The Power of the Small Red-Head

So those of you who know me in real life, and those who read my blog frequently, understand that my mother is a HUGE part of my life and The Boy's life as an extension. He loves him some Gigi. And he should. She rules. But today is a perfect explanation as to one of the many reasons why he feels that way about her.

So lately he has been talking about being "a big boy." I am totally talking that up being that there is a baby on the way and he needs to know just how special he is and how very different he is from the little ball of crying-ness that is about to interrupt his world. Plus there are a few things that need to be done prior to baby's arrival. 1) Transition to big boy bed, thereby giving the newborn back the crib to sleep in. 2) Learning to use the toilet for goddamn sake. This whole potty training thing is just too much work for my lazy ass, but alas, it needs to be done before baby gets here. And 3) Removal of the binky. Those are my three goals to get done prior to baby. They have been my goals since I learned I was pregnant...a...very...long...time...ago. And yet none of them have actually been accomplished. But anyway, it has to help the process along to continually discuss with him what A BIG BOY his is. Right? Totally digressed...

So anyway...(man, I am all over the place), one of the lovely effects of being a "big boy" is apparently deciding that the old blankets from his crib just simply don't work at bedtime or nap time anymore. They are decidedly too small. So my mom had bought him a big Thomas quilt thing that he loves that he insists on sleeping with now. Don't try and give him any of those small blankets. They don't work. And being that my mother is the best and that she takes care of The Boy on multiple occasions, she has an entire Boy setup at her house. Recently he declared that the blankets being used at Gigi's house were too small for this Big Boy. So, of course, she went right out and bought him a bigger blanket that had dinosaurs on it (we were a little concerned that he might not "approve" the dinosaurs because he isn't really into anything that isn't a truck, scooper, train or plane...but alas he loved it) for his nap time. He loves it. This brings us up to this morning.

When leaving the house all of a sudden he stopped in his tracks and said, "Wait Mommy!" "I need my banket," and went running back toward his room. I paused because I had not ever heard this particular stalling tactic before. I wasn't sure what he was talking about. When he came running down the hall with the large blanket from his bed dragging behind him I just sort of looked at him like, What the fu..? I then explained to him that, no, his blanket needed to stay here and that if he was cold I would turn on the heat in the car, and FOR GOD SAKE, WE ARE LATE, GET IN THE CAR... He did go to the car without much fuss, but as soon as he was buckled into his seat he started...

"Mommy, I need you iphone." (He says "need" like he is a hungry child in Africa begging for some rice...)

"I need call Gigi."

"Why do you need to call Gigi?" I asked him.

"I need tell her buy me dinosaurs take school nap"

Oh...it slowly starts to sink in what the hell has been going on for the last couple of minutes. His blankets at school for nap time are still of the baby blanket variety and apparently are no longer sufficient for him to nap properly. He knows his Gigi is a sucker and will pretty much get him whatever he can bat his long eyelashes at, hence calling to ask her.

So I dial the phone and hand it to him. "Hi Gigi, me [Boy]. I need you get me dinosaur banket. Pees. Tank you." And he hands the phone back over to me.

I take the phone and explain to her that when she has time, he would like her to get him a new blanket for school because the other one no longer works...etc... She laughs hysterically at him and says that she didn't have any major plans for today and, oh good, project, and oh dear, she hopes that they still have them at the store she found the last one at...and she better head over there first...

I don't even bother telling her that it really isn't necessary to indulge every single desire of the small child and that perhaps she is spoiling him by getting him everything he asks for because, really, if you've met my mother, you know that it simply doesn't matter what I say. The small child who owns her heart has spoken. And he needs a new blanket.

When we get to school, he informs his teacher that he is getting a new dinosaur blanket in his little broken English way, and I explain what has transpired in the car. The teacher, knowing my mother, just laughs and says, I am sure it will be here by the end of the day.

*******

So my mother just called me. I answered and she said, "I am such a sucker for that little boy. He just amuses me..." So apparently my mother left the house at like 11:00am and went straight over to his school with the dinosaur blanket from her house. She brought it to him immediately because, GOD FORBID, he would have to go down at nap time without the new blanket delivered to him like a prince. So he had a new blanket two hours before he even would have used it. She then proceeded to drive to two different stores (well same store, two different locations) and was ALL FREAKED OUT because she couldn't find the perfect blanket to replace the one she had taken to school when...she finally had a thought...check the sale area. And lo and behold...there was one blanket left...and it had been marked down to only $10...and luck of all luck but it wasn't dinosaurs. It was even better. It had fire trucks and scooper trucks and police cars on it. She was so giddy with herself that she skipped to the register to pay for it. And then called me to report on what she had done so far with her day.

Now I ask you...is there a better Gigi out there in all of the world? The Boy and I think not.