Nuggets and "Pup"cakes

Have you ever banged a frozen chicken nugget on a granite countertop to prove a point? I have.

A few days ago my children requested chicken nuggets for dinner, so I plugged in our handy dandy pizza pizzaz-thing-a-ma-bobber (it's a pizza cooker, but we use it for anything that is frozen that you are supposed to put in the oven). This action was greeted with a loud cry of disapproval, "No Mommy! No Mommy! No cook it!"

"Kyle, I have to cook the chicken nuggets for you."

"No Mommy, I eat it cold."

"Kyle, they're frozen, you can't eat them like this. I need to cook them."

"No Mommy!! I no like it hot. I eat it cold."

It was at this point that I took a chicken nugget and started banging it on the counter, trying to show Kyle that the nugget was frozen and, really, inedible. He was amused by this, and was then distracted by his brother and the dog.

My kids must be a little confused. I make things really hot, and then we have to wait for them to cool off, or I have a little trick of putting the hot plate of food in the freezer for a minute or so . . . . Ahh, the freezer. And there you go!

Later that evening, I noticed the bananas were looking, well, a little ripe, so I decided to whip up some banana muffins (which Dylan called "pupcakes").

"Mommy, what you doing?"

"I'm making banana muffins."

"Banana muffins like pupcakes?"

"Yes, they're like cupcakes."

"Mommy, I eat them now."

"Dylan, no you have to wait until they're cooked. I'm making them."

"No Mommy, I eat them now."

So, I show him my mixing bowl full of batter.

"Mommy's making them?"

"Yes, go to your playroom and I'll tell you when they're done."

I know my children are constantly learning new things, and it's easy to forget that there are just so many new concepts they experience every day. It's nice to get a chuckle every now and then when certain concepts are skewed . . . For example, right now if something is "broken," Dylan thinks it just "needs batteries." Or if I tell them we're going to the store (and this can be any store), he thinks we're going to "get ice-cream," because a week ago I took him to the grocery store to buy ice-cream.

We probably should go out and buy ice-cream more often.