rules to live by

We eat a lot of pancakes and waffles for breakfast. Like, 'for the past many months practically every day' kind a lot. The girls' favorite toppings are just butter, or butter and jam, though Leona has also gone for butter, mayonnaise, sour cream, and jam...all at once.

This also may partially explain why my pregnancy weight hasn't disappeared - until recently I ate the pancakes or waffles too, loaded with lots of delicious butter, sour cream, and jam.

Anyhow, the other day I heard from the dining table, as I was in the kitchen getting a waffle:

Leona to Eliana - "You can't just eat the jam with the [jam] spoon, because there are bacteria in your mouth. Use your finger instead."

Good thing we have her keeping everything legit :grin:

The girls really are so different. Leona lives by the rules. She want's to know why a rule is a rule, and once she knows, she follows it to a T. Sometimes the rules are just habits, unspoken and even un-realized by me. Like brushing my teeth before I leave the house, rather than 'in the morning' - these two events used to coincide, and it wasn't until Leona asked me where I was going one morning I decided to brush my teeth then, that I realized this.

For example, wash your hands when you come home. I told her once (or maybe a couple times) and she has done it consistently ever since, without me having to mention it first.

Or the whole 'you have to wash your hands after you go to the bathroom'. Why? Because there are bacteria on the toilet seat and lid, and when you wipe yourself sometimes bacteria can get on your hands. So when she was younger (when I still helped wipe her each time) she would either ask me to help lift the toilet lid or take some toilet paper and lift the lid with that - and then refuse to wash her hands when I asked her to, because she didn't get any bacteria on them. But if she did accidentally touch the toilet seat when sitting on the toilet, she would wash her hands after without me saying anything - even if I hadn't seen her touch the seat.

Her life is governed by these rules. She feels happy and in control when everything is consistent and following the rules that have been set out and explained.

Eliana also likes to know the rules, but more often than not it is because she wants to see if she can get away with not following them. Testing us for consistency.

[in the apple tree - driving up to the mountain to go skiing]

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