E asks so many freaking questions. Like, seriously. I can't even brush his teeth for 2 minutes without him interrupting every 10 seconds. Let me give you a typical exchange:
Brush-brush-brush
[E jerks head away] "Mom, why do you have to brush my teeth?"
(Now, note that I've been brushing his teeth for almost 4 years, and I've explained the whole concept of cavities and leftover food like 10,000 times. Keep that in mind when you're shaking your head at my impatience and complete lack of parental understanding.)
[Me resuming brushing] "Because you can't do it yourself."
[Talking through the brush] "But I already brushed there...and there...and there."
[Me rolling my eyes] "Well, I still have to check, just in case. You don't want your teeth to turn green, do you?"
(That particular reference usually shuts him up...)
[Silence for about 20 seconds as he contemplates this horror.] "Mom? Why will my teeth turn green?"
[Sighing exasperatedly] "Because you didn't brush them right."
(Note my use of the circular attack. It works well because it makes me seem like I know what I'm talking about, while limiting his flow of new questions.)
[Chewing on toothbrush in frustrated anger]
And that's how we go through toothbrushes so quickly. They're worn out by endless cycles of Q & A.
In other news, we had a mega blow-out dinner with my family tonight. My little sister's 21st birthday was today, and E's real birthday is tomorrow, so we all went to dinner with many presents and much wrapping paper. It was fun. I managed to last almost all the way through dinner as far as not letting E unwrap presents. But about 5 minutes before the food came (when we'd already been there for an hour or so, and the poor kid had been waiting patiently), I finally caved. And that was fine. But then after dinner, the real feeding frenzy began.
And this is why I don't do the birthday present thing at his birthday parties (which I will post about later, at more leisure and better mood). Because after every shredding of carefully-wrapped gift, it was "What's next?" He barely paused to look at what he was given, and he didn't even notice when he got 2 of the same thing (it was a freakin' cool Spiderman car, too, little booger). There was no appreciation of the gift for quality, just appreciation for the sheer quantity. Frankly, it was depressing, because I love picking out presents and I agonize over them, so it's a bit disconcerting to see things tossed aside so casually. And yes, I'm complaining. Because I try to avoid materialism and birthdays always seem to shove it so mercilessly in my face.
Anyway, I know he'll love them all appropriately later. It just hurts a teensy bit. Sniff, sniff.
There was a group of adults sitting adjacent to our table (of 7 adults and one child) at the restaurant, and they made snotty remarks pretty much all through the meal. About the "sort of people who celebrate birthdays at restaurants", etc. It was awesome. They were old, frumpy, and grumpy. And we weren't being noisy, messy, or disruptive. Plus, we were at a family restaurant. I'm like, "Seriously, if you want to have a completely quiet meal with no children in sight, go to a freaking grown-up restaurant, morons." I hate people who act like you've done something societally destructive by bringing your children out in public.
End rant. I'm out.
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