(A make-up Top Ten).
If I've said it once, I've said it 500 Times....
1. "Leave the cats alone." At six years old you would think it would have penetrated, but so far, she simply Can Not leave the cats alone. I don't know how many times per day I say it, I'm guessing 15 times a day. She loves them to death. She wants to hug them, chase them, play with them, rub their ears, cuddle with them, and play with them until they are mad at ME for taking them in to get their claws removed so they can't defend themselves. Her response is always "But they're so FUZZY!" or "But I LOVE them!"
2. "No." You know, I really think this encompasses "Things I've Said 500 Times" list numbers 2 through 10. No you can't have ice cream for breakfast. No you can't wear your gymnastics outfit to school. No you can't see if that will float in the toilet. No I don't want to come smell/touch/look at that.
3. "I love you." She's even told me I tell her this all the time. She said it in one of those "I'm being patient with you Mom" voices. I'm just glad she hears it so much. She's also a very affectionate child in return, and she tells her teachers, her classmates, and anyone she cares about how much she loves them. I worry about that, about when she'll get 'scorned' or 'burned' for it, but for now she is a loving, happy little girl with no problems expressing her emotions, and that's a gift. So she's going to have to keep hearing "I love you" from me whether she likes it or not! :)
4. "Turn that down/off!" Something tells me this one will not get any better as she gets older. Right now I'm listening to Saturday morning cartoons up at a high volume in the kitchen, and in the front living room, my keyboard is playing the same tune over and over and over (and over). I ask her to turn them down, and she does for awhile, until she forgets and gets excited. Right now she is dancing to that tune that I'm going to hear in my head for the next year. It's good exercise. That's the only reason I'm not insisting it go off. But I may head for my iPod or my room soon!
5. "It doesn't matter what they did..." Or as My mother used to put it, "Life isn't fair-don't expect it to be." Our girl is a rule-follower for the most part. She tells on herself if she breaks rules, and if someone else breaks rules she points the finger and tattles. We've been working on that part of it. Thus the "It doesn't matter what THEY did, you need to worry about what YOU should or should not do." And then try to incorporate that "line in the sand" of when it IS appropriate to worry about what someone else is doing. In school she's had to learn to mind her own beeswax too. It's kind of funny, really. But she's a good girl. :)
6. "Thank you". I'm always thanking her for her good manners, when she does a good job in a restaurant, when she behaves quietly in a work environment, when she gives me little kisses for no reason. She really tries to do the right thing, usually does a really good job, and I get to say it a lot.
7. "You're goofy!" Again, if I've said it once, I've said it 500 times. She's silly, goofy, occasionally weird and gross and funny. She will come up with the strangest goof-ball things. At home, she has been practicing burping words. Now how's that for a delicate girly activity?? At least so far we've managed to keep her from doing it in public...
8. "No, we are not going to crash/have a fire." I swear, 500 times. She's been convinced that our house is going to catch on fire ever since we had the first conversation about fire safety. And she's been convinced that we're going to crash our car every time I swerve or stop. Now I'm not an advocate of giving out false assurances, but after enough time has gone by, I've started saying "No, we are not going to have a fire" or "No, we aren't going to crash." I know it can happen, but if it does, I'll deal with it then, and in the meantime, hopefully she'll quit obsessing over it.
9. "Yes, of course I still love you." For some reason, every time one of us gets upset at her, she always says "You don't love me any more!" or "Do you still love me?" I can't count the number of times I've said "Me being upset at your behavior has nothing to do with me loving you. I will Always love you! I love you enough to want you to be a good person, which means you can't..." And always ends with "Yes, of course I still love you!"
10. "That's enough." This girl hasn't really learned the meaning of moderation yet, in much of anything. If it's food, she wants the whole bag. If it's a practical joke, she keeps doing it over and over until it's way past annoying. ;) If it's kitty kisses, she'll smother them. She's just an over-the-top kind of gal, which has its fun side and its dangers. She always leaves me saying "that's enough"; sometimes laughing, and sometimes not so much laughing. :)
I'm sure there are a lot more phrases I say over and over and over. But these are the first ten I thought of. Have a good weekend!
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