Is that a little joey? No, it’s my wacky, creative, amazing son. I’ve had some requests for a Nathaniel Said update. This post is going to include some real gems, plus a few other things that have been going on in motherhoodland lately.
Nathaniel Said
On Superheroes
Nathaniel: “Superman stands on the couch!”
Mommy: “Superman does what his mommy tells him to do.”
Rebelling Against The Commodores
Mommy (singing to the tune of Lady, You Bring Me Up When I’m Down): Natey! You bring me up when I’m down, up when I’m down, and Natey…”
Natey: “No!!! I NOT bring you up!!!”
Overheard in the Shower
Nathaniel (to Drew): “Your ears look like cow ears!”
Little Mr. Roo
Mommy (hugging Nathaniel): “You are my Little Roo. If I had a pouch, I’d tuck you inside.”
Nathaniel: “I want to go in your pouch!”
Corporal Punishment
Nathaniel (to Mommy, from his car seat): “I throw you on the fire!”
Mommy: “Nathaniel, that’s mean. We don’t say things like that.”
Nathaniel: “Later! I throw you on the fire later!”
Notes from Day Care
“Nathaniel and his friend I. sat at the pretend area table “feeding their babies” together. They quietly played alone together for over 20 minutes. It was very sweet.”
“Nathaniel has been doing great with potty training! He encourages the other kids to wear underwear! Great role model!”
“Nathaniel really enjoyed dressing up in costumes today – his favorite is the bee! At circle time, Nathaniel had fun dancing while we sang his name – so much fun! And he’s a fantastic dancer.”
Fascinating + Odd Observation
Mothers, fathers, psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, and other people who might know about this stuff. This one is for you.
How does/did your child deal with fear? Nathaniel’s approach is fascinating to me. Basically, he uses exposure therapy to address his own fears. When he experiences fear, he tends to either make up games about the thing that frightened him or asks me and Drew to tell him the story of his fear over and over again.
Here’s an example from this past weekend. We thought he would love taking an Easter train ride, so we drove down to Chehalis. Nathaniel took one look at the steam coming out of the train and one listen to the whistle and was DONE. The noise really scared him, and the “smoke” made him think he was going to be burned by “the fire.”
Of course we didn’t take him on the train, but for the rest of the day and every day since then he asks to hear the story about the train that scared him. Sometimes three times in a row. He did the same thing when we took him to the Chinese New Year celebration and he was afraid of the firecrackers. That story is still in heavy rotation, and he’s invented a game around it – “You be the dragon. I’ll be the firecrackers.”
This is just so interesting to me. Have any of you had or heard of this type of reaction in a two-and-a-half-year-old? I’d love to hear about it, and I’d love for any experts to weigh in with their thoughts.
Okay! See you guys tomorrow. xoxo