You really don't know anything, do you?

Nora helping Ethan to look at the camera

The other day, I showed Nora that if her hands were cold, she could pull them inside her jacket, and then hold her hem in her fist to keep out the cold air.  This blew her mind.  She couldn't wait to show Tyler... "look what Mom taught me how to do!"

As soon as she said that, I thought, "man, you have to teach kids e v e r y t h i n g," and all of a sudden, I felt very overwhelmed.  Sure, they pick some stuff up through observation and Lillian is learning tons from her peers (some good, some bad), but a big portion of Information that One Needs to Be A Functioning Adult comes from didactic conversations with parents.

Aside from How to Keep Your Hands Warm Without Mittens, here's a list of things I've taught my kids in the recent past:

1. When you blow your nose, try to put your nose in the middle of the kleenex, so you don't accidentally catch a corner and get snot on your hands.
2. Pants are supposed to go all the way down and touch your feet.  It's OK, you will get used to the feeling of the hem on the tops of your feet eventually.
3. That spinny thing in the corner means the computer is thinking and your video will start when it is done spinning.
4. It's mean to tell your sister that you have cookies when you don't have any.  (I'm not sure this message got through as intended.)
5. How to tuck your hair behind your ears.
6. People really like it if you ask, "can I take your coat" when they come home from work.
7. The bones in your face will break if you run face-first into the wall (on purpose or on accident, it's unclear what, exactly, went down).
8. Animations are drawings and live-action shows are real people... but those people are called actors, and the stories are pretend.

So, if you ever have a need to discuss why Perry the Platypus is a mammal, or go over (in infinite detail) the steps involved in sorting laundry, come on over.