Over the past few months, I've been trying to explain family relationships to Gavin. We've been talking about who his cousins are, who is grandparents are, who his aunts and uncles are, and so on. He knows that Ashtyn, Hayden, Havyn, Braylen, and Keegan are his cousins, and he knows that some of them are brothers and some of them are sisters. But, he gets a little confused sometimes. For instance, when talking about Ashtyn or Hayden, he'll say, "Where's my sister?" Well, they're not your sisters. They are sisters, but they're not your sisters. They're your cousins. "Oh."
I also explained to him that Grandpa Ronnie is my dad and Grandma Paulie is my mom. "Oh." Except, he really seemed to latch onto this idea. Shortly after I explained this concept to him, he started saying things like:
1. (when getting ready to buckle him into his carseat) "No, Momma, I want your dad to buckle me." You want my dad? You mean Grandpa Ronnie?
2. (when driving to my parents house) "Is your dad going to be there?" Well, he does live there.
3. I'll say something like, "Hey, Dad, can you hand me that?" Gavin will immediately follow this by saying something like, "Yeah, Dad, can you hand me that?" He's not your dad; he's your grandpa. That's why you call him Grandpa Ronnie.
Well, this past weekend we were all at my sister's house celebrating my dad's birthday. All of the kids were very excited to sing "Happy Birthday" to their grandpa, but they had to wait until after we ate and presents were open. As we're waiting to begin the cake-eating and sing-along, I hear Gavin, on the other side of the room, singing "Happy Birthday." It went like this:
Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, Momma's Dad. Happy Birthday to you.
I just about died laughing. And, as if he couldn't get any cuter (secretly I think he had been storing away this cuteness, waiting to bring it out at just the right time - right when I was ready to put him in a perma-timeout for his incessant naughtiness), he climbs in bed with my the following morning, gives me a kiss, and says, "Happy Birthday to your dad, Momma."
That may or may not buy him another week of life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That's so cute! Well, at least he has THAT part down :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, that IS cute and certainly well-deserving of another week of life. I think kids at this age are all trying to figure out their place in the family and how everyone's connected. Avery will sometimes say similar things. He has even called me Laura, his dad, Chris, and my dad, David! They are just excited about figuring It all out. It really is cute!
ReplyDeleteIt must be difficult for kids that age to figure out what name to use. My parents still like to remind me that when I was small, a friend of my dad was being ordained a priest. After the ceremony we went up to talk with him and he was already in conversation with a nun. Father Bill introduced me to the woman in black and I said, "Nice to meet you Sister Nun." Cover all your bases is my rule! Fun post! Yeah, Gavin earned himself another week!
ReplyDelete