First Dibs

They say kids will take over your life. And how.

Lately Jesse has impressed upon himself that he, and he alone, is the best person to decide our in-car musical entertainment. While we mostly play the radio in the car, our four-year-old has decided that CDs are better, if only just because he can play the same tune over and over. And over. And over. And over. Well, you get the idea.

One day, Mae was listening to a little Michael CW Smith. Mommy had her mind set on a little uplifting music for the soul, but the boy had different ideas.

"Mommy, can I hear 'Beautiful Day', please?" Jesse said as he handed us our U2 CD, his eyes sparkling with earnest sincerity.

"Mommy needs to listen to some Church music," Mae explained.

"And our Baby-in-the-tummy likes it too," I added, cleverly - or so I thought.

Yes, it was a little emotional blackmail which I thought might appeal to his brotherly love for his soon-to-arrive little sibling. A little under the belt, I know. But I thought that out to neutralise him for the duration of a few songs, at least. That, however, was not to be.

"But, what about Jesse-outside-the-tummy?", our boy enquired wistfully, reminding his lousy parents that their firstborn was right there, in the here and now.

And as the guilt-wracked strains of The Edge's guitar permeated the confines of our little car, our boy sank back into his seat, his face beaming with his toothy grin, as his new rock idol sang the very words that spoke his heart, which was, as Bono put it, abloom.

*sigh* We're never gonna get our radio back, but at least we can celebrate the fact that our boy has great taste in music.

Garlic Man Returns

Once again, Garlic Man, the caped crusader of the culinary condiment comes a-calling. And along for the ride, his new trusty sidekick, Garlic Boy! Poor Mommy doesn't stand a chance.

Last weekend, I take the boy for a day out, just to give Mae a little peace and quiet. In her current condition, she's really not up to moving about and so Daddy takes over entertaining the boy. After a long day out, father and son, with maid in tow, decide to sit down to a nice meal of Teppanyaki.

Jesse hardly ever eats, and so when he started digging into his Chicken Teppan, I was elated. I was even more so, when he started walloping those lovely crispy garlic bits that come with every serving of Teppanyaki. My boy was eating everything now!

Unfortunately Mae doesn't share my enthusiasm.

"You fed the boy garlic?" Mae groaned, her face pale with disgust, "I can smell it off of the both of you." And this, despite the fact that we had showered and brushed our teeth.

And so, there was no love that night. Garlic boy slept and arm-length from Mommy while Garlic Man enjoys his newfound singlehood on the living room couch. *sigh*