When I Grow Up

Little Dude and JR are at the phases now where they just say the cutest things. Right now JR talks with a little bit of a lisp and rolls his r's with skills that would make Spanish teachers giddy.

And Little Dude? Well, all he can talk about now is pre-school starting in September and being a firefighter.

He talks about being a firefighter, playing firefighter, and telling me the firefighter rules All.Day.Long.

The rules go something like this:
(imagine Little Dude yelling them loudly for all to hear, no matter where we are)

RULE NUMBER ONE!: DON'T BUG FIREFIGHTERS THEY ARE DOING AN IMPORTANT JOB (this rule stems from me having to ask him not to chase any and all firefighters we would run into while running errands, and yes, it has happened a few items)
RULE NUMBER TWO!: GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. DO NOT GO BACK IN! (Good rule)
RULE NUMBER THREE!: DON'T TOUCH FIRE! (Have to say, another good rule)
RULE NUMBER FOUR!: GET OUT OF THE HOUSE (Sometimes we remind him he already stated this rule, but that interrupts his flow and makes him start all over again)
RULE NUMBER FIVE!: CALL 9-9-1!! (This stems from us trying to teach him 9-1-1, but he always says 9-9-1...)

He also explains that if there is a fire, we all have to go to the neighbor's house. One day, after discussing that with the kids and doing a practice drill of getting out of the house, Little Dude asked what we should do if the neighbor's house is on fire.

So I told him we would then go to a different neighbor's house. That then led to a long list order of which neighbors to go to in the case of a neighborhood wide fire. When we came to the end of the list of all the neighbors we know (which is a lot), Little Dude asked where we should go if THAT house has a fire TOO!!?!

So I told him, if EVERYONE'S homes are on fire, just run down the street screaming for help.

And then I didn't think anything of it.

But now, every time we run into someone that shows the least bit of interest in hearing his fire rules, Little Dude also announces: MOMMY SAID IF ALL THE HOUSES ARE BURNING GO RUN DOWN THE STREET AND SCREAM LOUD!!!!

And I ususally get some funny looks from whomever he is talking to.

Oh parenting.



*This is from visiting our favorite firefighter, who we end up seeing at least once a month. Someday I'll frame this and display it when he gets hired as a firefighter.*