Things Our Threenager Says

“They say women speak 20,000 words a day. I have a daughter who gets that done by breakfast.”

@babyberrycollective

Gracee Rae celebrated her third birthday on March 21st. This was the same week we all were instructed to Stay Home and Stay Healthy. I find it very ironic that these two events fell ever so closely together. My mom has always warned me that the “Terrible Two’s” wasn’t what I needed to worry about, but instead to be cautious of what comes with turning three. Being that we are a little over month into it and at the same time have spent almost every waking moment with each other – I would have to completely agree.

Don’t get me wrong. It hasn’t be a complete thunderstorm in our house, but we definitely have had our moments (which I think we all have). Enough moments to weigh against her two year old moments and know that we are in for it.

Gracee Rae is turning into the little girl we have always prayed for and for that we are beyond grateful. First off, she is happy, healthy and safe. Second, she is becoming the mantra we have been repeating for some time now. Together we will stand in the mirror and say, “I am brave. I am strong. I am smart. I am kind. And I can do anything I want.”

Lately, we have had a front row seat to watch our threenager show us just how brave, strong, smart, and kind she is. While getting a little extra time to play, Justin and I have seen how brave she is by picking up “crabbies” she finds on the beach and how strong she is by conquering her new rock wall on the big toy in the backyard. But below are the top ten recent phrases Miss Threenager has been using to show us just how smart [/sassy] and kind she is.

“I’m the boss” – I have to take some responsibility for this one, because my Grandma used to teach all of her grand kids to pat the dinner table and say “I am the boss”. Well, Gracee has hung onto the phrase and now believes it to be true. We mainly hear this one when she’s asking for something and the answer is No, then she’ll respond with “…well I’m the boss.” Recently, she tried to explain to us that Mom wasn’t the boss because I said I was the queen – so mom is The Queen and Gracee is The Boss. Needless to say we are still working through some power-struggle around here.

“Never” – Think this is a classic threenager phrase, but it seems to become more a part of her vocabulary come time for nap or bath, when she’s asked to clean something up before playing somewhere else, or told to put on a coat and shoes to go outside. And if she wants to put emphasis on it, it turns into two words “NE-VER”.

“Relax. Calm Down.” – The first time I was heard this was before our quarantine, as we’re in the middle of our normal morning rush out the door to school and work. She was taking her sweet time getting to the door and after instructing her to hurry up, she says, “Mama just relax. Calm down.” and follows it up with a deep breath as an example. What?! I was in shock and at that point just headed towards the door. She quickly followed. I couldn’t help but giggle when I got to the car. Just the perfect example of monkey see, monkey do; but also a perfect example of the fact that she does listen to us!

“You’re my best friend/You’re not my best friend anymore” – depending on the day or the situation. I remember driving in the car and I hear from the backseat, “Mama, you’re my best friend.” Talk about melting my heart to mush. This is one of those moments this mama dreamed of, looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a sweet little baby girl, knowing she will one day be your built-in best friend, then to actually hearing her say it – I melted. Now, on the counter side we also get the “You’re not my best friend anymore” when someone doesn’t get her way, but deep down I know the “You’re my best friend” came first and I will always hold onto that. Because I know there will be more of those moments of “not” being a best friend (especially when we hit the actual teenage years), but as long as she knows that she is our best friend no matter what, that’s all that matters.

Say, “Got It” – This is her way of making sure we are listening, or she’ll use it as a quick follow-up to a question or statement that we would disagree with. For example, Gracee will head for the door and say “I’m going to run outside without my shoes real quick…” then will quickly ask us to “say, ‘Got it.'” It’s very clever, so I’ll applaud the effort, but it’s few and far between when she actually hears one of us respond with “Got it Gracee.”

“Nevermind” – Last weekend, Justin and I were working on painting the playroom downstairs, when Gracee started yelling for help with a toy from upstairs; and we told her it would be a minute. Next thing we hear is, “Nevermind.” We both paused for a minute, looked at each other, and thought what three year old do you know that just uses “nevermind” as a part of their every day vocabulary?

“You’re just teasing“ – Is normally served to us with a smirk after we have told her she couldn’t have something. Again, one of her tactics in trying to catch us off guard and convince us that it is totally okay to eat a third pack of fruit snacks…

“This is not fun…” while spending a moment in timeout – Classic three year old, right? Timeout has become more of a topic in our house these days. I think it is the outcome of a mix of our little lady turning three in the same week that we are all told to stay at home together for the next foreseeable future. We have been seeing a lot more of each other (which I think everyone agrees is a bittersweet situation) and Gracee has had more moments of having to find her way to sit on the bottom stair to think about a choice she made. We always tell her, that we all have a lot more fun when she listens; so this last visit to timeout resulted in three minutes of repeated “this is not fun”. Again, just a phrase or moment we can put in our catalog to remind her of before making another trip to the bottom stair.

“Hey, little fella” – “Little fella” would be her soon-to-be little brother. Our observant three year old, noticed Dad saying “Hi, little fella” when talking to Mom’s tummy. A few moments later, I feel little hands on my belly and there’s Gracee yelling, “Hey, little fella.” We all started to giggle. Now, that is the only greeting she gives him. It’s a nonchalant pass-by pat on the belly, with a casual “Hey, little fella.”

“I love my daddy, he’s so cute” – This week, Gracee and I came in the house after playing outside with Dad, while he finished some yard work. As I leaned down to take my shoes off, I see Daddy’s little girl just staring out the window watching what he’s doing. She then turns to me and says, “I just love my daddy, he’s so cute [insert wrinkled up little nose].” And again, there she goes just melting mom’s heart.