Lessons on Milk and Patience

Grace has been very interested in boobs, or de de, as she likes to call them. More specifically, breastfeeding, which is also called de de in Filipino. I have no idea why since she has long ago been weaned from nursing. Maybe it's just her motherly instincts since she loves to play the mama to her baby dolls, but she has been asking lots of questions.

Grace: Babies drink de de?
Me: Yes.
Grace: Can I have de de?
Me: No, you're a big girl now.
Grace: You have milk in your de de, Mama?
Me: It's all gone because you're a big girl now.
Grace: I have milk in my de de? (examining her de de)
Me: No, only grown up mamas with small babies have milk.
Grace: (silence, but looking at me very curiously)

Later that morning, she came up to me exclaiming, "Look, Mama, I have milk in my de de!" And sure enough, the girl did...




Proven wrong by a two year old. This isn't the first time, nor do I think it will be the last.

Other than schooling her on the mechanics of breastfeeding, I've also been trying to teach her about patience. She has gotten into the habit of asking for something over and over and over again, often in a whiny voice, until she gets it. So I've been trying to teach her to ask for something nicely, just one time, and when I acknowledge her request, to wait patiently until I fulfill her request. When she is successful- which is rare right now, but we're moving in the right direction- I tell her, "Thank you for being so patient!"

I have babyproofed the doorknob to my bedroom door because she gets into all kinds of trouble in there, specifically my makeup. The determined child figured out how to take apart the childlock on the doorknob and was caught in the act of making a big ol' mess. But before I could work myself into a tizzy, she looked up at me, smiled, and said, "Thank you for being so patient!"

If her goal with that reminder was to get herself out of trouble, it worked. Like a charm.