed writing this blog, Lizzy, Jenny, and Maia are in the bath--and things are going downhill.

"Mom!" Maia (8 years old) said just now, "Jenny's roughhousing!"

I guess I'd better go save the big kids from my toddler.