If Only I'd Known Then...

Do you ever have those moments where you think, "Hmmm. In retrospect, I wouldn't have done that"?

I've had two of those moments recently. Actually I should clarify. I've had two of those moments over and over again recently.

You can learn from my mistakes.

Case No. 1: The Case of Too Many Blankets.

I put a couple of soft Gymboree blankets in William's crib last fall when it started to cool down. I figured he was old enough for us not to worry about him smothering under blankets in his crib anymore. When it got cold, I started covering him up with the frog blanket....and later, on even colder nights, I started adding the dinosaur blanket, too. And the train blanket.

The problem? William came to expect me covering him up with a series of blankets. And now that it's starting to warm up, he doesn't understand why I don't want to weigh him down with three blankets anymore. He objects. Loudly. This makes bedtime...er, complicated.

The alternative is also a problem. If I capitulate and layer the three blankets on top of him, William is happy. Until he kicks them off in his sleep because he's too warm. Then he wakes up and is unhappy about the blanket situation.

For the record, David thought of suggesting that we cover up his stuffed animals with two of the blankets, while telling William that "Mimi and Elmo need blankies, too." Sometimes that works. And sometimes, it doesn't.

Sigh.

Case No. 2: (I feel very Nancy Drew with these subtitles.) The Case of the Wrong Yogurt.

I've been buying six-packs of mini-yogurt containers for months now, and he often eats one for lunch. A couple of weeks ago, we were out of William's yogurt. So I offered him one of his father's full-sized Yoplait yogurts. I figured, they're the same brand, they're probably the exact same yogurt. And since William loves blueberry yogurt, but it's very hard to find in mini-containers, I thought a full-sized blueberry yogurt would be a fun treat for him.

Sure enough, William was delighted. He polished off the whole thing in about five minutes. I was suitably impressed. And I didn't think much of it.

The complications arose...a few days ago when I pulled a nice little strawberry yogurt out of the fridge for William's lunch. He saw the friendly little Dora the Explorer container, which he normally adores, and threw a Donald Duck-style hissy fit. Under no circumstances was he going to eat THAT yogurt! (I'm translating here.) Oh no. He wanted some of Daddy's yogurt. David and I looked at each other and shrugged. David fished out a full-sized container and handed it to William, and the crisis was averted.

The real problem: Today William turned his nose up at his own mini-container of blueberry yogurt and insisted on one of Daddy's yogurts again. Again, he threw a temper tantrum. David even tried to show him that the yogurt in both containers was the exact same kind. No dice. William was not convinced. Finally, after a frustrating struggle, David just gave up and put both open containers of yogurt on the high chair tray. William contentedly ate one bite of yogurt from the big container, then one bite from the small container, then another bite from the big container, and another bite from the small container. And so on, until he was stuffed full of blueberry yogurt. Now I'm all worried that he's only going to want David's yogurt and won't eat all the kid's yogurt that I just bought for him.

All together now, folks: "If only I'd known then..."

Please, please let this be a phase.