Yesterday Julia and I were cuddling on the couch when she decided she needed Froggie (a green blanket with a plush frog's head attached to one corner and Julia's favorite tag attached to the opposite corner) Dax was running around so Julia told him, "Where Froggie? Dax get Froggie."
For the past few weeks, Dax has been fairly obliging with Julia's ordering him around ("Dax, c'mere and play." "Dax, get Froggie." "Dax, eat this."), but yesterday he evidently didn't want to comply. He would walk a few steps down the hall, turn around and run back, then stand there with his lips puckered out in his signature "I'm Not Gonna Do It" pout. I told Julia that Dax thought it was "too dark**" to go get Froggie.
(**Recently Julia's imagination has taken hold with a vengence and when things are too scary for her she runs back to us with cries of "Too dark, Mommy! Too dark, Daddy!" If you can't do anything about it, for instance, if you are in the car and driving down a road surrounded by tall trees that keep the car in shadow and you don't feel like turning around, she gets very upset and causes a huge scene. When we're just out walking or playing and something is "too dark" for her, we don't force it, just turn around and go another way. I'm not a big fan of the dark so there's quite a bit of maternal sympathy there. But this "too dark" thing also applies to her room when the day is cloudy or the sun is going down; essentially if it isn't a full-on bright sunny day with the blinds wide open or the overhead light on, her room is "too dark" and thus, too scary to venture into alone.)
So when she heard that Dax thought it was "too dark" to go get Froggie, Julia hopped up off the couch and took off down the hall with cries of "I fix it! I fix it, Dax! I fix it, Mommy!" She ran to their room and then came back several seconds later to dive onto the couch ... without Froggie. Since Froggie was in their room, in the middle of the floor, I asked Julia what she had done. And she told me ...
"I fix it. I turn on light. Not too dark. Dax, get Froggie!"
5 comments:
Well, of course she couldn't just do it for him. He has to learn to follow her commands like a good little brother, right? :)
She sounds like me, and I'm an only child!
Okay, that is about the most awesomest thing ever.
Hey...I know that story. Substitute the names with Thomas and Sarah Grace...amazing how Julia turned on the light and still bossed Dax around. It is all so incredibly familiar!
Ha! I think she just didn't want to mess up that whole dynamic they've got going. If she gave in that time, he'd never let her get away with it again. :)
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