Frith O’Steen

Turning away from the election, I look towards one of the best distractions around…my kid. Decker is blossoming into a small person with a big personality, and it’s weird to think of some of the things you have to teach someone that you might take as second nature. I gotta give him some credit - he can’t really “talk” yet, but he has to figure out some way to ask for things, and he’s gotten pretty darn good at it. He will pleasantly hand you his cup to ask for juice, he’ll come wrap his arms around you and push up with his feet to ask to be picked up (and then will lean in the direction he wants you to go, usually to a light switch), and will call to you if you leave the room and he is still in his high chair. (”Ah? Ah?”). I realize that he definitely hears what we’re saying, if even he’s not parroting back at the moment, so I have to be extra cautious about my language! I don’t want my kid in kindergarten cussing when he fumbles the paste!

But back to the things you have to teach someone (or that they have to learn for themselves)… for example - if you put your face in the water, you’ll get water in your nose. If you run into a table, or do the passive protest thing on the sidewalk, it will hurt. If you pull your own hair, it’s not comfortable. If you throw your graham crackers onto the ground, they won’t fly back up to you so you can then eat them. And so on.

Happy Birthday, Trudi!