Friday, May 16, 2008

ABCs

I give Demon Baby EXTRA points for cleverness today. Sometimes, I am convinced he is a diabolical genius.

He hates that I work. Granted, I am a writer and work from home so we're together 24/7. Still, he feels he competes with my computer. It's not a contest. He wins. I love him . . . and WISH I could concentratre on only him during the day, but the fact remains, the computer sometimes takes up more time than I wish. I have to earn a living. I support a family of six.

So the conversation went like this:

"I would like to watch a movie."

"Okay. I will put one on."

"But I want YOU to watch it with me. It's just too scary to watch alone."

"Scary? You're not allowed to watch anything scary. Did you find one of Older Brother's movies? Or Older Sister's? You can't watch scary movies."

"Well, this is really scary, and I need you to come and watch it and hide under the blankets with me."

"Absolutely not. What about watching Sesame Street?"

"No." (Now tugging my hand.) "Come with me."

By now I was very curious as to what he had somehow been allowed to watch. I climbed the stairs with him and went into his room. He shut the door--slammed it really. Then he locked the door.

"I am locking you in here so you can't leave."

"Okay."

"Sit down with the blankley." I pulled the comforter to the floor as he went to get the scary video.

"It's REALLY scary. So make sure you stay here."

"What's the scary video called?"

"Blues Clues ABCs."

After I stopped laughing, after I realized this was all an elaborate ruse to cuddle in a blanket with me, we did snuggle for the scary video.

10 comments:

conley730 said...

How sweet! Isn't it amazing how early they figure out how to get us to do what they want?

Erica Orloff said...

Conley:
Yes, they are little demons. :-)
E

Suzanne said...

Kids spend a lot of their youthful energy trying to pull their parents away from their big people work - especially if they're bored.
When my son was little, I also did a lot of my work from home and found I had to involve him as much as possible. I was a fashion designer, so that was not easy. However, I would think involving Demon Baby in helping you write a novel would be nigh on impossible. He is inventive though.

Erica Orloff said...

Suzanne:
We do gardening together. When I knit, he pulls the toilet paper from the roll and makes a "knitting ball" out of it and finds a pair of needles. But I don't think he realizes what I do yet. And he's tough to get to sit still anyway. I had stopped using a laptop because I found I was more productive at my desktop--but I am starting to re-think that. Maybe he and I could somehow be outside together while I write.
E

Spy Scribbler said...

He knits toilet paper? That is SO cute! (My cat also pulls toilet paper and makes a ball out of it, LOL.)

When I was little, gardening with my dad was the highlight of my year. We'd plan together with little graph paper for months. When the catalogs would come in, I'd look through forever, and cut out pictures of the plants I wanted. He always let me try at least one of whatever I wanted. I think when I was 8 or 9 I got to plan the whole garden, the big one.

I had my own little one from three or four (pretty huge, though, considering).

Anyway, I wanted to do gardening this summer. I wanted to start four weeks ago from seeds, but there was guild auditions. And tomorrow the end of the year recital. I can start the seeds Sunday, but ... it's too late to start from seedlings, right? Yeah, that'd have me planting in the middle of June. Or?

*sigh* I remember loving it. I don't remember the details. :-)

Erica Orloff said...

Hi Spy:
It depends on climate and what you plan on growing. You could do "fast" crops like lettuce and radishes . . and have some "fall" crops like squash and pumpkin, and then do some tomatoe plants--but not from seeds.

E

The Anti-Wife said...

I've always found Blues Clues to be extremely frightening!

Aimlesswriter said...

OMG this kid is so cute!
Perhaps this blog is a warning for when he is finally let loose in the real world?
How do you stand this much cuteness??? I'd probably melt every time he did things like this.

Erica Orloff said...

anti-wife:
Even scarier? When I am operating on NO sleep, I start thinking the Blue Wiggle . . . and Steve from Blues Clues . . . are sexy.
E

Erica Orloff said...

aimless:
I am gathering some YouTube video of him which I hope to post soon, so you can see him in action. As for his cuteness? It's directly in proportion to how exhausted I am. But he is very irresistable.

E