Carter’s been nitpicking lately, and it’s driving me crazy. As I’m reading, he hovers over my shoulder and corrects not just words, but delivery and emphasis. As in,
Carter: Mooooommmmm, that word is darker than the others. It’s supposed to be louder.
Bad Mommy: How do you feel during reading partners if your partner is always correcting you?
Carter: Umm, that doesn’t happen to me because I pretty much already know things.
Bad Mommy had her fill, and decided to give him a taste of nitpicking. At dinnertime, the table was set, so to speak.
Bad Mommy: Here’s dinner.
Carter: Oh! I love French fries!
Bad Mommy: Well, they aren’t French fries.
Carter: Really? (nonplussed) what are they?
Bad Mommy: (Losing some steam, but still with the appropriate superior delivery) Crinkle cut potatoes.
Carter: Ah. (cheerfully) Well whatever they’re calling them these days, I sure like them.
Carter: (a little later) Hey, Mom? Can I have some more of those delicious Crinkle Cut Potatoes?
So, here’s what Bad Mommy learned. Carter wants to know the correct answer, whatever the question, and he assumes that we all want to know whatever he knows as well. He’s “rule-governed” right now. Possibly if he didn’t have a rebel for a mama, this would be an easier developmental period for us. Either way, knowing that it isn’t personal makes it more endearing, less annoying.
