Where are the shaker trucks?

It was a cold Wednesday morning, that started the same as most work days. My alarm went off an hour before I even needed to get up, for some reason being able to hit the snooze 5-6 times before I have to get up is satisfying. Strange, I know. I finally got up, got dressed and was headed out the door. When I stepped out on my front porch, something felt different. There was a peculiar breeze that whispered to me.. change is on its way. Like a fortune cookie in nature form. I thought that the NyQuil I took for my cold the night before was still in effect.


Every Wednesday a group of ladies and their children meet at the church Ryan and Riley's family attend for a playgroup, each child brings at least two toys to share with the group. Today, Ryan brought two fire trucks and his toy cell phone to 'share' with all the other children. Usually his version of 'share' does not always match the one that is described by Mr. Webster. He never has a problem sharing the other kids toys, but sometimes he gets a little possessive, especially over his phone. Before we left the house for play group he grabbed his toy phone off the coffee table in the living room and said, "I'm going to put this in my pocket right here just like my daddy does before we run errands". I, trying to prevent a 'no that's my phone' situation, recommend we leave it at home and play with it after play group but he insists that he needs it. So I explained to him that if he takes it with him he has to share it with the other kids. We had an agreement.

I was on guard the second we walked through the church doors, ready to break up a screaming contest or pushing war if someone wanted a turn with the phone; they're a hot item with this crowd. I was pleasantly surprised to overhear Ryan asking a little girl at the church if she wants a turn with his phone because he brought it to share. His exact words, "Haley, do you want to make a call on my phone? I brought it to share with all the other kids." Not once while we were there did he have a problem with sharing. Which made it easier for me to let Riley crawl around some. But since I knew the perfect child behavior would only be temporary, I was so thankful for it while it lasted.

Soon he got a hold of one of those riding horse-sticks, where the horse head is on top of what appears to be a shortened broom stick. Ryan walks right up to another little boy, Seth, and starts hitting him right on top of the head with it. I hurry over to them and tell him to stop hitting, remind him it's not nice to hit and give him time-out warning. His response to me, "But Miss Megan, I'm not hitting him on the head! I'm just bouncing it off of his hair. That's all, so it's ok." Holding back my laughter at his cleverly explained excuse I quickly try to come back with something intelligent that shows him his 'bouncing' definition and the universal 'hitting' definition resemble each other a little too much. So, Ryan proceeds to do what any normal two year old would do, he makes the same motion with the horse as he was before when he was hitting Seth on the head except it is a mere two inches from touching his head. So, technically, he is doing what I asked but is getting dangerously close to the line. Testing the boundaries is one of his favorite hobbies. He is very skilled at knowing where we draw the line and making sure he stays right on this side of getting a time-out. Soon he tires of the horse and goes on the play with the permanent markers Pastor Allen so unthoughtfully brings down for all the kids to draw with. Oh Geez!

The car ride home from playgroup was quite entertaining. Ryan and I had a very interesting conversation:

"Miss Megan, are the shaker trucks going to be at the house when we get there?"
   "Well I don't know, Ryan, what is shaker truck?"
"It's the truck the shakes the oil really hard out of the hose and then, BOOOOM! it explodes."
   "I'm sorry sweetie, but I don't know what trucks you're talking about."
"They were at the house last week, I watched them."
   "Well I doubt they'll be there today but we can play with your trucks you have in your playroom after nap."
"Can you call the shaker trucks please?"
   "No, I don't have their number. Plus I bet they're busy working."
"But can you find the number? They're name is shaker mans."
  
At this point I'm trying to think of something to get his attention on something I actually know about, so I mention that I have a craft for us to do after his nap. Problem solved.


Today Riley had on a new pair of shoes! If I'm not mistaken this is her first pair of shoes. YAY! For her parent's sake I will do my very best not to pass on my shoe fetish to her. I know most of you think she's too young to develop a shoe addiction, trust me you're never too young to understand the joyous state of mind a shoe can bestow upon you. Ok, enough of that, I'm letting out too many of my strange quirks.

All in all it has been a wonderfully successful morning, and a very relaxing nap time.

I wonder what the afternoon will hold?