Focus on the Family Magazine - February/March 2021

HUMOR / KIDS & TEENS
I got played by
a 3-year-old
. . . and he was brilliant
BY VICKI BAHR
MEGANBETTERIDGE / STOCK.ADOBE.COM
I WAS WATCHING our 3-yearold
grandson, Adler, while his mom
and dad were working on “his” new
house. Surrounding us were moving
boxes and stacks of clothing.
Adler showed me a plastic grocery
bag filled with an unlikely assortment
of dinosaurs, an octopus, a
squid, something that looked like
Godzilla and a random ocelot.
We lined up the creatures on the
coffee table, marched them over
mountains made of T-shirts, pretended
they were drinking at a lake
made out of a paper plate and held
pretend wrestling matches to see
which one was the strongest.
Godzilla won.
The conflict
When we were done, Adler was ready
to play restaurant.
“Let’s pick up the dinosaurs first,” I
suggested. “We’re going to need the
table for your restaurant food.”
“No, we won’t,” he argued, ready to
move on to the next adventure.
“The dinosaurs need to go back
into their bag for the night,” I said.
“I heard that Miss Ashley said you are
the best picker-upper at school. And
the fastest.”
There was a glint in his eye. “I am,”
he said as he ran into the kitchen.
“But the dinosaurs don’t have a bag
anymore. It’s in the trash can now,
and it’s all icky.”
Game on
I’ve raised four children, taught
preschoolers and outwitted more
toddlers than I can count.
“That’s OK,” I said. “I have a better
bag in my purse. How about I pick
up the ocelot, and you pick up the
squid? Isn’t there a song you sing to
help with toy pickup?”
That got his attention! “Two minutes
to pick up toys, pick up toys,
pick up toys. One minute to pick
up toys . . .” we sang loudly, but all
of a sudden the song turned into
a rousing rendition of “The ants
go marching one by one,” and he
marched back and forth over the
many dinosaurs still on the floor.
The twist
“That was great!” I said. “Let’s put the
dinosaurs to bed now.”
“But they need a bedtime story,” he
said. Of course they did. And they
got one. Goodnight Moon.
“Now they’re ready to go to sleep,
Grandma, but they need a goodnight
kiss,” he said. “I’ll cook you a
pizza just the way you like it at my
restaurant while you put them to
bed.”
The kid is good; I’ll give him that.
He even told his mom the next
morning that I did a really good job
of picking up the dinosaurs, and he
was really proud of me. •
Vicki bahr loves to play with words. her
husband, four children and their spouses,
and nine grandchildren consistently provide
inspiration to make those words come to life.
February / March 2021 FOCUS ON THE FAMILY 45