Mar26

Why my daughter is a weirdo

Posted on March 26, 2015 by ParentingIsFunny

When she was upset and crying, (I forget about what. It was minor.) she tearfully asked, “Do we have any [sniff] tomatoes?”

Tomatoes? The kid wanted tomatoes to calm herself down! Not a hug from Mommy, not her teddy bear or blanket, not even a bar of chocolate or some ice cream like any normal female.

She wanted tomatoes.

My husband picked four tiny red ones from our plant outside. She was instantly consoled. I wish it were that easy for me.

Then, as if that weren’t weird enough, she put the tomatoes in her milk cup and drank/ate them. Like I said, weirdo. Of course, this is also the child who enjoys drinking grape juice and milk. In the same cup.

She also asserts frequently and with great confidence that the last day of this coming summer will be the best day of her life because then she gets to start Kindergarten the next day. Let’s see how long her enjoyment of school lasts, shall we?

And then today, as I was blubbering my way through reading out loud to my oldest, the last pages of the fabulous Newbery Medal-winning book, The Bronze Bow, sniffling loudly, tears streaming down my face, barely holding my voice together, she taped a piece of long thin paper to my face and said, “I’m giving you whiskers!”

Way to gauge the mood, kid.

So, as you see, my daughter is a weirdo… but I still love her. 🙂

In other news, I got word today from our publisher that my co-author and I are a go for publishing our second book*, 101 Tips for Marrying the Right Person! That was happy news. (Way better than tomatoes.) So, all you with single, eligible children, or who are single and searching yourself, look forward to this book due out next year! Just try to hold out for it, okay. 😉

*The first book is 101 Tips for a Happier Marriage, in case you didn’t know.

Have your kids done anything weird lately? Do you have any stories of a child being completely oblivious to your mood? Please, do share!

21 responses »

Carrie Rubin on March 26, 2015 at 7:50 pm said:

Congrats on the second book! Very exciting.

Kids can be completely oblivious of our moods. On the other hand, they can often be spot on with them, too, and as such, they’ll do things that seem incongruous with how we’re feeling, but it’s because they’re really trying to cheer us up. Yeah, that sounds good, right?…

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 26, 2015 at 7:59 pm said:
  
  Ha! You’re right. I’m probably just looking at it all wrong.
  
  And, thanks! 🙂
  
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Vanessa-Jane Chapman on March 26, 2015 at 11:29 pm said:

Great news about the book, well done!

Maybe your daughter was trying to make her own version of bubble tea by popping those little tomatoes into her milk?

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 27, 2015 at 10:51 am said:
  
  Thank you! And, I guess it’s possible!
  
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Chatter Master on March 27, 2015 at 3:24 am said:

That weirdness is totally adorable. 🙂

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 27, 2015 at 10:51 am said:
  
  I think so, too, once I get over the surprise of it.
  
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  - Chatter Master on March 29, 2015 at 8:05 am said:
    
    She keeps life fresh doesn’t she? 🙂
    
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  - ParentingIsFunny on March 29, 2015 at 11:32 am said:
    
    As fresh as those tomatoes!
    
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Robert on March 27, 2015 at 8:59 am said:

The tomatoes look like an example of something I think Wm. Burroughs said about narcotics, which is that their virtue is that whatever they said on the label, that’s what you got: a sure, reproducible experience, produced simply. That’s as opposed to most things in life.

People are always saying cats are weird, doing the unexpected. People are surprised an animal like that is hard to predict, because they think of that as a human-only attribute. Maybe they think the same of children, that unpredictability or variation from their kind is something only adults exhibit.

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Allie P. on March 27, 2015 at 10:14 am said:

Congratulations on the book deal!

When she is older you need to sign her up for one of those gastro sciency classes. That sort of creativity with food is just what the food industry needs.

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 27, 2015 at 10:53 am said:
  
  Thank you! If taking the class means she’ll end up cooking dinner from now, with test tubes or otherwise, I’m all for it!
  
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Shelby on March 27, 2015 at 1:48 pm said:

Congrats on the book! That’s awesome!

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 27, 2015 at 1:49 pm said:
  
  Hey, thanks!
  
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this abundant life on March 28, 2015 at 6:11 pm said:

Homegrown tomatoes do cure a lot of problems. 😉 I haven’t tried them in milk, but hey, maybe it will be the next big thing in the food world! Haha! My second (Little Man) is also quite the entertainment around our house!

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 28, 2015 at 7:03 pm said:
  
  If only all the world’s problems could be solved with a good crop of tomatoes!
  
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Nina on March 28, 2015 at 8:30 pm said:

Congratulations, Betsy! Best of luck. And that is indeed a strange request. I was waiting for a punch line or some reasoning as to why it makes perfect sense to ask for tomatoes, but alas, we can attribute it to the wonderful strange things our kids do 😉

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 28, 2015 at 9:04 pm said:
  
  Indeed. There is no rhyme or reason.
  
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jmmcdowell on March 31, 2015 at 11:19 am said:

Congratulations on Book 2! That I understand. 🙂 As for asking for tomatoes instead of chocolate as a mood lifter, well, they are a healthier choice, right? But maybe not quite as effective as the chocolate!

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- ParentingIsFunny on March 31, 2015 at 11:23 am said:
  
  Tomatoes certainly wouldn’t work for me, but I’ll just go on letting her think they are a cure-all. But then, heaven help us if we run out of tomatoes! How about a nice juicy potato instead, Dear?
  
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GiGi on March 31, 2015 at 10:24 pm said:

“The Bronze Bow”! I loved that book as a kid! Also “Calico Captive” and “The Sign of the Beaver”. But my very favorite book by Elizabeth George Speare was “The Witch of Blackbird Pond”. Have you read those ones?

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- ParentingIsFunny on April 1, 2015 at 10:10 am said:
  
  I have not. I’m glad someone reading this has read The Bronze Bow. It was a stupendous book, and now that I know the others are too, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for the recommendation!
  
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