I apologize if my kid annoys you, but...

Ever been out somewhere, possibly somewhere child-centric such as a playground, and been approached by that kid? That kid who I'm referring to is probably between 4 and 8 years old and knows how to talk. He (Okay, let's not get into the pronoun thing here. I almost have three boys. This could easily be a girl. I'm using "he." Get over it.) knows how to talk and he wants to talk to you about everything. Forever. And ever.

Alexander is that kid.

Today at the playground, upon seeing that there were some folks there that we didn't know, he exclaimed, "Look, Mom! It looks like I am going to get to make new friends!" and promptly approached some potential targets. "Hi, I'm Alexander. What's your name?... What's the baby's name?... How old is his brother?... My little brother's name is Jack and my mom's name is Miss Beth and that guy over there is my PopPop.... I am a good climber like the baby.... It's always good to make new friends!"

I have to admit that I have sometimes been annoyed by that kid. I have wondered, "Geez, kid, are you so desperate for attention that you have to talk to strangers? Don't your parents ever talk to you? What makes me look like I want to come out of my shell and talk to you?" Obviously I would never say anything like that to that kid, and in fact have conducted quite a few uncomfortable (on my part) conversations with that kid. Often that kid is rather imaginative and actually tells some interesting stories. Alexander's one of those.

In any case, I am sorry if my kid annoys you. I empathize. It can be weird to be approached so openly by a complete stranger of any age, especially if you're "reserved" like me or downright shy. However, unless my child is actually being rude in any way, I don't intend to discourage this behavior. I want him to see the world as a friendly place. I think life is probably easier for outgoing people (and I think his almost painfully shy dad would agree). I love that Alexander's comfortable enough with himself to approach people and make new friends. He's learning to be an independent, self-assured, self-reliant little man. So again, I apologize to you (and the random target at the park today) if he makes you uncomfortable, but I just refuse to squelch his enthusiasm. You're an adult (I assume). If you want or need to end the conversation, use your words. I promise, if he doesn't get the hint, I'll step in.

[On the off-chance that someone is now concerned for Alexander's (or that kid's) safety, given that they're so comfortable talking to strangers, I can assure you that at least in Alexander's case, he is always well supervised. Also, based on too much true-crime TV, I'm pretty sure that child abducters don't want that kid. He's too fiesty.]

Mommy Wisdom 6-9-2009

As a parent, I often over-analyze things. I like to plan fun, educational, stimulating, enriching activities for my kids. Often I succeed, although occasionally I lose my pep. Today's activity was, however, not designed to teach my kids anything or enrich their lives in any way. It was designed to get them to leave me alone so that I could make dinner (incidentally, I was making Becky's Pizza Bake). Out of pure desperation, my eyes darted around the kitchen looking for anything that might entertain them and I blurted out, "Do you want to play with water?" I gave them each a few plastic bowls, cups, and measuring spoons and some water, and they were easily entertained for twenty minutes! Now, if you think that the water stayed only in those cups and bowls for more than a minute or two, you've probably never met a child, let alone raised one. But let's just say that my floor needed an excuse to have water wiped up off of it, so it was beneficial in more than one way. What is it about water that fascinates children so?

Mommy Wisdom 4-3-09

This time I'm offering actual advice as opposed to the sorry attempt at humor I usually display.

Drink your fruit. My kids, though not particularly finnicky eaters, are quite wasteful eaters. I can't tell you how often they will ask for a piece of fruit and then eat just a few bites. I always try to save it for the next snack, but obviously fruit, once cut or peeled, doesn't last very well. So a few times recently, I've looked at the half-eaten fruit about to go to waste and asked Alexander if he wants a milkshake. He always gets excited and says yes. I have a little baby-food mixer, but a blender would work well, too. I just throw the leftover fruit in with a bit of milk and sometimes a couple drops of food-coloring to make it exciting, and voila, my kids guzzle leftover fruit and milk happily through a fancy straw. We've had plain banana, banana-strawberry, and today an exciting mix: banana-apple-pear. The novelty may wear off at some point, but for now, we're all quite happy with our "milkshakes." (They're more like "smoothies," of course, but since Alexander isn't familiar with that term, I offered them up as "milkshakes.")

Mommy Wisdom 3-9-09

Mommy Wisdom

1. Let me put this delicately. A parent who is extremely congested and can't smell should pay particular attention to any children in their care who are wearing diapers.

2. If you don't want your child to start saying, "jackass," don't let them watch "Pinocchio." Who knew?

Mommy Wisdom 1-30-09

1. If you keep your baby's diaper rash cream in the bathroom, make sure you warn any guests that Desitin is not toothpaste, even though it has most of the same letters as "dentist."

2. Never assume that your children (of any age) realize that they cannot actually walk on air.

Mommy Wisdom 1-29-09

1. Always coordinate spaghetti night with bath night.

2. If you sing often and randomly, your children will also start to burst spontaneously into original songs, as if they're living in a musical. This is highly amusing and worth it.