Recognizing rules

I’ve lately been receiving signs that River understands and remembers rules and it’s an interesting development to observe. When I get him in the morning and his pants are wet, he says, “No pepe en los pantalones (no pee in the pants).”

The other day, I had to give him a time out when he was already dressed to go, with shoes and coat on. When I took him out of his crib and led him downstairs, he said, “No zapatos en la casa (no shoes in the house).”

“You are right,” I said, and carried him downstairs.

Part of me fears becoming like my mother. She didn’t allow shoes in the house either and we hated that rule. But another part of me just spent several thousand dollars refinishing the floors and would like them to last. Also, I’m so far from being the neat perfectionist on home-related matters that my mother is. I do think it’s good to have boundaries and for children to know what it expected. We’ll need to pay attention to set and enforce rules we think are important and be willing to bend on things that are less important.

In the meantime, it’s really cool to see evidence that at 28 months, River knows what is expected of him and makes an effort to comply.