Toddlers Say the Funniest Things

As an American living in central China in the late '80's I was used to jotting letters to friends and family back in the States about the funny and interesting things that I encountered during my day to day life in a new culture. Most of the notes that I wrote were about the street vendors who rode past our balcony early in the mornings with bicycles piled high with de-feathered geese, or the culinary adventures my husband and I embarked on daily (which included raw eels and our breakfasts of steamed rice which still contained small black bugs - "Extra protein," our cook assured us.)

However, one of my favorite stories from our time teaching English in Chendu did not come from an enlightening cultural encounter or a particularly violent bartering session at the local market. It came in the form of my two year old son who managed to climb out of his crib early one morning and poke me awake with his pudgy fist.

"Mommy I'm hungry! ," the imposing three foot tall form declared as I tried to shake the sleep from my eyes.

"Sean, its too early, you need to go back to bed," I mumbled.

He began to bounce up and down with impatience, driven by some devilish need to consume food at 5 AM.

"Mommy I want a cookie, Its breakfast I wanna cookie!" he proclaimed.

I looked at him with the most serious face I could muster.

"Sean, no. You can't have cookies for breakfast. Its too early for breakfast anyway, you need to go back to bed"

He turned on his inquisitive face.

"Why can't I have a cookie?"

"Honey, little boys shouldn't eat cookies for breakfast. If I gave you a cookie I would be a bad mommy."

He looked at me intently. I could see the gears turning in his little brain. Then he smiled fiendishly.

"Momma a bad momma" he said still smiling. The little rascal had bested me.

I was almost tempted to reward his wit, but momma was a good momma and I scooped up the two year old boy and returned him to his crib and tucked him in with his favorite stuffed animal and a kiss to the forehead. To this day Sean's breakfast request still puts a smile on my face.