My Little Co-Conspirators

Yesterday I woke up to the usual sound of Patrick wailing to be let out of his cage crib around 6:30. My rule is he has to stay in his room until 7 because I am just plain sick and TIRED of getting up so early. If he had it his way we would be up hanging out together at 5 am. It took me almost 2 months to get him to the point that he is now--waking at 6:30 and staying in his crib until 7. It wasn't until after his first birthday that he stopped waking up every 2 hours at night. I'm not exaggerating: EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. FOR OVER A YEAR. So you can see why I don't want to mess up this new schedule.

I heard him crying but decided to get up, brush my teeth, and make some coffee before getting him so that it would be closer to 7 before I went in his room. When I was satisfied that I could stall no more, I crept up to his door because I couldn't hear him whining anymore and I thought maybe, just maybe, he had fallen asleep again. HA! Yeah, like that would ever happen. I saw him standing up, playing with his music box that straps to the railing of the crib (those new and improved mobile things), and talking to the little birdies inside of it. Awww, how cute.

I slowly pushed the door open, hoping to sneak up on him so I could continue watching my little sweetness in the precious moments of babyhood. Whoa! I know that smell! I yanked open the closet door to shed light on the situation and was horrified to see poop smeared on every surface that my eyes scanned. I looked at Patrick and he was naked from the waist down, gleefully grinning up at me and chanting, "Poo-poo!" Grrrrr. He did this on purpose because I wouldn't come in here and get him out!

So I (carefully) lifted him out and held him at arm's length down the hallway to the kitchen where I plopped him in the sink for a bath. He was screaming, which woke up Sarah. So at 7 am I started a load of laundry including every single stuffed animal, sheet, blanket, and pillow. Then I had to disinfect the railings and all of the nooks and cranies of the crib. All this before coffee. Finally (hours later) I was ready to make the crib again so I dressed the kids (it was pretty cold outside), got their shoes on, and put them in the backyard so they could play together while I finished the bed. I looked out the window every 3 seconds to check on them and I noticed Patrick was hobbling a little. One of his shoes was gone. I went outside and searched the entire yard to no avail.

"Sarah! Where's Patrick's shoe?"

Blank stare.

"Did you see where his shoe fell off?"

Starts spinning around and singing.

"Sarah, if you find Patrick's shoe I'll give you a piece of candy."

ZOOM!!! Like a flash of lightning the child flew around, closing in on the missing shoe. She triumphantly held the shoe up in the air, and declared, "Candy!!!"

So I gave her a Hershey Kiss, and another to share with her brother. Patrick has learned about candy. He definitely knows what it is and he calls it "na-na" and demands it on a regular basis (no, I do not give it to him on a regular basis). After that I went back into the house and resumed what I was doing. I have a bad habit of not actually accomplishing anything when the kids are playing outside because I will stand where they can't see me and spy on them. I have waited a long time to see them interact together, and I just can't help but to watch them. And it's so much more fun when they think I'm not around.

So there I was, not being productive and spying on the little ones when I observed Sarah approach PatPat. Now admittedly I expected the worst: I was totally prepared to hear Patrick yelp for help and watch as he was brutally pushed to the ground, kicked, or had a toy snatched away from him. But no! That's not what I saw at all. Sarah said something to PatPat, and I could tell he was actively listening. He sat down, as if on command (I'm assuming that's what Sarah was telling him to do), and let Sarah take his shoe off. I was too busy watching their sibling bond in action to think ahead. So she took off the shoe and threw it away from them. Then she pulled Patrick up and they both ran up to the back door. Now I was slowly getting it. Sarah said, "Mommy! PatPat shoe!" and I played along, "Oh no! PatPat's shoe is gone again?"

I followed them outside and Sarah ran right up to the shoe in question and brought it back to me. "Candy???" Patrick was right there beside her asking for "na-na" as well.

I don't care if I'm setting myself up for a lifetime of being manipulated! I don't care if they think I'm stupid and they think they can get away with anything! I don't even care if they get a cavity! I don't care about anything except that my kids worked together to accomplish a goal! They discussed it, came up with a plan, most importantly, they WORKED together to help each other. Awwwwwwww, my heart melted right there, and yep, I gave them the candy. :)



(*Yes, by the way, I do realize that I will probably not find this behavior so cute in a few years, but for right now I do.*)