Last weekend my "nieces" came to stay with me for the evening. At one and three they are as cute as can be. I had moved apartments within the same complex since the last time they had visited. Their big eyes sparkled as their little feet counted the steps up the stairs and down the hall to "1-3-0-2". I made them stop at the door and say the apartment number before entering. I'm a teacher, what can I say, every moment is a teachable moment!
We were barely in the door before they both took off. I pride myself with working with children, but two under the age of three is BUSY! Within thirty seconds the little one had found a Sharpie and was marking up my gift receipt on the carpet! The older one politely asked if she could go into my bathroom and get some "wip chap", also known as lip chap, Chapstick, or lip gloss. We'll call my niece Chrissy for privacy sake. Chrissy is obsessed with wip chap to put it mildly.
I let Chrissy select a wip chap after snagging the Sharpie from Mae (Name also changed). Chrissy swirled and swirled the gold gloss over her tiny lips. She didn't quite have the art of smoothing the gloss over her lips so she ended up with a goopy gold pout. "Auntie, may I hold the wip chap and do you have any pink wip chap because I see it on your lips and I would like to use that." She's a smart one. "No Chrissy," I said "We are only going to use one lip chap (Why do I know think it's appropriate to call lip gloss lip chap?), but I will let you hold it as long as you keep the lid on tight. You may not open it without asking me." Chrissy listened very well and proceeded to ask me no less than seventeen times to reapply the lip chap because she felt it had worn off.
The girls did not have their swimming suits, but I had promised them we would go to the pool and dip our feet into the water. I knew they would get a bit wet as you can't tell a one and three-year-old to sit by a pool and not splash.
I held Mae on my lap and we kicked and splashed the water. She giggled and had a blast. Chrissy knew to sit right next to me. Like any inquisitive three-year-old I noticed she kept inching her little bottom further off of the step and closer to the water. Acting like I didn't notice and giving her a chance to re-think her choice, I nonchalantly said, "Chrissy, where is your bottom? Is it on the step". She literally looked at her bottom and then backed her little self to the step. A few more moments passed and Chrissy had inched herself onto the first step. The hem of her shorts got wet. I noticed her startled look she realized she had stepped too far into the water. Deciding to let the scene play out, I watched as she started to slide to the railing and splash. Soon, Chrissy's shorts were entirely wet and her little neon pink tank top wasn't far behind. "Chrissy, are you wet?" I asked her. Then the most interesting thing happened...
"Yes, Auntie. But I fine" Chrissy said waving her hand as if to brush off my concern. She thought she had fooled me. Oh the precious innocence of a child when they learn to bend the truth...
"Chrissy, did you use listening ears and hear Auntie's instructions?" I asked. "Yes ma'am" she said. "I asked you several times to stay on the step where you would be safe and not get wet. You chose not to listen. So now we are going to go home and change into your dry pajamas. Pool time is over."
"I'm sorry Auntie, so you gotta room for me now since I'm staying with you?" I couldn't help but laugh. My sweet niece assumed I was putting her to bed because we were going to put her pajamas on.
Wip chap and wet pants, I always welcome the special learning moments for us all.
jillian
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