Stop picking your nose with your tongue!

Okay, so admittedly, there are lots of things I end up saying as a parent that I never dreamed I would say. Things like "it only has a little bit of dirt on it, so eat it anyway" or "do you want a cookie or a fruit snack for lunch?" or "well, your shirt may be in the washer but those clothes have been in there for a week so I gotta wash them again".

But I really never thought I would have a kid talented enough to have to say "stop picking your nose with your tongue!". Yes, it is a trick my 5 year old has learned. He first showed it to me at a soccer game. He ran over excitedly and said "look what I can do!" I was so proud. And all the other parents surrounding me were so impressed. It was a love fest. Actually, I quickly said "Jacob, stop doing that! Just go play soccer!" Unfortunately, between the random ninja moves and tongue up his nose, he didn't have a great soccer game and it just brought more attention to him. One parent said "I just love how Jacob is playing soccer today! He is acting just like a boy... like there is nothing else in the world except what is going on in his head!" I chuckled.

Sadly enough, this new talent has carried over from the soccer game and once again - I find myself saying - "Jacob, stop picking your nose with your tongue!". I have to admit though, that I am ever so slightly impressed that his tongue can reach so far. Lets hope he stops before he is old enough to date!

We also had a gerbil die. I actually found myself saying "Woo hoo! One down, one to go!" but I had to act empathetic about the gerbil when we told the kids. Before I knew it, Kristin had reached her hand into the cage and was holding his stiff body crying. (I don't know how long it had been dead... but for probably almost a day). And we remembered the happy times of this gerbil's life. I reminded my crying children about how cute and small Tiny was when he was born... how we used to have to feed him with a syringe because there were too many babies (7 I think) in the litter and he was the runt. We remembered how cute they were all cuddled in a pile next to their Dad and how they would just fall down the tube because they couldn't figure out how to get up and down. Pretty funny. Then once again I find myself saying something I never thought I would have to say as a parent. My conversation with Kristin (my seven year old) went something like this.

"Mom, can I sleep with Tiny in my bed just this night."

"No, Kristin, we don't sleep with dead gerbils in our bed."

"Mom, PLEASE! Just tonight!"

"Kristin, NO! Say goodbye to Tiny now and go to bed by yourself. And please wash your hands REALLY good with LOTS AND LOTS of soap."

And then the inevitable question... "well what are you going to do with Tiny?" Should I lie and tell her that I will bury the gerbil in a special place in our garden? I don't know how she would deal with knowing that Ryan or I either throw it away in our garbage or toss it in the field. You can't flush a gerbil and if we made a grave site for our gerbils... well lets just say our yard is small enough as it is. So I tell her - "Don't worry, Dad will take care of him when he gets home." Luckily she trusts Dad enough to not worry about it much more. The kids know Dad doesn't throw anything away! :)