famous and infamous quotes from alexander

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“You are my sunshine, Mommy!”
He says whenever he’s in his cozy moments with Mommy

“You are the best Mommy and Daddy in the whole world!”
He says when he receives small presents from us.

“When will I ever grow up?”

“Mommy, I am in love with a girl, but don’t tell Daddy.”

“Did you know that I know all your secrets?”

“I never knew I know lots of things.”

“You grown-ups are so difficult!”
He says this when he gets reminded of things he’s supposed to do and things he is not supposed to do.

“Why is it always my fault?”
When he is asked of something he has no knowledge of (ex. Who forgot to close the fridge? Who left crisp crumbs on the couch? Who forgot to turn off the bathroom lights?)

“When it is my turn to speak, you have to be quiet.”

“You are destroying my life!”
He says when he gets interrupted from his activities (watching TV, at play, especially when he’s reading)

“Why do I always have to listen to everything you say?”
When reminded of rules and regulations both at home and in school.

“Now Mommy, can I hit back?”
This he asked me when he came home from school one day with a rather deep scratch on his face. You see, kids his age can be rowdy at play – they tend to hurt each other, intentionally or unintentionally. We always tell Alex to steer clear and walk away when things get rough and rowdy at play. That if someone hit him, he shouldn't hit back. He simply has to walk away and tell this to the teacher. His teachers have confirmed this and that he does walk away from the group and mind his own business – but then, some kids do seek him out. He was almost teary-eyed when he asked me this question – I could see clearly that he tried his best to stay away and obey what we have told him to do in school. I had to compose myself and told Alex that we are to talk about it after dinner – I had to come up with something wise to say and I was not prepared at that time. After dinner, Jan and I sat with Alexander and talked about what had happened in school. In his own childlike ways, he described the incident with matching facial expressions and hand movements. Our advice to him: 1) When somebody is rowdy to him, stretch out your right arm and give him a slight push on the chest and tell him in a loud voice “Back-off!”. Then he can go and tell the teacher. 2) If someone hits you and starts a fight, you can hit back hard and then go and tell the teacher that someone is starting a fight with you. But never, ever start a fight. The next day, when I brought Alex to school, I told his teacher what we have advised Alex about how to handle those who are rowdy on him – and the teacher had no objections whatsoever. Rightly so, at the end of the day, I was told that Alexander punched down the same boy who gave him the deep scratch on his face. After that, the poor boy did not bother Alexander anymore.

Footnote:
Alex told us that he only punched the other kid when he pushed him down in a puddle – Alex defended himself by saying he got very, very angry. Well, that’s my boy! He surely learned to pick his own fight - for better or for worse.