Playing Dumb

Ok so both of my children are pretty smart cookies. They came from Haiti knowing how to do some basic things, one of which is counting. Our first full day here J ended up in the hospital from severe dehydration and scabies and severe diarrhea. And one of the things we did to pass the time was to count. We counted everything. R was there and we quickly learned that they both could count to 70 with no problem. So imagine my surprise today when we were trying to count up some Blokus puzzle pieces which just went to 21. (PS Blokus is a great game to play and they are building brain skills by having to problem solve.) So first off R gets to 9 and then forgets what comes after 9. Then J decides he is going to play dumb as well and counts to 13 and then just can not remember what comes next. I was like man did I just imagine that they really can count up to 70. Then I figured out quickly, oh no we are just trying to play mommy like a fiddle. However therapeutic parenting techniques came out and we went to "rest our brains" until dinner time (because they never could remember how to count again). Resting our brains in the afternoons is a good thing for J because while he refuses to take a nap when he rests his brain he inevitably falls asleep.

Also we have started implementing at dinner time where if you chew with your mouth open, smack, or talk with your mouth full then you have to go sit at the table away from us and you do not get what the rest of us are eating. Well R was just trying to push tonight and see if we were going to follow through. So he had to go sit by himself. But then J decided to push too. So he ended up sitting over there too and eating a turkey sandwich. Well he just decided he was not going to eat anything. So we waited until we (ie my husband and I) were through eating to give him to start eating. (We have been told right now we do not worry about whether they eat or not but about them behaving and when they get hungry they will eat). He refused and so we went on with our nightly routine (ie bath time, brushing teeth, getting ready for bed). So Daddy was trying to get him to take some mouthwash they are supposed to use per the dentist before brushing their teeth. Well he ended up spitting it all over Daddy and himself. Daddy told him he had to clean it up before he went to bed. It took him over an hour of whining in the bathroom before he finally cleaned it up and now he is tucked safe and sound in the bed.

Let's see what tomorrow holds. I can't wait!!!