Tending to both
Nowadays Vai walks a lot.
[He still stumbles at times – especially when he’s really sleepy and tired but simply is NOT interested in resting – but he’d get himself up again and continue on walking about]
And so now that I have TWO kids who are growing in their independence, I somehow come to a realisation that my ‘total-number-of-words-spoken-in-a-day’ sort of goes UP, even more than before.
From the moment we all wake up to the time the kids are fast asleep at night, I find myself saying stuff like …
Please don’t touch the bin. Please don’t put the toy inside your mouth. Please eat your meals quickly. Please share your toy. Please don’t snatch the book off your brother’s hands. Please don’t scream. Please say sorry. Please be gentle. Please turn off the TV. Please sit on the sofa. Please don’t sit on the water puddle. Please … Please …
I explain. I give instructions. I rebuke. I remind. I negotiate.
And by the day’s end, it’s amazing how one can actually feel ‘verbally tired’.
