The jig is up

Tad now has command enough of the English language to tattle on his sister.

Her days of pushing him around (and us merely conjecturing what occured via the fallout and tears) are coming to an abrupt end.

Last Friday, Tad came crying to me. “Mama, Mama,” he wailed, upset but clearly ticked off as he pointed in the direction of his sister. “Ane (blah blah) push (garble garble) couch (gibberish gibberish)!”

I eyed Ane, who was watching her brother with a skeptical look. Could Mommy really figure out what Tad had just said?

“You pushed your brother off the couch?” I asked her.

The look on her face was priceless. Oh, crap. “I didn’t mean to,” she said defensively.

I do understand Tad pretty well. Ane probably is next in Tad-comprehension, followed by the Webmaster. And since we’re starting to understand what he’s saying to us – and because what he’s saying gets clearer all the time – the era of Ane domination is ending. Not only is she getting ratted on, but now Tad is getting to express his opinion on what they should watch.

Last night, right before bedtime, Tad came to me with a request. “Please, Mama. Please, Mama.”

It might take me ten minutes to get what he actually wants out of him – I’m not a mind reader, kid! – but he led me to the living room. After me asking him “Please what, Tad?” half a dozen times, he finally said, “Please vow boo cam?”

For those of you who do not speak Tad, he asked for Vowel Boot Camp, which is a small segment occasionally aired on his favorite show of the moment (even surpassing Curious George, shockingly), Between the Lions. Tad will watch any Lions episode, but he adores the ones that have Vowel Boot Camp in them. He has the cadence memorized, and sang it not long ago to his uncle the Captain, who cracked up.

I’m not entirely sure why he’s so hooked on Vowel Boot Camp, but he is a boy. And the cadence sure is catchy. And given my choice between George and Lions, it will be Lions every time.

Of course, Ane is good and sick of Vowel Boot Camp, because Tad sings it all the time. And he insists on either Ane or myself taking part and reciting the dialogue with him. It can get tedious, but I rarely have the heart to tell him no.

And we currently have three Lions episodes that have Vowel Boot Camp in them saved on our DVR, so I can just pull one up and Tad is a happy camper. So I fast-forwarded an episode to the Vowel Boot Camp segment, and let him watch the rest of the episode before bedtime.

Of course, Ane was not pleased. “Why do we ALWAYS have to watch what HE wants??” she asked indignantly.

I do understand her frustration, but if we left it up to her, we’d watch nothing but Princess movies and a handful of Pixar movies (not including Cars, of course). I tried explaining that if Tad can ask for something reasonable (he often asks for Star Wars and we have to tell him no, because it’s too long and he hates starting anywhere but the beginning) we want to encourage him, so we are letting him choose.

When I repeated this to Grandma, she agreed with the principle. “After all, he’s not asking for chocolate, or scissors, and you do want to encourage him so he will keep asking you for things.”

So, Vowel Boot Camp it was. If you view the video clip I linked to, I make no apologies if the cadence gets stuck in your head. You have been warned.

Tad is tattling. Tad has opinions. And he’s talking. A LOT.

Ane’s life as she knows it is over, and Tad’s is just beginning.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 at 1:02 am and is filed under Children, Media, Mommyhood.
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