It's a BIT Funny

I never understood the stories about children who allegedly drew on walls or destroyed family furniture.  My five-year-old daughter was never like that and has always been one who likes to please, to follow the rules.

But then came Dylan.

Dylan, who will be three in May, makes up for the areas Marlowe left untouched, and then some. Last week, he discovered a hot pink lipstick in Marlowe’s room, and by the time we found him, he had colored half of the door to the guest bedroom completely pink, had drawn on the white carpet in the upstairs hallway, and had drawn all over Marlowe’s bedspread. I’m sure there are still spots we haven’t found yet. The other night he took his cup of juice and just started walking around pouring it on the table, the floor, the chair, because apparently they needed watering. Last night he found a purple crayon and decided that drawing a huge smiley face on the upholstered dining room table chair would be the exact right thing to do.

The best/worst part of it, besides watching our house get totally trashed, is that he just really has a hard time being sorry. He tries to be sorry. After the purple crayon incident he said “I’m sorry!  I’ll NEVER do it again.” But he will. With a twinkle in his eye, he will. And he’ll laugh afterward.  And if I say “Dylan! It’s not funny!” he will take a cue from his favorite t.v. show “Peppa Pig” and he will say “It’s a BIT funny.”

And the thing is, he’s right. It IS a bit funny.

It’s the same bold spirit in him that will just go ahead and drag a stool over to the drawer that has the candy in it and help himself, even after I’ve told him that he can’t have any candy. And it’s only after threats of a timeout and beginning to “count to three” does it occur to him that there is any problem with that… usually punctuated with an “Oh!  I’m sorry” (accentuated by laughter, laughter, laughter).

It’s the same creative genius in him that will take whatever household objects are within his reach—toys, blankets, chairs, food—to create a “train” that extends the length of the family room.

It’s the same mischievious  nature in him that will try to tickle Marlowe when she is in the throes of a dramatic fit, sending her over the edge of dismay.

It's the same imaginative dreamer in him that currently wants to be both a "tooth fairy" and a "flyer who goes in a rocket ship to the moon" when he grows up.

Plain and simple, he loves what he loves—and boy does he love to laugh. And play.  He looks at all of life with a twinkle in his eye. And while his specific actions sometimes (often) make me crazy and my house shabby, his spirit makes me nothing but proud… So I will acquiesce that it is indeed a bit funny.

Is there something that you can find a bit funny?    

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