Lemonade

Last night we picked up a great big spout/beverage cooler from our church. It had a ton of extra lemonade in it leftover from the big weekend bash they had. So, all three kids watched as John marched it out of the church and packed the thing into the trunk. All three kids stood right by the trunk WATCHING John bungee-cord the trunk shut. This same cooler is one that the kids had gotten their lemonade out of all day both Saturday and Sunday.

As John was finishing up, Liana wanted to know what it was (after having been told already). We asked her to try to remember where she'd seen it before and what was in it and what we'd already said. She remembered, and we all got into the car.

Not a few minutes later she asked us again what it was that we had in our trunk. John had mentioned that the light on the dash indicated that the trunk was open. Again, we asked her to try to remember for herself instead of having us do her thinking for her. "Oh yeah, it's lemonade."

So, John and I, hoping to stave off any further questioning about it, repeated several times that it was lemonade, lemonade, lemonade. John asked her if she was going to remember now. She giggled and said she would. John told her that was good, because she needed to do her own thinking, and that she needed to make sure she was being a good listener and watcher when people talk to her or show her something.

And so, when we got home, John got it out of the trunk and put it on the kitchen table.

This morning, Liana walked into the kitchen, saw the cooler, and walked back into the livingroom and said, "Hey Mama, what's that thing on the table?"

I said, "Don't you know?"

"No, I don't."

And she really didn't.

And so. That's our Liana worry of late. Engaging mouth before mind, and when people talk, only half-listening and needing to repeat her question just minutes later because her mind was engaged elsewhere.

After talking things over with John, we're thinking it might help her if we had her look us in the eye when we answer her or when she asks us things so we know if she is listening or not, and then repeating back what we've told her so we know if it has registered. She's so impulsive though, that her mouth-before-mind situation is going to be a tough one for her.

A friend of mine also has a Ukie child, and he constantly asks "silly" questions. She has him get out a notebook and think of three possible answers for his own questions. I think she has him do this to curb "just to be difficult" questions since he already knows the answers, but I'm not sure that is really the case with Liana. I sincerely believe she doesn't know - at least not immediately... she just doesn't bother thinking things out by herself. Not with a warm body next to her that could do her thinking for her.

While Liana isn't always impulsive with her actions (unlike her big brother), she is extremely impulsive with her tongue, and it has gotten her in a load of trouble. She has grown a lot in this area, but our "Lemonade" conversations of late have really made it clear that we have a long way to go. In the meantime, as her parents, it's part of our job to help facilitate that growth somehow. Tough work sometimes!