ears eyes nose [tail]

Jaden is twenty-one months old now, and should be acquiring new words at rapid-fire pace at any moment.  He is talking a little more, and can even string some words together like “da-da car bye-bye.”  He says that sentence about ten times a day, whenever he needs a reminder as to why his dad is not in the room with him at that very moment.  I have no doubt that he will be a talking fool soon enough.

He does have one go-to phrase that cracks me up. 

“Oh no!”

Yes, Jaden says this about 3000 times/day.  Some examples from the past few days include when:

• he spilled a miniscule drop of milk on the kitchen table
• his toy garbage can came off his toy garbage truck (this happens about 362 times/day and accounts for the majority of uses of “oh no!”)
• I made a somewhat abrupt stop in the car and his book fell onto the floor in the backseat
• Charlie (dog) started licking the fork Jaden had just thrown on the floor
• Dustin and I both ran out of milk at dinner
• he peed on the floor whilst running around without a diaper
• I could go on and on

There are many instances in the life of the toddler when “oh no” is perfectly appropriate.  Things seem to go wrong for them an inappropriate amount of times per day. 

And who do I have to thank for teaching him this helpful language tool?  (this hurts to write)  Bob-the-stinking-Builder.  This whiny little construction cartoon character has entered our lives with gusto.  We had purchased one DVD of Bob in a moment of desperation last summer when Jaden was confined to a hospital bed.  He had nothing to do with it then.  So it collected dust.  A couple of weeks before Christmas I decided to give it another shot, thinking he might be entertained by the truck-based cartoon.  I must be some sort of a rocket scientist or a first-class idiot.  Jaden BEGS for “Bob, bob, bob” all of the time now.  And while I’m not against my child watching a cartoon ever now and again, I really am not keen on having the TV on during all of Jaden’s waking hours.  And so there are tantrums.  Sometimes mine, and sometimes his.  What is most interesting is that the obsession is not so much for the episodes on the DVD as it is about the theme song.  My nephew was the same way.  That song puts some toddlers into a weird sort of a trance, complete with whacked out dance moves.  Regardless, a cartoon has taught my kid words.  This makes me feel slightly less qualified for an “outstanding parent” award.

After teaching for so many years, I should have followed a cardinal rule:  always preview a video before showing it to youngsters.  For high school age kids, it was to avoid any number of awkward moments.  For a toddler, it is because if they like it a parent will be forced to watch it until her brain drips out of her ears. 

Oh no.