Safety Queen

Out of the blue last week, daughter A. says, "Daddy, I want a helmet."

"What? A helmet for what?" I say.

"I need a helmet for my tricycle."

I have no clue where she gets these ideas as I have not felt compelled to lecture her on bicycle safety quite yet.

A. is truly the Safety Queen in the family always being the cautious one. Her younger sister, just the opposite, throws caution to the wind and has more bumps and bruises at 1 than A. has had in her entire life.

Fortunately, the Easter Bunny's order hadn't been placed yet, and we were able to get it in on a rush. When she saw her Easter Basket, she simply exclaimed, "MY helmet."

I have never seen her so excited over something she received. She's pictured on the right wearing it before the packaging had even been removed (still in her PJs and holding Baby, of course).

I'm sure that she'll continue to keep the family in line when it comes to safety. In fact, she just asked if I'd tested our smoke detectors within the past 6 months.

Please say "please"

It is an understatement to say that manners are challenging to teach a 2-year-old. At times, it is like trying to convince a cat to jump into a pool. I believe and hope that consistency is the key in the journey to instill manners in children (but not really useful in cat training).

Sometimes manners are there, but other times they’re out the window.

At the dinner table.
Me: Would you like some more chicken?
Daughter A.: Uh huh.
Me: [feigning deafness] I'm sorry. I didn’t hear you. What was that you said?
Daughter A.: [Loudly] UH HUH!
Mommy and Me: [Trying rather unsuccessfully not to laugh out loud]