Let the "WHY's" and "NO's" Begin!

Last year, I described what my kids are currently doing that are funny, cute, annoying and lovable. I had a lot of favorable comments and responses from my family regarding this post, so I figured I would do it again.

FUNNY
Little Miss: Little Miss loves to sing and dance. Recently, she has developed some 'amazing' dance moves! They are really hideous, adorable, lovable, and funny. She completely gets into the music as she mixes hip hop and Middle Eastern (Belly Dancing) dance moves, with Taekwondo kicks and punches, gymnastics 'cartwheels', and slow expressive motion with short pauses. The best part about it is that she has no rhythm at all (which I will take complete responsibility for as I am not much of a dancer) and she absolutely gets into it! Her little face tells the story of interest as her body flings all over the place. She just cracks me up!

Little Boo: He has found his shadow. He doesn't always remember it is there, then he finds it, and he waves to his shadow. As if it is his friend. He loves it! He waves with his right hand and then with his left hand. With huge giggles as though it's the coolest thing he's done all day!

CUTE
Little Miss: My little mother. Little Miss is becoming a little Mommy, she not only imitates my actions and words, but also my mothering. She loves to mother her little brother. She makes sure she is holding his hand when we are walking outside ("Omar, you need to hold my hand and stay by me"). She is reminds him to be careful and protects him. She explains to him why we do and why we don't do certain things ("BooBoo you will get an owie" or "BooBoo you will get in trouble" or "It's okay BooBoo"). She teaches him about colors, numbers, abc's, etc ("Momma, BooBoo is a baby and I have to teach him how to be big, Like Me!"). Sometimes she scolds him (using the same words as I would). It's really cute to watch her enjoy being a big sister, to be 'responsible', and to care for him.

LIttle Boo: He always wants his sister around. He goes through the house looking for her, "Aja, where you?!" , "Aja, what doin?" He loves to play with her, tease her, chase her, laugh and play games with her. She, in return, loves to play with him just the same.

ANNOYING/CHALLENGING AS A PARENT
Little Miss: I knew it would happen. I was expecting it. I was wondering when it would begin. I can now honestly say, that the 'why' questioning has officially begun. For those of you who have yet to have the privilege of parenting a young, exploring, curious mind, the 'why' questioning goes a little like this:

Daughter: "Momma, is the sun going down"
Mom: "Yes, honey, the sun is going down now."
Daughter: "Why Momma, does the sun go down"
Mom: "The sun goes down at the end of everyday."
Daughter: "Why?"
Mom: "Because the sun has to visit Grandma and Grandpa on the other side of the world"
Daughter: "Why?"
Mom: Because...."
Daughter: "Why?"
Mom/Daughter/Mom/Daughter...: "Because....", "Why?", "Because....", "Why", "Because....", "Why?, "why", "why", "why", "why", "why", "why", "why????????????!!!", "Because", "Because", "Because!!!"

To be completely fair and honest. I know this is a healthy trait of a young, curious mind trying to understand her world. A little girl who is asking the "Why" question because she enjoys conversing with her Mom and knows that the "Why" question continues conversation. However, as a Mother who is constantly answering the "Why" question and knowing that every Mothering statement will end with the "Why" question, it can definitely become challenging to answer with enthusiasm.

Little Boo: Boo, Boo, Boo. The love of my life. A constant challenge! Currently, we have begun "Time Out" with my little man. Yes, I make my 1.7 year old stand in the corner for 1.5 minute when he is naughty. This naughty behavior ranges from pulling his sisters hair, biting her, hitting her, throwing toys at her, doing all the same to me, and not listening to (or should I say challenging) me or his father and putting himself in danger (like trying to jump off the back of the couch-head first or insisting to play with the electrical switches and plugs), etc, etc, etc. What doesn't this boy do?! I ignore the bad behavior, reward the good behavior, and now, I punish the naughty behavior. ...Time Out. It has been working, to my surprise, quite well! He will always get time out for purposely hurting his sister, followed by my reason for timeout, followed by giving his sister and Mom a hug and kiss. When he is challenging me, I simply ask him if he wants to stand in the corner....he slowly, stops the behavior, puts his head down, pouts the lips and says, "No" and the naughty behavior usually stops! Rock!

Speaking of "NO." This month he began saying, "NO!" and pushes me or my hand out of his way, so he can continue doing what he wants...that isn't working so well for him...but he keeps trying!

LOVABLE
Little Miss: Little Miss and I sleep in the same bed. As we are falling asleep she asks me to hold her or 'cubble (cuddle) with me please'. Sometimes she grabs my arm and wraps it around her body. Other times she wraps her arms around me and holds me. She sometimes rubs my arm or back as I am falling asleep. She is so sweet and so loving. I love sleeping next to her.

Little Boo: When Dad or Mommy come to pick the kids up from working all day. He sees us from across the room and bolts towards us with laughter, smiles, and giggles -his arms out wide as they can stretch as he nears us, then embraces us in a huge, lasting hug.