Out of the mouths of babes…

Four children sit around the table, their bowls full of warm-but-not-hot pasta. (All pasta, after being drained, is immersed briefly in cold water before being drained a second time. Toddlers prefer room-temperature food, and I prefer no accidental burns!) I sip a cup of tea, overseeing but not eating.

(Many caregivers eat with their charges. Me, I prefer to eat my meal uninterrupted — and finish it before it goes stone cold. So I sip my tea whilst encouraging basic civility amongst the barbarian hordes, and defer my own food for nap-time.)

The tepid food notwithstanding, Emily is industriously blowing on her spoonful. She instructs Timmy to do likewise. He ignores her counsel, and stuffs a large spoonful into his mouth.

“NO, Timmy, you gots to go like this!” And she leans over and blows vigorously into his bowl.
“No, Emily!” Timmy is not pleased.

I’m on-side with Timmy. Anyone who’s spent any time around toddlers knows that all exhalations are loaded. She may think she’s just cooling it down … and perhaps she is, but we’d prefer it to be accomplished with air, not spit. Thanksomuch.

I have tea in my mouth, though, so before I can redirect her eager efforts, Timmy bursts out again.

“Emily! EMILY, DON’T BLOW ME!”

Oh dear. The boy needs a new bowl now. It may or may not have Emily-spit in it, but it certainly has tea in it. Really, really unhygenic tea.

Ouch.