This constant needing has my husband and I a little concerned. Okay, not my husband so much... just me. I don't want her to think that she needs everything - I want her to learn the difference between wants and needs. I think it's important that she learns that she can't always have what she wants. So whenever she says "I need..." I correct her with: "No, you want it. You don't need it. You need food and water and clothes and a house. You want everything else."
And she is starting to get it. The other day, she said to me "I don't need juice. I want juice. Isn't that a good idea Momma? That's a good idea. Juice is a good idea." I was impressed that she is getting the idea -- until she started applying the same idea to me.
On Tuesday, I said, "Wow, Lovey, Momma is very tired. She needs coffee!"
Her response: "You don't need coffee, you want coffee."
I figured that it's too early to explain addiction (after all, she's only two), and I just laughed and told her she was right.
Then she did it again.
On Thursday, I was swamped and overwhelmed. Grades were due on Friday and I was 54 Macbeth essays behind. I was frantically grading while my munchkins played in their playroom - er, my living room - when my daughter came over and asked me to color.
"I can't Honey," I said distractedly. "Momma needs to grade."
My daughter pulled the pen out of my hand and glared at me. "You don't need to grade, you want to," she declared quite firmly. "So color with me!"
Apparently, my daughter isn't the only one who needs to learn about wants and needs. And I now have an awesome picture of the Disney Princesses on my fridge, colored by yours truly, to remind me.
Priceless. And what a smarty pants.
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