Life Lessons From the Backseat

So far this week, I've learned a lot from the back seat occupants of my car.  The past two days I've picked up my niece and nephew and watched them for a couple of hours each night for my sister.  The M & M's are a cute pair - when they are on their best behavior - and they have been good this week.

Lesson One - When you are under 5 years old, a simple thing like the noise that the turn signals make is fascinating!  Every time I use the blinker, a silly song erupts from the back seat about turning soon.  Today they even decided to play a game - let's see who can keep their eyes closed until Aunt "bonkeygirl" makes another turn.

Lesson Two - No matter how hard you try, you cannot hide snacks from a hungry 4 year old.  Nor from his equally hungry 3 year old sister.  They spot snacks in my pantry or freezer that even I didn't know I had.  Powder donuts, Indiana Jones Pop-tarts, Lunchables and Jello pudding snacks were all spied and requested.  I had no idea we even had such delicious snacks in the house!

Lesson Three - "Moo Cows" are not appropriate for dinner.  For the uninitiated, Moo Cows are the chosen name for Skinny Cow Ice cream bars.  The little imps don't know how to read, but they spotted the cow on the box and have forever given them a new name.  As an aunt, it is my job to spoil them rotten, but I refuse to feed them ice cream for dinner.

Lesson Four - I missed the early years of Skaterboy's life (I got partial possession of the child when he was around 11) so the attention span of a toddler amazes me.  How can they remember that I have a book with a picture of a nest that looks similar to one they have on a set of flash cards at home but they can't remember that they just left the bathroom?  How can they demand pudding for dinner but as soon as I show up at the table with corn, they completely forget that we even have pudding in the house? (For the record, they had already eaten at Gramma's house so I was ok with feeding them pudding while I ate my dinner).

Lesson Five - The changing of the seasons are totally lost on M & M.  They only thing they know is that Aunt Bonkeygirl has a pool and they should be able to swim in it every time they come over.  Never mind that it is October and that it is way past swimming season in this part of the world.  All they know is that they want to swim and they can't understand why I put a blankie on the pool.  I didn't get a screaming hissy fit, but you could see the puzzled look on their faces as I tried to explain the concept of seasons and what fall means.

Lesson Six - No matter how completely chaotic and cr@ppy your day at work was, the look of sheer excitement and joy on M & M's faces when I show up to pick them up makes it all worth while.  Especially when you get a knee jarring hug from a flying 4 year old and a big smoochy hug from a 3 year old princess.