Power 101

Sydney can be very inquisitive. She usually saves up her best questions for bed time, a classic stalling technique.

This can be tough because we want to feed her desire to learn but it can take a really long time depending on how many follow up questions she can come up with.

Last night she asked me why power lines had to come up to your house. I told her that was how the power travels from the power plants to the house. We then use that power to turn on all of those things we have plugged in (lights, ovens, vacuums, etc.).

Sydney: How do the power plants make the power?
Mom: They can do it different ways. The workers can take things like coal from underground, burn it, and use the steam to generate power. They can use nuclear power…

Sydney: How does nuclear power work?
Mom [How do I explain nuclear power to a 6 year old?]: They use nuclear fission which is when you break apart atoms and a lot of energy comes out…

Sydney: “They break apart Adams?!!”

Mom: “Not people!”

Sydney starts laughing hysterically. We had to stop the conversation so her laughing wouldn’t wake up her brother down the hall. I really hope that she doesn’t talk to any kids named Adam at school today or she is going to scare the stuffings out of him.

Personalities

I (naively) thought before I had children that I would be able to raise them in such a way that they would turn out just like I planned for them. You know, smart, witty, well mannered…like tiny little Angies. And while I do believe they are meeting all of those criteria so far, their personalities are so different. How does that happen?

Take Sydney, she does not want to break any rules. She usually checks with you first if whatever it is that she is thinking about doing is potentially naughty. Her favorite thing to do to make Mommy happy is to help clean the house and make lists.

Now, she has been known to be what Steve refers to as a silly heart. She prefers to be dressed in some sort of princess dress, fairy wings, or tutu at any given time. She can be a little flighty at times, even when she is trying to be helpful. For example, this is a typical conversation at our house:


Mom – Sydney, please go get (your shoes, a diaper for your brother, etc.)
Sydney – Sure Mom!
[Sydney dances away]
[15 minutes pass]
[Sydney comes back…empty handed]
Mom – Sydney, did you forget something?
Sydney – Oh, yea [cue goofy grin]. I’ll be right back.

Halas on the other hand is more of a ask-for-forgiveness kind of guy instead of an ask-for-permission guy. Whenever I hear “watch this” come out of his mouth, my first instincts are to a) sprint to wherever he is to catch him, b) get a bag of ice to put on his boo-boo, c) get a bag of ice to put on Sydney’s boo-boo. Sadly enough, after enough of these exercises, if you hand him a bag of ice, the first thing he will do is put it on his head. I guess that makes him a tiny little Steve.

Maybe it is a girl vs. boy thing. Whatever it is, it keeps us on our toes.