Ruthie’s latest word craze is ‘stupid.’ I think it started when Bryan and I became fed up with our Comcast DVR randomly shutting down for the 42nd time, and one of us mumbled, ‘Stupid Comcast.’ Ever since then, Ruthie’s mantra has been Stupid This and Stupid That.
For awhile I tried the tactic of semi ignoring it, not wanting to whip her into an excited fervor by any strong disapproval. That didn’t work well, as EVERYTHING became stupid. So I tried redirecting it into inanimate objects, like STUPID COMCAST, or stupid bike. Stupid People were off limits. But still, everything was obsessively stupid, not to mention the occassional Stupid Thomas slipped in there.
The pinnacle of this craze came last week on our vacation when we had a stupid day in which, once again, everything was stupid. Ruthie came to ask permission to do something, I said she could do it later because right now it was dinner time. She screamed at me and ran away. She ran all the way across a large field and up a hill, and from that hill she screamed, ‘YOU’RE SO STUPID!’ at me.
The next morning I spent some time cleaning and reorganizing the kitchen area of our campsite. I threw away cups, tossed dirty dishes into a tub, and moved unnecessary items from the table. Then I came across a folded up piece of paper. I unfolded it to see if it was something I could throw away, and as my eyes landed on the one single word written on the paper, it was as if the gods were sending me a message that I had just not been understanding, and now they were making it as plain as the nose on my face:
that sounds like a whole lot of not fun. 🙂
we are in the stupid phase as well, with the two boys at least. I am called stupid at least once a day for telling them they can’t do something, or eat something, or whatever. Not quite sure how to deal with it except remind them that it isn’t kind to call people stupid and the treat others as you want to be treated (something we are constantly having to remind the middle one of). If you come up with any good ways of dealing with/curbing the stupid craze please let me know.
Carrie – When she calls ME stupid she gets a little Hand to Butt ministry if you know what I mean. If she says it to someone or something else it depends on the context – if she’s angry and lashes out with calling something stupid, then I address the anger. If she’s teasing someone by calling them stupid, I address the teasing. If she’s just chattering to be heard, I redirect and try to get her to sing a song or something – which, if you’ve heard her songs, you may want to shoot me for suggesting (they are loud and falsetto and completely overpowering to any thoughts in your own mind. Better than hearing ‘stupid’? You be the judge.)
And by the way, all of the aforementioned tactics only happen when I am of sound mind. Usually by the time we get to the stupid-calling, I’ve already lost my marbles. I’m working on that, though.
Even though I saw both of these things occur…it still made me laugh out loud. Thanks. I needed a good one tonight.
Carrie-
call me. I’ve lost your number and I miss you.
I aim to humor. 🙂
I also am at the point of lost marbles when the stupid name calling begins. Often the marbles have been lost much earlier in the day and sometimes the stupid calling happens when I say no, but I am already so far gone, that I tend not to do anything for fear of bringing a child’s fit on (which can be exhausting in and of themselves), but, I am going to try some of the tactics you mentioned, including the Hand to Butt ministry 🙂