Mummy Don't Work

Aaron and I were having a really good afternoon yesterday, and at one point he looked at me, and as he enjoyed a moment, he also for a split second thought of the alternative: me not being there.  He had a very recent memory to tap into.  Saturday, when he woke up, Mummy was GONE.  Mummy was at Mumsnet Blogfest.

So back to yesterday, he looked me, clear in the eye, with all the wisdom of a 2 year old, who has the mental clarity that "life" has not yet taken away, and said "Daddy's gone to work!" followed VERY closely by "Mummy doesn't go to work!" - it was an instruction and a threat.  Meaning, we are having fun right now, and don't you think about going anywhere.

It was very brief, but there was a seriousness in his eyes and his tone, that made me do some soul searching.  I WAS going to go down the road of thinking, oh dear, because I am in my 5th month of being out of work, my son now thinks only Daddy goes to work, but then instead of navel gazing, I decided to re-tell the story to my husband.

He immediately looked very shifty and guilty and said that when Aaron woke on Saturday and wanted to know where Mummy was, he couldn't think of a word to explain where I was, that would make sense to Aaron, so he lazily opted for "Mummy's gone to work!"

It seems Aaron was not fooled and was basically telling me yesterday in no uncertain terms NOT to pull that trick again.  Thank God that Mumsnet Blogfest's next event is a year away, but oooops I am going to a Mexican Food bloggers' event tonight, so when the husband collects him this evening, he is going to again say "where's Mummy?"

I PERSONALLY DO NOT BELIEVE in lying to children.

The reason Aaron's speech and vocabulary is so good is because I have always told him the truth, even to the point of, when reading to him, if he says "that's a chicken' I will firmly say "no, it is an owl".  He has a particular book that has about 5 different birds on it, and for a VERY LONG time as a result, he can distinguish between owls, ducks, chicks, parrots, etc.... to the point where if I accidentally get it wrong, he corrects me.

Similarly, if he is looking for his Dad, I say "he is in the kitchen" or "in the sitting room".  When I first started answering in that way, I knew those room names held no meaning to him, but he was very soon using them in the correct context, so I firmly believe in lifting the ceiling to what they understand, so that they reach to meet it.  They are capable of more than we'll ever know, so no harm in stretching them.  Naughtiness is often a symptom of frustration, and the BIGGEST frustration is often them not being able to communicate, so every step we can make to extend their vocabulary and speech is a good thing.

Aaron's nursery are often amazed at the things he says and does, and I simply love it when they tell me funny stories.  For the last few weeks he has hold a runny nose, and one day, after wiping it 30 times, one of the girls said "Aaron clean your nose".  Because he has never had to go and get a tissue himself, and do it himself, he considered her to be cheeky and called her a "cheeky monkey" which apparently made her and her colleagues laugh for quite some time.

He is an independent forthright little boy, and every day he amazes and astounds me.  I learn as much from him, as he does from me, and I simply LOVE HIM TO BITS.

Yes, at the moment, this Mummy don't work, but you know what, I will look back and TREASURE this time with him.  It is a crucial part of his development and building the bricks of his character for the future.

He is very loving, and very aware of his surroundings.  There isn't a day I am not proud of him.  I hereby promise to blog about him more, as I want to capture and record so many of the adorable memories of things he says and does.

Much love,
Liska x