Sankofa

I looked over at my three-year-old one day as she casually reached up to the counter to grab something.  When I saw that it was her sister's sippy cup, I was confused.

"Why in the world would she be reaching for that?" I wondered 

Then, as she retracted her arm, sippy cup in hand and heading toward her mouth, I realized she was committed.  The child was about to drink from the cup. I firmly called her name to get her attention, stopping her mid move and asked what she was doing and why and no.  The child proceeded to throw a full blown fit.

Huh?!?! What did I miss?

Admittedly, a big part of my dismay about the scenario has to do with whatever hangups I have around  saliva exchange/contamination, but the very nature of the scenario had me puzzled. Now, I know there's the attention seeking thing that apparently intensifies once a new sibling arrives.  I've been dealing with that for far too long now.  I am also aware of the mimicking of what the baby does that happens in an attempt to get the same attention that the baby does when she behaves a certain way. I mean, I don't say much when my oldest climbs in her sister's stroller and babbles like an infant.  But trying to drink out of a sippy cup at nearly four-years-old, taller than half of my body, a mouth full of teeth, and thinks/analyzes on a level critical enough to trip up the brightest of scholars is just taking it a little bit too far for me.

But I read about this thing called regression.  That's all fine and good, yet it seems to be calling for a certain level of patience that I'm continually striving to rediscover. 

For the most part, though, I try to let her have her moments of reaching back to her babyhood and remembering.  After all, I understand that it will be relatively short-lived.  Plus, she never had a sippy cup or a stroller.  But at her age and with all the characteristics mentioned above, some things are just over. Her breastfeeding days are  surely done. Yes, she will still try it, but there definitely won't be any regression there.  And if her sister doesn't stop with the on purpose biting and laughing, it will soon be a memory for her as well!

My little explorers.