Wednesday, August 04, 2004
I Am The Walrus
Several months ago Max began to...um, let me think how to say this...explore his nostrils with his index finger. This indelicate habit seemed to emerge from out of thin air. Then one day I walked into his classroom to find all of the boys with their fingers in their noses. The mystery was solved.
I have tried to strike a balance between admonishing Max not to do this and reacting with enough nonchalance that it doesn't become more appealing to him. The approach I tend to take is to say, "Fingers don't belong in noses!", which usually takes us on a playful verbal adventure about where various other things do belong.
A few days ago when mom was holding Boo, I realized how many pictures I have of mom with Max and how few I have of mom with Reed. To make a dent in this imbalance, I pulled out my camera. It didn't take long for Max to join the photo shoot. When I asked everyone to smile, Max put his index finger in his nose. I told Max that I wasn't going to take his picture with his finger in his nose. He laughed, but didn't budge. I thought I'd give Max a creative alternative: I suggested that he put his finger in his ear. And that's exactly what he did. Grinning broadly, he put the index finger of his other hand in his ear.
I reiterated that I wasn't going to take his picture with his finger in his nose. That's when he took his finger out of his ear and placed it in his other nostril. Once again, I told Max that I wasn't going to take his picture with his fingers in his nose. And then he exclaimed proudly, "Mommy, I'm a walrus!"
Sometimes you just have to laugh. (And we did.)
I have tried to strike a balance between admonishing Max not to do this and reacting with enough nonchalance that it doesn't become more appealing to him. The approach I tend to take is to say, "Fingers don't belong in noses!", which usually takes us on a playful verbal adventure about where various other things do belong.
A few days ago when mom was holding Boo, I realized how many pictures I have of mom with Max and how few I have of mom with Reed. To make a dent in this imbalance, I pulled out my camera. It didn't take long for Max to join the photo shoot. When I asked everyone to smile, Max put his index finger in his nose. I told Max that I wasn't going to take his picture with his finger in his nose. He laughed, but didn't budge. I thought I'd give Max a creative alternative: I suggested that he put his finger in his ear. And that's exactly what he did. Grinning broadly, he put the index finger of his other hand in his ear.
I reiterated that I wasn't going to take his picture with his finger in his nose. That's when he took his finger out of his ear and placed it in his other nostril. Once again, I told Max that I wasn't going to take his picture with his fingers in his nose. And then he exclaimed proudly, "Mommy, I'm a walrus!"
Sometimes you just have to laugh. (And we did.)
1 Comments:
Oh, my. One wonders: is this a little-known, little-documented developmental stage? or is it mimicry... and if so, which little boy learned it from his older brother, and then "infected" the entire class?
And, by the way, I think it may be time for a photo and age update here. Do you have any new favorites of the boys?
Post a Comment
<< Home