I Don't Want to Have To by Joanne Rendell
“I don’t want to ‘have to.’” This is Benny’s new comeback when I explain that he “has” to have a bath (because he’ll stink) or he “has” to come to the store (otherwise he’ll flip out later on because there is none of his favorite Dannon yogurt in the refrigerator) or he “has” to get ready to go for dinner (or I might eat him alive because I’m so hungry) or he “has” to change his top (because snot is encrusted all the way along one sleeve and oatmeal on the other). After I plead that he “has” to do one of these things, he cocks his head to the side and says, with his big eyes all glassy and innocent, “But I don’t want to ‘have to.’” And, of course, although I am on the verge of loosing it because of the stubborn resistance he’s putting up to whatever it is I think he “has” to do, I always end up laughing. After all, what a great sentence!
I’m a sucker for those kind of sentences; those sentences kids make up entirely by themselves and which, if you’re picky, are not grammatically correct and yet make total sense.
Benny came out with another great one yesterday. After I insisted we leave the house and told him it was a lovely warm day (and, thus, enduring another “I don’t want to have to” battle), we got outside and quickly discovered that in spite of the blue skies there was a nasty biting wind. Because I’d done the work of getting him out the house, however, I persisted with my errand. Ten minutes later, after being battered continually by the icy wind, we found ourselves behind a tall building and thus sheltered from the fierce breeze. Benny looked up from his stroller (where he’d no doubt taken the brunt of the headwind). His little nose was red and his eyes were streaming and he said, “It’s stopped winding, mama.”
Poor kid. If he only knew that a block later it would be “winding” viciously once again.
I’m a sucker for those kind of sentences; those sentences kids make up entirely by themselves and which, if you’re picky, are not grammatically correct and yet make total sense.
Benny came out with another great one yesterday. After I insisted we leave the house and told him it was a lovely warm day (and, thus, enduring another “I don’t want to have to” battle), we got outside and quickly discovered that in spite of the blue skies there was a nasty biting wind. Because I’d done the work of getting him out the house, however, I persisted with my errand. Ten minutes later, after being battered continually by the icy wind, we found ourselves behind a tall building and thus sheltered from the fierce breeze. Benny looked up from his stroller (where he’d no doubt taken the brunt of the headwind). His little nose was red and his eyes were streaming and he said, “It’s stopped winding, mama.”
Poor kid. If he only knew that a block later it would be “winding” viciously once again.
For more of Joanne Rendell's mommy blogs - including "Fishing for Poo," "Should Mommy's Wear Thongs?" and "What's that dangly thing between his legs?" then Click Here to visit her at the popular website, Get Crafty or to visit her brand new author blog (since she just got a book deal!) Click Here. To return to the Role Mommy home page, Click Here
posted by Role Mommy @ 3/12/2007 03:42:00 PM
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