Strangers and Bathrooms and Nursing

Saturday, Max and Zannah were playing out front.  When we couldn't see them anymore, Marcus went in search of them.  They were down at the end of our street.  As Marcus approached a man was asking them where their parents were.

Later that night, I was alone with Max, so I talked to him again about why we don't go past our next door neighbor's house without letting mom or dad know, etc.  We also talked about strangers.
"Max, remember when you and Zannah went to the corner?  Were you talking to a man?"
"Yes! He was wearing a superman shirt!"
"Well, we don't know him, so he is a stranger.  Remember we can't talk to strangers without Mom or Dad there."
"Oh, he wasn't a stranger."
"Yes he was buddy, we don't know him, that makes him a stranger."
"No he wasn't, he doesn't have a tail."
"What??"
"He doesn't have a tail, he isn't a fox.  Remember the stranger book you read to us?  Foxes are strangers and they have tails."

OY.  A reminder to self: next time buy a stranger book that depicts humans, not animals.


A couple weeks ago, Marcus was out of town.  He left early Monday morning, and before 10 am, one of us had accidentally locked the bathroom door and shut it.  It is the only bathroom with a bathtub, plus the kids' toothbrushes.  But, I was confident that I or Zannah (the master-lock technician) could unlock it, though it had proved tricky in the past.  By Wednesday, we had had no such luck and we still had two more days until Marcus came home.  Zannah suggested breaking in the window, which turned out to be a fabulous idea as the window was unlocked, no breaking required.  So, I did what any great parent would do and boosted my three year old through the window.  Max did his duty and unlocked the door.  I popped the screen back in and was carrying the chair back in the house when I hear Max say, "MOOOOOOOOMMMM, don't yeave me!"  I turn around and he is standing on the toilet with his face pressed against the screen.  "Help me get out!"  I said, "Buddy, you just unlocked the bathroom door, just walk out of it."  He replied, "OH yeah..........I just tidding you."  



Metta needed to stay home from church as she has a cough and a runny nose.  I was playing the organ, so I had to be there.  Which means Marcus pretends to be a martyr and offers to stay home, in reality he feels like he just won the lottery.  Now, we just had to decide which of the other two were staying home because a 5 and 3 year old sitting by themselves on a pew could prove disastrous.  With a little bit of bribing on both ends (they both want what the other one is doing), we convinced Z to go and Max to stay home.

Before leaving, I was instructing Marcus on which baby food to feed Metta if she got hungry before I returned.  I hear Marcus laughing and turn around to see Max with his shirt up.  He was telling Marcus, "And if she doesn't yiiiiiike that food, just feed her with this. (pointing to his nipple)  Do you have one too Dad?"

He is an observant bounder.