Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to you by the word: Moo!

Penny: More steak, please, Daddy?
(Daddy gives Penny some steak)
Penny: Ooo! Daddy gave me her steak!
Seren: Daddy gave you HIS steak, Penny.  Now, what do you say?
Penny: GOOD STEAK!

A Penny Thought from the other night...

I hear the toilet flush. Penny runs into my room exclaiming: "It drowned! It drowned!" I ask Penny what had drowned and she answered: "I can't find it!" I send her on her merry way.

Mike insists I should get up and check it out, but like him, I was mid-beer and didn't want to ruin the occasion with what may have "drowned".

Around 20 minutes later, I hear the toilet flush again. This time I decide I should check it out. No sooner do I set my beer down to check when Evy comes running to my room and asking me just HOW her toothbrush got wet.

"Don't brush you teeth, Evy..."

Digging for gold...

Oh goodie, the sibling rivalry has officially begun: Evy pulled out a large nugget and dangled it before Seren with a promise that Seren could wear it and Seren tossed her chicken stars all over her side of the van. This is one day I'm happy to be a working parent!

Tonight's Penny Thought is brought to you by GE...

Mike: I just wanted to warn you that Penny's pants are wet because I had to take them out of the dryer to dress Penny before we left, so you don't think Penny peed in case you have to hold her later.

Me (Teasing): Penny, did you pee your pants?

Penny: No, the dryer peed them.

Last night's Penny Thought

...is brought to you by: Crayola (or any other generic crayon Penny can get her hands on).

So, our family of 6 was sitting as quietly as we might dare in the last row of the Hall during last night's meeting.  Xander had fallen asleep in my arms with a booger on his nose that I didn't dare remove.  Evy was diligently paying attention to the program and forming her next comment.  Seren had collapsed from the exhaustion of kindergarten (thank goodness for small favors) and Mike was holding a colorful, heaping palm-full of broken bits of crayons, odds and ends, measuring no longer than an inch each. 

Although we encourage our children to bring along materials for the meeting, they are aware we prefer that the crayons stay home.  This left Mike wondering in bewilderment as to HOW Penny fit all of those crayons IN her Mary Jane shoe (which he had to dump them out of) AND her foot.  I wondered how she walked across the parking lot with that many crayons in there.  Penny wondered if Daddy intended to hog the crayons all night.  She didn't think that was fair, so she said aloud, "Daddy, share!"

Tonight's Penny thought...

Tonight's Penny thought is brought to you by: Crest.  So, he kids were fighting over their toothbrushes and which one got put where...I interrupted and said, " All done.  Go to bed.  I'm tired of the drama!"  Penny: "Me too!"

I worry about my 3 year old's mental health

One would think I worry about Seren instead.  No, as headstrong as that child is, I don't worry about her much.  Penny, on the other hand, might just be a freak of nature with her sick and twisted sense of humor.

She gave me my first clue when she was the tender age of 9 months and she was convulsing so bad I thought she was having a seizure.  That was right up until she gave me the biggest grin I had ever seen from her up to that point.

My second clue came last year when she had her first stomach flu.  Here we were, taking trip after trip to the bathroom so the poor little thing could vomit in the toilet.  After many trips, we got up again another time and Penny sat on the stool in front of the toilet, hanging her head over, waiting for something to come out.  I sat with her, waiting.  She turned to me and asked, "Try again?", then mimicked puking in the toilet.  When she was done with her parody, she turned to me and grinned from ear to ear, then turned to actually do the deed.  She was only two.

Tonight's clue happened in public.  While the girls were enjoying a dessert, Seren announced that she needed to go potty.  Evy decided to join her.  Penny, insisting that she was also part of the "potty club", said she needed to go as well.  Having just returned from the bathroom with her, I told her we would go later. 

She left it alone for awhile.  Next thing I know, she is sitting in the chair with her knees to her ears grunting.  I looked at her and she said, "Mommy, I peed."

I looked at her dry, plastic chair and countered, "No you didn't."

Penny grunts again, turns red, tears in her eyes from the concentration, then said, "Yes, I did.  Feel!  It's wet!"

Again, I look at her chair and it's dry.  I take her to the bathroom to ensure she would not pee herself.

This is what Penny does if I tell her "no".  I do not look forward to her going from 3 to 13.  I worry about her mental health.