Dora, Dora, Dora

I'm not sure what the household average is for watching television. Overall, I thought we were doing pretty good. Then Allie changed that perception for us.

As with most 2 year olds, Allie is obsessed with Dora. If it's not Dora, then it's her cousin Diego. Then it's back to Dora. As good parents should, we try to limit the time she spends watching TV. During non-TV times we try to get her to do learning activities. We work on numbers, colors, and other stuff.

I had no idea what a powerful influence Dora is. Allie is sporadically counting to 5. But the other day, as Jenny was jotting down the next week's menu, Allie starts counting, "Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, seis, sieta, ocho!" What the pickles! She can count to eight in Spanish, but she doesn't count in English.

I can't decide whether to ban the TV or double the time she spends in front of it.

What Grown-ups say

So a few weeks ago, we had the carpets cleaned, never buy a house with white carpet. So Jenny and the girls have been banished to the basement as the upstairs carpet dries. Jenny is working on a quilt for the baby and Madi is in the room working on her homework.

As she is working Jenny finds a mistake in her quilt square. In her frustration she says, "Darn it pickles!" Literally, she quoted Higglytown Heros and said, "Darn it pickles!"

Madison looks up from her homework with a slightly confused face and said, "Mom, I thought grown-ups say, Oh crap!"

Holy Pickles, kids hear everything!