Ellie Stories.

This morning began the same way most mornings began.  Early, and with Curious George.  As I was carrying Isaac out of his bedroom this morning we were singing "5 Little Monkeys" (Jumping on the Bed, vs. the Swing in the Tree version . . . both of which he loves).  When we came in and Ellie had turned on my television to Curious George, and Isaac exclaimed, "George a monkey!"  So we sang about a monkey jumping on the bed again.  "One fell off and broke his head," I sang and Isaac giggled as I grabbed my head dramatically, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said . . . " I continued, when Ellie loudly interrupted, "DADDY.  Daddy called the doctor."  At first I just assumed that this was just one more example of Ellie's preference for her Dad over Mom, but she clarified, "George doesn't really have a Mom," she explained sadly, "He only has a Dad.  The man with the yellow hat.  So Daddy called the doctor."  Um, that's a good point, Ellie.  I hadn't thought of that.

Another Ellie story -- yesterday I was getting the kids ready and I asked her to get dressed.  She responded, "I can't right now, Mom.  I gotta practice whistling."

And for good measure,  a Bad Mommy moment.  So, I tend to keep my kids off youtube . . . a few of their favorite Sesame Street clips are on there, but I only let them watch the ones we've found on hulu.  It seems like whatever clip you're watching on youtube, you're only one click from a swearing Elmo or foul-mouthed-rapping Dora.  And it makes me angry that the site is littered with children's things made crude, dirty or inappropriate.  Anyway, so typically I don't let them watch much on youtube.  With one exception.  Humphrey the bear singing, "Put it in the Bag" (bump, bump).  Ellie had asked ALL morning yesterday to watch it, so after Annie got home from school I pulled it up and they watched it, twice.  Then a Goofy cartoon started (Ellie kept calling him Doofy or Goofus or Doofus, which was amusing me, she just could not seem to remember the name 'Goofy'.)  Half way into it, the baby started crying.  I'd planned on coming right back down, but there was a diaper to change and an outfit to change, and by the time I came back down, the kids were just finished watching a foul-mouthed Cookie Monster video, and there were a bunch of 'Family Guy' clips set to start next.  Dang it.  Annie looked instantly guilty, and Ellie was laughing hysterically and repeating some line about the doctor telling him to take his pants off.  Stupid internet.  So, we sat down and had a talk about what isn't 'appropriate' for little kids to be watching online, and how 'bad' stuff can come up on the computer, and if Mom's not there, how to shut off the computer or close the current screen and to come tell Mom and we can talk about how it made them feel.  The conversation was mainly for Annie, who seemed a bit concerned about what she'd seen.  Ellie was still giggling about the 'pants off' line and saying, "It was funny!  So funny!"  We extended the conversation to include what we do if we're at a friend's house or somewhere else, and Mom's not around, and we hear of see something that we're not comfortable with.  At this point, Ellie finally gets serious, and responds, "When I was at Kate's house, she said she was the boss of me.  But, she's not the boss of me.  And it made me sad.  And berry un-come-bur-ta-bull."  The last line was so emphatic that I burst out laughing.

And lastly, an Isaac story.  Isaac loves the book "Go Dog Go" and asks for it by name, often. So I laughed when he'd finished reading it with his Dad, and Greg asked, "Do you want to read it again?" Isaac responded, "No. All done now with dogs that go."