Seeds of something fine
Share in our laughter
Staff writer
One of the joys of having a toddler is getting to hear the funny things they say. And I’m lucky enough to have a toddler who is both very verbal and very much a budding comedian. So, I thought for some laughs to kick off summer with a smile, I’d share some of the funnier things we’ve heard in recent months at our house that made me laugh or mass text my friends and family.
- Upon opening a box of clothing she was gifted at Christmas, Lyla exclaimed, “I found laundry!”
- After she guzzled a whole cup of juice one day I commented she must be a thirsty bear (a phrase used often in my family). She looked at me quizzically and asserted, “No, I a thirsty Lyla.”
- I call my husband by his first name often, which has resulted in Lyla calling him Michael as often is she calls him Daddy. I was trying to explain names one day and told her, “Daddy’s name is Michael. Mommy’s name is Amanda.” I asked if she knew Lyla’s name. She thought about it and answered after a thoughtful pause with her finger on her chin, “Well, it’s not Sponge Bob.” I was silent, mostly because she’s never seen the show as far as I know, but then she looked at me and cracked up. She was telling a joke.
- Inn yet another teaching moment turned comedic opportunity, I was talking to Lyla about different kinds of families. “Some families,” I told her “have a mommy and daddy just like yours. Some families have just a mommy with no daddy. Some have just a daddy with no mommy. Some families have two mommies. Some have two daddies.” At which point she chimed in with, “Some have two basketballs. Some have two toes,” and then began to giggle at her own hilarity.
- Prior to a recent trip to the zoo I asked Lyla if she wanted to feed the giraffes, like last time. She replied, “Probly not. I’mma feed a tiger!”
- “Excuse you car.” Directed at a car passing by our house as it revved its engine suddenly.
- “MOMMY! I WANNA SNUGGLE!” Yelled menacingly from her crib upon waking to tell me she’s ready to be done with her nap ... not the most enticing invitation I’ve had to snuggle.
- She’s clued in to the fact that if she asks only for ONE more, when we acquiesce she will only be getting ONE more of whatever she’s asking. So, now the request is “Mommy, I want FIVE more.”
- Sometimes in frustration, but also trying to keep things light, when she has started every sentence that day with “I want,” I will respond with, “Well I want a million dollars but we don’t always get what we want.” Not great parenting, I know. The other day when I went to get her up from a nap I asked what she wanted (I meant for a snack). She responded, “I want a million dollars.”
- In an equally impressive turn of the table on me, the next day as I woke her she asserted, “I want twenty dollars.” Apparently she figured out $20 was something I might actually have.
- Planting flowers the other day in the back yard, Lyla was digging with her special shovel in the dirt, her back turned to me. Suddenly she turned to me as if a thought had just occurred to her and asked, “Hey, you know Handy Manny, right?”
For every one of the hilarious things Lyla says there’s at least a dozen times I pull it out of my memory to lift my spirits on a bad day. I hope by sharing her words I can lift others as well.