Teaching Moments

One of the main jobs of being a parent is teaching your children. My wife is covering number, letters, shapes, words, and all that other educational stuff. I'm the pop culture teacher. That's why my son knows the lyrics to popular songs and can dance like a pro. And currently, there are three things I'm working on him saying.

First, every time we go somewhere for a get-together, I want him to say, "The party don't start 'til I walk in!" And he won't do it in front of people. He's embarrassed. And putting aside the annoyingness of that song, that would still be pretty funny.

Second, I want him to learn to stop when I tell him to stop. This is a real parenting goal inasmuch as I want him to stop running if he's about to run in front of a car or into a person's shins. But what I want him to do when I yell "Stop!" is to stop dead in his tracks, look at me with a grin, and say, "Hammer time!" Then I want him to do the MC Hammer dance. This is a work in progress. If he does it by the time he's 4, I will have succeeded.

Lastly, I want him to say adorably cute stuff at the best possible time. This is an overall goal I have for him, but he's already displaying a knack for comedic timing. Yesterday, my wife was "getting" Andrew (a.k.a. poking him and tickling him) and he stopped, stepped back, and said, "You wanna piece-a me?!" And I was so proud. We've been working on that one. Now I just have to get him to work on his mobster accent.