Who’s My Boss?

Have I mentioned my 2 ½ year old is the boss of me? She is….it’s true. In recent weeks, I’ve been observed honoring her request that I return to my pajamas, replacing them over my sweaty running clothes. There have also been mornings when I have been seen making her buttered noodles for breakfast, and most evenings 2 stories turn into 22. The problem is that she’s really convincing.

Whether it’s that captivating, sweet smile, or the way she just cuts to the chase, this child really has a knack for getting things done her way. In reality, most of her requests are pretty benign and sometimes rather amusing. If I can’t come up with a good reason why something can’t or shouldn’t be done, then why not allow it, right? Now, on occasions when my daughter and I do not see eye to eye – whoa baby! This child can throw down. Fortunately, she is quick to turn it around.
“You need to put your bathing suit away.”
“WAAAAH! I GO SWIMMING NOW! WAAAAH!”
“It’s nap time. We’ll go swimming later.”
“Okay Mommy.”
Just as all successful bosses before her, my 2 year-old is willing to hear out her employees.

So knowing my boss as I do, I was somewhat baffled when the simple act of filling a water bottle turned so terribly ugly. It began when I took one of the new reusable bottles out of the cabinet. She immediately stopped what she was doing and came over to tell me I couldn’t use that bottle because it was Daddy’s. “It’s not Daddy’s” I tried to explain, but I already lost her. She was having a full fit! “That’s Daddy’s! That’s Daddy’s!” All I kept thinking was not only has Daddy never used this bottle, it’s likely that he’s never seen this bottle. But on she went, “No Mommy! That’s Daddy’s! Blue one’s Daddy’s!”

Oh….“The blue one’s Daddy’s.” Now I got it. She was just applying simple geometry.  If All Blue Things = Boy, and Boy = Daddy, then All Blue Things = Daddy. I respect her grasp on the transitive property, but one question remained – where did she get the idea that blue is just for boys in the first place?

Was it something I said? Something someone else said? Did she hear this from her big sister? A friend? Did she get this idea from TV? Movies? Commercials? Did she pick this up at My Gym? Preschool? Spending time with her older cousins? Did this idea come from the color-coded toy isles of my beloved Target?

Well, I think the answer is, yes….