Four Letter Word

Lately we have been hearing a lot of a certain 4 letter word around our house. The S-word? The F-word? No, the M-word: "MINE." Typically considered a harmless word, when utter uttered no less than 74,000 times a day, this word becomes infuriating! I'm not even going to speculate on where he might have learned this forceful exclamation of possession (a girl in his class), but I'm just going to say that I don't like it. And, I don't really know what to do about it either.

I understand that possession, i.e. Mama's pants, Baba's shoes, Zaydo's milk is an important concept to grasp, but geez does it have to be "My i-pag!, My Chee-O's!, My choo choo tain! My hair!, My nose!?" My nose? I mean, I'm not trying to take it from him or claim that it belongs to me! He usually takes claim of a body part when I am messing with it or cleaning it. I have been trying to combat it by saying, "No Zayd, we share!" Then he smiles sweetly and says "Share!" Sometimes, he'll hand it back to you, sometimes, he won't. Probably doesn't get it, but maybe one day that will stick.

You know, I just don't want him to become entitled and think he has a right to have anything and everything and that it all belongs to him. I guess the possession stage is just that, a stage. Hopefully, it will pass and we will learn something from it.

The other day he threw something (another ongoing problem), and I looked at him and said "Zaydd!" And he paused, looked down, then back up at me and exclaimed "TineOUT!" I said "that's right," then he said "go!" and he went. I had to stop myself from laughing. We have a designated little corner that he stands in for about 15 seconds then he runs back in for a hug and forgiveness. Again, not real sure how effective our method is, but it seems to be working for now.


Also, in preparation for potty training and so he won't be freaked out by poop, I tell him "Good job, Zayd!" when he poops. Well, now when I'm changing him he says "Good job, Zayd, poopoo." He also tells himself good job when he climbs into his chair by himself. He also, says "Aw, sweet" when he hugs you. He is becoming the great imitator.


I have not even picked up my camera in about 2 weeks. Sorry, but I'll get back to it soon.