Rectangle!

We spent this afternoon playing at our friend Patty’s house. She has two small children, and a house that stays remarkably clean considering that she has two small children.

Visiting Patty’s family gave our children the opportunity to meet new friends, to practice social skills, and to play with toys they haven’t yet had a chance to break. Naturally the boys ignored all of these activities and spent much of their time digging through Patty’s foreign cabinets.

At one point, Ian walked up to me holding a large candle that he’d pulled from Patty’s cabinet filled with good dishes. I winced, but before I snatched it from his hands I smartly remembered the axiom of good parenting that says, “turn every situation into a learning opportunity.”

“What shape is that?” I asked Ian.

“Rectangle!” he correctly answered.

Content with my outstanding parenting skills, I complimented him on his knowledge and returned the candle to its storage space. Minutes later, Ian returned to me, candle in hand, eager to show me that he knows it’s a rectangle. “Rectangle!” he kept repeating.

I forgot the other axiom of good parenting that says, “never give your child a reason to play in a forbidden cabinet.”