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Now you're just showing off
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They love me. They really, really love me.
Generally speaking, my children aren’t overly competitive. They don’t care who wins when they play board games; they don’t fuss when the other one has a birthday with a million presents and all they get is one small toy and a piece of cake.
Having said that, lately there seems to be a surge in suck-uppage.
Each child wants to be the best child. Not just good, but super-ultra-mega fantastic; and they are displaying some excellent behavior to win the race. For one, they’ve finally caught on that mommy doesn’t like mess, that mommy nonetheless makes a lot of mess, and that she needs help. So they clean up their own toys these days; they even cooperate while doing it. In addition, mommy likes art, and pictures are drawn at the speed of light. Isabella has started watching “Bones” with me and pretends to like it, so she gets points for that.
Yes, they keep track. Isabella is three years older, so Mendel thinks she’s ahead, and it bothers the hell out of him. Once a day he asks me to confirm that she, indeed, was born earlier; am I really sure? Yes, I’m sure. On the other hand, he’s only in school half days, and he is smaller with a squeaky voice, so he scores on that account. Also, in spite of the fact that he doesn’t yet know how to read and write, he’s taught himself to spell “love” and “mom” for the occasion.
Yesterday, Mendel told me: “You make me lunch every day. You are such a good mom.”
I was pleased, I have to admit: until I turned around, saw his face, and noticed some definite smirkage. He scored points, without his big sister around to spoil the fun.
When one of them is clearly ahead, they resort to tattling to even the score. The moment I compliment Mendel on putting away his dirty dishes, Isabella will suddenly remember something atrocious he did; she will point it out, accompanied by a smug look. When Isabella gets in trouble, Mendel repeats everything I say to her; hoping it will make me remember her bad behavior a little longer.
Fortunately, they also manage to give each other tips. Mostly this consists of Isabella bossing Mendel around, which for some reason he allows: apparently, the line “do this, because it will make mom happy” is very convincing. Not when I use it, but hey; I’ll take what I can get.
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