The other night, Amy was at Activity Days, so I just had Misha and Kristen to put to bed. I helped Kristen get her jammies on and left the two of them to brush their teeth. I started putting laundry away in my bedroom but could hear Misha doing a lot of talking. As I got closer to the girls' bedrooms, I could tell that she was reading a book. That was impressive, but even more impressive was that she was reading a Bible story to Kristen. Kristen was just lying in bed loving the extra attention. As I peaked in the doorway Misha looked up and said, "Hi Mom. I'm just reading a story to Kristen. I wanted to give you a break." What a sweetheart.
I have noticed with all of my children that they pick up on things that Chris or I regularly say and start to say it themselves. For Kristen, her little -ism is to begin her sentences with "well". So if I ask her, "What are you doing?" She'll often reply, "Well, I am playing with my dolls."I hadn't realized that I started a lot of my sentences with "Well...", until she was in time-out on the stairs, and I was trying to reason with her. I caught myself starting a sentence, "Well, you can either...."
Kristen is also my politest child. We have always worked with our girls from the time they are small to teach them to say "please" and "thank you". Kristen is especially talented at using her manners. She may not always be able to say the words correctly, but we know what she means. I love it when she really wants something and says, "Lease, lease, lease." And when she gets what she wants, she'll reply, "Hanks."
