Choosy moms choose margaritas

I like giving the G-man the chance to voice his opinion. Solicited opinion, that is. According to the books, sites, etc., this helps kids feel empowered, important and in control. Whatever. All I know is that this strategy works. Sometimes. Ok, as I've mentioned before he is in opposite land so most decision opportunities do not go smoothly. But, I have been starting to see success in his eating if he's heavily involved in the selection process.

There are times I give him choices - eggs or oatmeal? - and times I leave it open - what do you want for breakfast? If he has input, he's been eating more. However, food consumption and meal cooperation seem to have a direct correlation with when his choice is made and when the food appears. Ask him about dinner at 4:30 and serve it at 5:15? Chances are, he'll refuse to come to the table, much less eat it. And that includes when he helps make it, too. But, ask him at 5:00 and serve it at 5:05? Look out, calories may be consumed.

I'll state right now that unless we are having cereal for dinner, that 5 minute window is really hard to achieve. Good thing he likes cereal.

Try as I might to get his input and agreement on what to serve, when to serve and how to serve it, there are some things that stump me. No matter what I do, I fail.

Take school lunch. I make it the night before to save time in the morning. Yesterday, he said he wanted celery in his lunch. Check. Got it in, cut the way he likes it. So when I asked him what he ate for lunch today, part of our conversation went something like this:

"What else was in your lunch today?"

"Celery!"

"Did you eat it?"

"No."

"I thought you said you wanted it."

"I did."

"Why didn't you eat it?"

"I just wanted it in my bag. I didn't want to eat it."

"..."

Sadly, this is becoming the norm. I'm realizing the choices G-man makes are for different reasons than I intended. When he asks for pancakes, he doesn't want to eat them, he just wants to stir batter. He swears he likes tomatoes at the market only to shamelessly tell me later that he wanted them because they are red. When asked to pick a shirt in the morning, he seems shocked that I expect him to wear it and not just carry it around or give it a prize for being the chosen one.

Perhaps one day our expectations will sync up. Until then, I'll do my best to stay one step ahead of where I think his logic is going...or just get out of the way.

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Letter of the law

The G-man has a new secondary obsession: the alphabet. He loves letters and sings his ABCs non-stop. Wherever we go, he points out letters, naming them himself and then asking me to as well. Constantly.

I can't simply read a story anymore; I have to do each word letter by letter. Longest. Story times. Ever.

Driving in the car? I have to read makes, models and license plates, forwards and backwards, for as many cars as I can figure out from the instructions in the back seat of, "That one! Do that one! No, the B first!" (Note: I have no idea what direction he's even looking in.)

Now that he recognizes all the letters and can write most of them, he's moving on to learning the individual sounds they make. Suddenly, I'm realizing that the alphabet and the english language don't always make sense.

For example, why do we have C? Aren't both of its sounds already covered by S and K? I'm having a hard time explaining to the G-man that the hard C in "cat" is not a K and the soft C in "center" is not an S. Come to think of it, what the hell is with one letter making two sounds anyway? As it seems superfluous now, can't I trade C for one of the G sounds? That would be easier to work through with G-man, too. Guitar and giraffe both start with the same letters in his name, but don't actually sound alike. Poor li'l guy.

Why does X sound like Z? What is up with W looking like two Vs, called double-u, but sounding like "Wuh"? A nod to the French for at least calling it dooble-vay for double-v, but they lose points for Z (zed), Y (ee-grek) and the boatload of letters they tack the 'vay' sound onto in general.

And don't get me started on the vowels. Ever try to start sounding out words with a 3-year-old and having to tell him why they all seem to keep changing?

However, let's just leave all that behind. I don't think G-man is going to start reading for some time but he can be happy "reading" his letters and writing them out. Surely, there's no controversy in that. Right?

Ah, but there is! G-man was quite perplexed that the A in the Candyland name on the game board had a rounded top. "That's not A," he said. "A is pointy."

Sigh.

Some letters are pretty standard, but in looking at the fonts in his books and even my own handwriting, others are subjective. At least three ways to write big G, two for little g. M's with pointy tips or round? Little a is a crapshoot. He gets confused when people/print materials don't use the horizontal lines on the top and bottom of big I, so that it ends up looking like little l. Or not dotting little i or little j. I put a line through my Zs. And cursive?! Surely, that will freak him out.

Just when I think he can't take any more, he started writing his numbers, too. Write 1-10 on a piece of paper and then consider how many acceptable ways there are to symbolize all of those.

Double sigh.

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