"I would rather you not lick any toes."

Was that too stuffy of me? Do I just need to lighten up a bit? I mean, he did make a valid point when he said he would only lick his own toes from now on. I guess that is his own business and perhaps I should have left it at that, but, in my defense, I did make it a fairly weak request and not some hard fast rule. Ah, who knows?!

"Nobody eats poopy, buddy."

Although some friends were trying to tell me that, in some cases, poop is in fact eaten in certain circumstances, I still stand strong behind this statement. My kids are very curious and I absolutely love that about them so when my youngest asked me why kids can't eat poopy I really didn't think twice about the question. It actually fit in with the circumstances (circumstance: he on the toilet, me in bathroom with him). I'm a semantics kinda gal, though I try not to get too picky when it comes to explaining stuff to my kids, so my son's use of 'can't' made me pause for a second. I immediately thought, 'Well they can, actually, and some do - I've heard stories that'll make you look at poop in a whole new light,' or something to that effect. But what I said was something about that being a yucky thing to do and one might get sick from doing it. He then asked if grown ups could eat poopy and that's when I made the above blanket statement. He seemed appeased for the moment, but then his brain shifted a bit and he asked what exactly poopy was. I explained and that led to another question, 'But how is poopy made?' The next thing I knew I was talking about particles and intestines and nutrients and the colon. When I stopped to take a breath I saw the look of confusion on my son's face, so I just told him to finish up and we'd continue our discussion another time (although I was kind of on a roll). Apparently I was gone for a noticeable amount of time because the friends who were over asked if all was well. And this is where the poop conversation continued and when they came up with exceptions to my 'rule.' And that is why my friends with kids are the most fun group to hang out with and just be your silly self and talk about poop and other things you 'shouldn't' talk about.

"'Cause now you have milk on your eye."

This is such an 'I told you so' moment. I know we've all had these and will continue to have them for the rest of our lives because, well, we're now parents and on the other side, so to speak, and we know everything. Although, I guess, if I remember correctly, I thought I knew everything as a kid as well. Hmmm. Anyway, the other day my youngest was attempting to drink his milk without using his hands. I told him he needed to use his hands. He asked why, as he leaned over and grabbed the cup by his teeth. As soon as he put the cup down, I told him exactly why. I knew he should have used his hands, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.

"Well why did you put glue on your feet?"

Once again, a question that I never thought I'd have to ask. But I did ask. And I did have to. I understand that many times I am really only asking out of sheer curiosity and/or amazement and I do realize that I probably won't get the answer that I truly want, but sometimes I just can't help myelf and so I go ahead and ask. Am I always satisfied with the response? No. Do I sometimes regret even asking? Yes. And will all that stop me from continuing to ask these silly questions? Uh...nope.

"All humans have pee pees."

Simple. To the point. Little room for confusion. I admit it, sometimes my explanations are a bit vague and indirect and verbose, so this time I thought I'd take the straightforward approach (a.k.a. - the hubby way) and move things along. My youngest and I have been spending loads of quality time together since school has started for everyone else in the family and we've become quite a swift team. We run errands together, deliver cookies to friends, take long walks to the park. So, because of all this one-on-one time, we talk a lot about the world around us and I try my best to answer his sometimes loaded questions (I'm referring to a doozy yesterday that both disturbed me and impressed me with its insight and depth) in a helpful and open, yet calm and informative, way. So when he was putting on his shoes this morning and asked me if babies had pee pees, I answered him with this short reply and went on to explain why this was so. He thought about it for a second, processed it, agreed with me and put on his other shoe. I love that little guy.