Riddle me this

The craziest thing happened today—Romey picked up a princess dress-up crown and, without a second thought, put it on top of her head. I thought, "Wow!"—Romey knows what to do with a princess crown. Obviously she’s been watching Avery and has learned that the crown goes on the princess’s head! I'm so proud.

In addition to joining the royal harem, Romey has also been pointing the remote control toward the television, and “chatting” while holding the phone to her ear. Yes, you might say that we Nelson girls wear crowns, watch television, and chat on the phone all day (not far from the truth!).

And speaking of chatting it up, I have begun the arduous task of trying to explain the word 'why' to Avery. When I ask Avery why she did something, and she doesn’t seem to be understanding the question (or is being coy). By asking her why, I am wanting to know what her motivations are, her reasons, her promptings—for instance, why did she spit all over her bed; why did she hit her sister? Avery will often cutely reply that “it was an accident or a mistake."

In addition to Avery comprehending the word 'why', how do I get her to understand the difference between a purposeful action, and an accidental incident? I can only dumb it down so much before the words just seem to get lost in translation (note: I’m not calling Avery dumb. In fact, she’s smart. Some intangible concepts are just difficult to explain).

And to throw a little more kindling on the fire, Avery has started saying the following to me in the midst of being disciplined: “Mommy, God loves me. I love God. I love Jesus. I love you, Mommy.” I am delighted to hear that she loves God (and me), but when I’m trying to explain that she didn’t make a mistake by spitting all over her bed, and that it was in fact a purposeful action, it makes me want to pull my hair out and scream like a crazy lunatic in an insane asylum! And that’s why I’m going (insert expletive) nuts! Happy Friday!

Our little princess in training.

Posing