MINE!!!

We have apparently entered a new phase in which everything belongs to Hadley. When Hadley wanted a bite of my sandwich at lunch, she yelled, "MINE!!!" When she wanted to kiss Brynn last night, she yelled, "MINE!!!" And, when I went to put on my shoes this morning, she yelled, "MINE!!!" To my utter horror and disbelief, she even exclaimed, "MINE, MINE, MINE!!!" while pointing to my cup of coffee this morning. Uh no. That would be MINE, dear child.

And oddly, it wasn't the fact that Hadley wanted to drink coffee that horrified me so much. It was that she actually used that dreaded two-year-old-having-a-tantrum-phrase that got me. Oh God, kill me now please.

I'm not exactly sure where Hadley picked up this fabulous word -- or its meaning-- but I'm thinking that this little piece of literary magic didn't help:

This little gem is about a dinosaur who snatches up all of the toys and yells, "MINE, MINE, MINE!!!" Sound familiar to anyone? Yeah, Daddy thought it was really cute when he read Hadley this book and she immediately repeated the dreaded phrase. Somehow, it took her months to actually call me "Mommy," but she learned "MINE" in seconds. Figures.

And no, we didn't buy "Mine-o-Saur" for Hadley. She received it as part of a book program our state has initiated in which every child receives a book a month from birth until the child reaches age 5. Child experts in education and psychology choose the books, and it truly is an amazing program. In fact, some of Hadley's favorite books have been ones she received in this program.

But, "Mine-o-Saur" is just too mature for her right now. The moral of the story may be that you are supposed to share, but all Hadley got out of it was, "MINE!!!!!!" Apparently we are going to have to hide this one for a little while. And buy Mommy some ear plugs.