No, Mama, You do it!

Uh-Oh...I'm hearing this once in a while now...actually just the past couple of days where I've tried to implement some of what I've learned in the book Children Who Do Too Little.  The book says that two and three year olds are old enough to clear their plates from the table, so I asked Clarence to do it for breakfast and lunch (first we feed the dogs the scraps, then bring it to the sink)...he says "No, Mama, YOU do it." I say, "No, Clarence, you can do it", and he does it without putting up a fuss.

I've heard that with his toys, his dirty clothes in the bathroom, getting a diaper, picking up his shoes, picking up his sandbox toys that he dragged ALL over the yard this morning.  "No, Mama, You do it!"...to which I reply, "No, Clarence, you can do it.  They're your (toys, clothes, etc.)." and he picks them up on his own. 

I have learned a valuable lesson...he is old enough NOW to start picking up after himself, and he's already taking advantage of me and what I will do for him.  I need to repeat, repeat, repeat and keep reminding him to help him form a habit of picking up after himself.  The book says that once kids are five or six and haven't learned to do some small chores, it will be harder and harder to ever get them to start because they won't think it's their job...it'll be mom or dad's job because mom and dad have always done it.  Very valuable information!

Just for fun, here are some words from Clarence's language:

la  ~ water
ungerdog  ~ underdog on the swingset
buck  ~ cup
mowmow ~ mower/mowing
wing ~ swing
Dia ~ Adina
That ~ Grandma Juli
(Silence) ~ when I ask him to say Grandma Carmen
Mura ~ Grandma Muriel
Lole ~ Grandpa Lowell
chickers ~ chickens
ecks ~ eggs
Boke~ both Uncle Mark's  (What we hear most often with either Mark is "Go way, Boke", or "Boke Mean")  It's really cute! :)
There are a bunch more, but I can't think of any right now.

And, he says "Shoot" after almost everything we talk about.  It's usually after I tell him something he didn't realize, like last night we were picking weeds in the garden, I said "No, don't pick that one, that's an onion," and he said "Oh, shoot..." and laughed a little.  It's hilarious!

He also loves to "Eat Cows Daddy" (feed cows with daddy) and "Check Cows Daddy" (check cows with daddy).