About My Mom

liam presented me with a few gifts he had made for me for mother's day at preschool. one was an adorable flower pot with his thumbprints turned into ladybugs, containing flowers he had planted. one was a placemat with his picture and handprints. and the third was a list entitled "About My Mom". halfway down the list was the sentence, "my mom weighs", followed by my actual weight. i was mortified.

the back story ... liam is currently so enamored by addition and subtraction that one afternoon last week, i thought i'd turn his interest into something fun on the bathroom scale. i had him stand on it, and then i joined him, and we watched the needle spring forward to the sum of our two weights. we then determined that if he were 45 pounds, and our sum was x pounds (won't say it here), how much must mommy weigh? he counted on his fingers in increments of 10, just like the scale, and figured it out. fun and educational, right? well, you know what they say about good intentions. i grimaced, imagining his teachers asking him an open-ended, "what can you tell me about your mom?" and him immediately replying with, "ooh! i know her weight! and what size clothes she wears! tonight i'll work on calculating her body mass index! anything else you'd like to know?"

but in talking with some of the other moms, my fears were partially put to rest. i learned that the kids were fed specific questions, including "how much does your mom weigh?" to elicit funny, off-the-wall responses. apparently most 4-year old children have no idea, and their answers reflect that. the group was laughing, sharing their child's answers. "my son thought i was 10 years old and weighed 50 pounds!" said one mom. another, "my daughter said i was 2 pounds and liked to cook soup! i never cook soup!" but liam's answers were all pretty much reasonable -- unless you consider the age question, and you can't really blame him for that, since i've kind of misled him in that department. at least i have now learned that i need to refrain from divulging any personal numerical data with him, because he will certainly remember it, and make sure the rest of the world knows it too.

here's liam's list (minus the weight part):

About My Mom

My mom's name is Mommy.

She is 26 years old.

She loves me because she hugs me.

Mom likes to cook potatoes.

Mom likes to play Chutes and Ladders with me.

She is special because she loves me.

When I grow up I will buy her yogurt.

Happy Mother's Day 2009!
Love, LIAM