“No boy!”

This is what Reese yells at other kids who would also like to use the playground. Reese owns the playground and if she wants to play on a piece of equipment, all others should vacate it.

Actually, she doesn’t own the playground because it’s in a public park, and she definitely does not own the massive toy train which can easily accommodate 7 kids. However, the little boy who tried to play on the train at the same time as her still got an earful of “No boy!” She often greets other children in this way; sometimes accompanied by a clearing-the-table kind of hand motion.

The kids usually just ignore her and I try to avoid eye contact with their parents.

This kind of stuff causes Andrew and I to fantasize about what it would be like if adults acted the way our 1.5 year old acts. It’s become a favorite game and we always find it hilarious.

“Imagine if we flipped out if we got something we didn’t like at a restaurant and threw it in the waiter’s face.”

“What if we demanded to hear ‘Old MacDonald’ wherever we went?”

“Imagine if we just walked up to random people on the beach and stood REALLY close to them and then silently held out our hand for them to give us some of their snack.”

Reese’s reactions are the purest, most honest forms of expression and in the adult world I would refer to it as “telling it like it is.” I am not a person who tells it like it is; I usually just smile and then complain to anyone who will listen about it afterwards.

But sometimes I really do just want to yell “no boy!” at people who stand too close in coffee lines, who cut me off during my morning commute, or to people who have a b attitude and don’t hold doors or say “thank you.” I feel you Reese.

Rougher days call for physical removal from the playground

Miles has got my back at the playground.

This is the face I make when other kids enter the playhouse.

Sometimes I let Daddy play on the train. Sometimes.