The Weird Things They Do!

Man, kids are really strange. It is this whole stage of experimentation that is so amusing, sometimes alarming, and at times irritating that make you sit and wonder about the types of children they are becoming. Really, all the things I have seen my kids do is nothing beyond what I have seen every other weird kid do, but these are mine! And I find myself teetering on saying something from time to time, or just pretending I didn't see it and either laugh quietly to myself or sit disgusted and worry about their future mental health!!! This is a bit extreme, but I am a mom and am due my fits of irrationality!

Maryn has become a constant nail biter. This does bug me and her daddy a bit, but it is not so much the nail biting as the fact that when you notice her doing it she will look at you and say, "I'm not biting my fingers". Or she will turn her head, which apparently makes her invisible in her mind, and continue on with her behavior. There are two issues to address here, or not. First, she has obviously lied about biting her fingers because I clearly saw her do it. So is this one of those "white lies" we ignore, or as I often do, we worry about future implications and much bigger, less pristine lies to come. Secondly, is her nature to hide and continue to do what I have asked her not to do. This prompts a quite lengthy dialogue with the wall that is my daughter. By the end I feel completely breathless and deflated.

I had to put Maryn in time-out last night, which bothers her less and less these days. I watched her from a nearby chair as she lifted each of her arms and starting at her wrist, she put her mouth on her arm and applied just enough pressure to see the mark, but not enough for it to hurt. She continues this all the way up her arm and then started on the next. What cracked me up about this is most often when she sees me watching her do these things, she kind of giggles and then stops. This time, she looked up and saw me watching her, and just kept right on going.

Dylan has become a nose picker. No mom really wants to have a nose picker, I do not think. But the reality is that most of us do. I currently count myself thankful, that among the mother's of the nose picking bunch, that Dylan takes his deposits to a tissue instead of the mouth, which quite frankly would make me vomit. The funny thing is, he knows to use a tissue, but he will only ask for one if he sees that you have noticed him picking his nose. As of the last month or so, it seems he has become obsessed with boogers. He is constantly asking for tissue, generally after his finger has made it into his nose, and will get up several times after being put to bed to get tissues. I have now resorted to just leaving a tissue in his bed with him, which for some may seem disgusting. A booger filled tissue floating around his bed all night, but the truth is there is hardly ever anything that comes out of his nose onto the tissue. I would spend time wondering where it does go, but I don't think I should.

I am getting to the end here and I am left wondering one thing: is it them that are weird, or more appropriately.....it's me!