Oh, Mack. The third born. The baby boy. The one that gets what he wants most of the time. The one that has had the least amount of “teaching” moments with Mama. Oh, Mack.
We were just sitting around after Mack got up from his nap. Josh was on the phone for work. We’ve had 1/2″ of snow, so there is just no way possible anyone can drive in these horrible conditions. Safety first! 🙂 I decided to try and take advantage of a few quiet moments with Mack. He was eating NERDS as a prize for staying dry during nap time and then for going potty right when he got up from his nap. (He has been soooo easy to potty train. SOOOO easy!!!) I asked him what color the NERDS were. He said, “Let me think.” LONG PAUSE, lots of crunching. No answer. “They are PURPLE, Mack. PURPLE.” I walked over to the markers.
Yellow. Blue. Red. Green. Basic, right?
He held them. I asked him to give me a RED marker.
“No, Mack. That one is green, like the grass. Which one is RED?”
There were just too many choices. He could not figure out which one was red.
I would ask him for a color. He would, guessing, pick out a marker and hand it to me—all the while looking at me like he was looking for me to give him the right answer before he handed over his final answer.
One time when I was trying to get him to tell me the color of one of the markers, I asked, “Mack what color is the one in your hand?” He said, “Um. Let me think about it.” After a pause, I said, “Mack, tell me the color of this marker.” He said, “Let me see….”
Then, he asked me, “Well, what is it?!!” I said, “It is YELLOW, Mack. YELLOW.”
“Yes, it is,” he replied, as if I was the one that we were waiting on to say the right answer.
Josh was off the phone by now. I called him over to witness this craziness. He offered to play along.
It didn’t go so well.
Mack would run off because he was totally over playing this silly “Guess the Marker Color” game. He was down-right mad.
This is what he wanted to do:
Build a tower with the markers…you don’t need to know what color they are for this.
He really is smart. I am truly not concerned (yet). I am sure he will learn his colors in time. However, Josh and I had the same conversation we have had several times before about how the girls knew their colors and could recognize their alphabet by now– and with ease! They are each so different. Like I mentioned before, he picked up the potty-training so much easier than the girls did. Molly has just recently mastered #2 with no help and/or drama. He stays in his bed so much better than the girls did, too. His manners (thank you’s and please’s) are far more consistent than the girls. Each are extremely different and very much their own little person. It is fun to watch them grow and to see more and more of their personalities each day.
Here’s a glimpse into my Ruby girl.
Yesterday they had been out playing in the snow. I thought it would be nice to come in to the house, get off the cold jackets and boots and hats, then wrap up in a warm blanket…so I threw two big blankets in the dryer. I helped them get off their coats and stuff, then got the blankets out of the dryer and wrapped them up in them on the couch. They loved it! Ruby said, “Oh, thank you for this warm blanket” as I wrapped it all around her.
Then, as I was making sure her feet were all covered, she said, “OK, now scoot.” You see, I was blocking her view of “Little House on the Prairie.” How dare I?!?
“Little House” is another whole story. I feel like the Ingalls have moved in with us. More on that another day……..
I still can’t get T to answer right with the colors. And he is 3.5! I will say “T, what color is this” and he will just shout out the first color that comes to his mind…half the time not even looking to see what color is in my hand. Crazy kid!
Knowing your colors is important as is numbers and letters but other things are more important at this age. Mack is very smart and will learn thoes things with time. Look how he can drive the jeep with coordination and control. Look how he can figure out how to get bananas off the counter. His interest will drive his learning for awhile. Josh was not interested in letters until he started school. He was interested in ball and guns and hunting etc. Now he can read and write so everything worked out OK.
Having one of each(boy and girl) I can tell you they are totally different! It’s all about motivation for the boys. You’ve got nothing to worry about!
You just tell him when you are working with him that he is the “smartest” one…..you know the one you are working with is always the “smartest” one at that time………..
You do a great job with your kids…..let’s get real and pretend he NEVER learned his colors – what kind of real difference would it make????? It is sooooooo good to be a grandparent.