Another reason to hate Barney the purple dinosaur...

I've been feeling surprisingly confident with this whole mother of three boys thing, until last Thursday. I was trying to get Luke down for a nap and Owen needed to nurse. I get out some meaningful "work" for Collin to do during quiet time. I feed Owen and lay down with Luke to wait until he falls asleep.

Being the exhausted new mother that I am, I accidentally put myself to sleep in the process of getting Luke down. I wake up about fifteen minutes later to find Collin crying at Luke's bedroom door with the phone in his hand...and a police officer yelling from my living room, "Hello! Is anyone home?!"

The officer begins to explain to me that multiple 911 phone calls were just sent from this address. He asks to check on each of the children and looks around my house. I try to assure the officer that everything is fine, and that I'm really not neglecting my children. (How humiliating!)

Collin is crying in the bathroom because he's afraid he's in trouble. I try to comfort him because I'm very curious how in the world he even knew how to dial 911. I apologize to the officer and promise to talk to my child about the definition of "emergency" and the purpose of the phone number 911.

As soon as the officer leaves, Collin confesses that he had turned on the TV and was watching Barney when a little girl explained how to dial "116". He said he was curious what would happen so he tried it. He said he called two or three times because he thought it would "be funny". But when the police officer pulled up in front of the house he began to worry he was in trouble. So he wouldn't answer the door. He started to cry. And that's when he came to get me in Luke's bedroom.

I've never cared much for Barney. His voice is dorky and his songs always get stuck in my head. And now I have one more reason to hate that infamous purple dinosaur. Ironically, the next day we were walking in our neighborhood and happened upon a garage sale. Collin found a stuffed Barney and had the audacity to ask me to buy if for him. Of course, the answer was a big N-O.

On a lighter note, Luke learned how to ride a bike! He is so excited about it. His favorite book has long been Duck on a Bike by David Shannon. Now, he can finally ride his own little tricycle around the block...all by himself!

Today in church Luke also did something really cute. We were waiting for our turn to take the sacrament bread and water. I always whisper in my kids' ears as they eat and drink, "This is special bread/water to help you remember...Jesus loves you." Well, today Luke grabbed my face with his two little hands and whispered in my ear, "Mom, Jesus bread. Jesus loves you." He did it to his dad, too. I think that is what I've heard some people refer to as...pay day. Thanks Luke. I needed that.