All done

Yes, I am still writing a blog here, although it might not look like it. What's been keeping me busy? Choose from the following handy list:

1. ant home invasion -- scrub down kitchen at the sight of a single speck of food
   
2. eighty holiday cards -- sign card, sign letter, fold, insert, stamp, address, repeat
   
3. personal subsistence -- take a shower, eat, sleep
   
4. spouse out of town -- provide all childcare during child's waking hours, and as soon as child is asleep, attend to #1-3
5. lack of nap -- just forget about #1-3
   

I'm telling the truth -- Isaac didn't nap today -- but I'm also totally exaggerating. I can take a shower and eat while Isaac is awake. I can even clean the kitchen and address Christmas cards. I can do just about everything but blog, because whenever I try to type at length, Isaac throws objects at the keyboard and says, "Mama all done typing!" He'll tolerate a quick check of my email, but that's about it.

He sometimes objects to my reading the newspaper or talking on the phone (although it's pointless to say "Mama all done reading!" to me). I can understand his reasoning there -- I look like I should be available to him, since I'm sitting right there in front of him, but an inanimate object is stealing my focus. This doesn't happen all the time, thankfully. He's got a good attention span for a two-year-old, and he plays for a long time by himself, especially if I give him occasional input to keep his game going. (He doesn't object as strongly when I'm reading a book -- it's usually the newspaper he complains about.)

In all of these cases I say, "I am not done yet. But is there something you would like to say to me? I am listening." If he's been throwing objects or trying to pull the newspaper out of my hands, I add, "You don't need to get my attention that way -- you can tell me in words."

He's also begun complaining when I'm talking to another adult who is in the room with us. He usually gives no sign that he'd like some attention, and he'll appear to be playing happily by himself. Then suddenly he'll say loudly, "All done talking, all done talking!" I ask him to tell me what he wants in a nicer voice, and he says in a genuinely polite voice, "Want Mama to be all done talking, please."

Sometimes I just give him a hug, but I've also suggested that he join the conversation. When I ask him what he'd like to talk about, he always answers the same way -- he wants to talk about the fair.

- - - - -

It's been three months since we went to the darn Santa Cruz County Fair, and it's the topic Isaac introduces whenever I suggest that he think or talk about something. Sure, he had a good time, but I think its real lasting power was because I told him he could think about it. Maybe that was the first time he realized he could voluntarily summon up a past experience.

The week after we went to the fair, Isaac and I were having lunch at home, and he finished eating first. He wanted to get down from his high chair, but I told him he had to stay put until I was done. He complained, so I suggested he think about something to keep himself busy -- I said, "Let's think about the fair!" and put my hand to my chin like I was pondering the subject.

He was immediately hooked. He even did the same thing with his hand. At first he needed me to prompt him with specifics about the fair -- who went with us, what did we eat, what animals did we see -- but by now he can tell his own stories. Does he really remember all the details, or is he just recounting what I've told him? I can't be sure.

I've tried to introduce similar themes (a trip to the zoo, for example) but so far the fair reigns supreme.