Foot Food and Jello Feast

Why settle for the ordinary meal when an enchilada and green jello dinner can be enjoyed as a whole-body experience? I will try to post a video of this exquisite foot-massage that spontaneously occurred at the dinner table last night.

Today while I was on the phone with my mom, I noticed that Brooklyn was quietly entertaining herself in the other room. Curious, I walked in and found the refrigerator door open, and this beautiful display of left-over green jello. Evidencing her guilt were the green gelatin specks all over her face, hands, the fridge, and the floor. On the bright side, I have discovered that unusual sensory objects like jello and Mardi-Gras beads are a great way to teach kids their colors! Today we really love GREEN because that's the color of the all-too-tempting just-within-our-reach jello on the top shelf of the fridge. YUM!
Back to the story. As I entered the crime scene, I tried to maintain the straight-faced disciplinarian persona, but inside I was secretly delighted, sort of, by this mid-day mischief. After a brief explanation that this was not okay, the girl actually put herself, nose-to-wall, in time out. My thoughts: 'What is wrong with this picture? Who does this?' Obviously, I have not created "time-out" as an undesirable experience, because she seems to enjoy it! The whole role-play of misbehaving and apologizing so immediately and earnestly after the fact is great fun, apparently. At the climax of the process, the pouty face acknowledges her wrong-doing and displays her true or feigned regret. How can I not worry for the unsuspecting men in her future? Back to the event, she then turned to face me from the "punishment wall," and stated, oh-s0-seriously, "yes, mom" after every sentence of my explanation of her guilt. This was in total deference, respect, and sweetness. Confused, I wonder, 'Is this a game?' Then, after her one-minute time out, an eye-to-eye talk of why she was "punished," she threw her arms around me for the grand finale bear-hug, followed by the so-easily-offered phrase necessary at this point of the ritual, "I sorry, Mommy." Dang, these kids! Why are they so cute and smart? It really makes it hard for me to be objective and consistent with such simple affectionate as this. Are all kids this way? I think we all know the answer to that!