Sunday, October 26, 2008

Don't be mad, but my kid is smarter than yours!

My husband and I believe that the way to encourage a behavioral pattern in young children is to first, recognize the desired behavior and second, reward the child for that behavior. This philosophy has worked miracles for all of my children, but especially my five-month old!

One day, when we took my son grocery shopping, we were strolling through the baked goods aisle. Out of nowhere, my son signs the word "donut." I didn't even know the sign for donut, but thank goodness my husband did, and so to reward him, we bought a couple dozen. He doesn't know how to eat yet, so my thoughtful husband ate them in front of him to show him how.

Then, on Saturday, while I was outside watching the other children play, my husband, who was selflessly holding the baby inside for me, looked deep into his eyes and saw him blink "B-Y-U-G-A-M-E" in Morse Code!  I didn't see it or anything, but when I got mad because they were in front of the TV for 3 hours , my husband explained why and I totally forgave him.  Poor guy was just bonding and reinforcing baby's early communication skills.

I was preparing the house for guests one day and our little whiz kid tapped his dad on the shoulder. He used a finger on one hand to write on the palm of the other in Asian the words "nap with daddy."  I missed it, again!  But, who can deny a request like that?  So, I let my husband and babe nap while I cooked and cleaned and watched the other children by myself.

By this time, I was pretty sure there was nothing else my little man-child could do to make me more proud. He proved me wrong! I was giving the other kids a bath and preparing them for bed when my son grabbed the Magna Doodle and drew a picture of Andrei Kirilenko and season tickets. But he totally erased it before I could even see it! My attentive husband saw it in the nick of time. So, darn it, we are going to get the little prodigy season Jazz tickets!  My hubby is even willing to take him to all of the games!  

Anyway, I had to share! I'm just so glad my husband was able to see these huge milestones in our baby's life, even though I have yet to actually witness any of them.  Please don't get jealous of what a genius my little baby is. What can I say? He gets his smarts from me.

Based on a true story.

4 comments:

Kristina P. said...

You two are such wonderful, model, sacrificing parents. Eating a whole box of donuts for a teaching moment. Your husband is my hero.

And don't tell anyone, but I stated on my bog that your kid is the cutest.

Lobbie said...

Methinks I must have myself a child who knows how to spout Greek philosophy-clearly meaning we need to go to Plato's closet.

Payne Family said...

I know how to drool, I mean draw, on a Magnadoodle can I go? If your young prodigy needs someone to go to the Jazz game with, I can bring him and teach him a few new words.... Invitation is open anytime, just call me.

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

very talented 5 month old!!!! OR very sly husband! HMMMMMM!