catchy daycare catch phrases

Kids and babies in my care learn a few specific phrases that don't necessarily translate to the world outside of my daycare. I thought I'd share them here in case you want to borrow them, or laugh at how my offspring use my lingo against me. 

Also, I want to point out to you how JOYOUS life is while I'm not babysitting. Since Wilhelm the worst was dropped off at my house three mornings a week all summer for the past three summers, this year is different. Different, as in, glorious. No tots or babies means that I can actually take a break. 

There are projects and things to focus on, don't you worry - but a break from diapers and toys all over the family room and the weekly folding of, and shuffling into the corner of the dining room of high chairs . . . that kind of a break is very welcome. 

The tots and babies will all be 3 months older when next we meet, and I have high hopes that three of them will no longer be in diapers. Fingers crossed. They will be that much easier to care for, since they will be more mature. Right?

I will only have one baby, Ellie, in the fall, but by then she will be 15 months. Hooray. She's so cute. Her older brother has been dropped off here since he was 12 weeks old, and he (like the other guys) feels like family. 

Anyway, Ellie was starting to crawl before the school year ended. She was a decent escape artist and if I didn't have her planted in an exersaucer, she could sometimes scoot out into the kitchen. While that is against my rules, it is tough to enforce with a baby. 

AH AH AH:  I teach my littles that they aren't allowed to cross the border with a very firm, AH AH AH, combined with a stern face. It doesn't take a lot of creativity to imagine my own offspring tsk-ing me at times if they don't want me to go in a room or touch something of theirs by mimicking me with a sharp AH AH AH. Ellie will be introduced to the AH AH AH come end of August. 

NIGH-NIGH THE BABY:  Just before Ellie was born, her mom texted me and asked me to clarify something. She'd asked her 2 year old what songs he would sing to the new baby. 2 year older big brother to be, Logan, was humming something that she couldn't identify. It was nigh-nigh the baby.

This is the schedule at my house:  eat lunch, clean up toys, read a book, lay down for diaper changes/run to the potty. Then when we are all set for naps, we sing nigh-nigh the baby. They march up the stairs, or I carry them, and they hop into beds. All praise the routine. 

Fun fact:  a friend once came here to have lunch with me during nap time. She watched as my small fries hopped up after their diapers were changed, singing our nap time tune, and happily climbed the stairs. She was awestruck at their cooperation. 

The start of nigh night the baby:  When Lad was a year and a half, my mom and I drove around one night to look at houses? Front doors? Something I couldn't afford. Lad started getting tired and was crying in his car seat, so my mom tried to get him to fall asleep. She was like OK, GO NIGH NIGH. It morphed into she and I singing nigh-nigh the baby in order to lengthen our drive-around time. 

I called the confused mom after I got her text asking me if I had any clue about this mysterious song. Embarrassed as I was, I sang nigh-nigh the baby. She was like THAT'S IT! THAT IS WHAT HE IS SINGING. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? 

*Mini does not want me to share this video because you can see that my house is messy, phew baby - if you think this upstairs hallway is messy - you would not be able to handle the rest of the house. Anyway, this year the nigh night the baby habit became less lullaby like and more aggressive, because the 2 year/3 year old boy crew would go potty and head upstairs ahead of me while I was still bogged down with diaper changing. The boys would hide upstairs and wait for me to chase them to their beds. I reached through the bannister once to grab at them, and then it was 'a thing.' 

Enjoy . . . it's a 19 second snippet of my formerly peaceful nap time routine. 

My own children sing this to me when I fall asleep on the couch watching a movie. Or if I can't keep my eyes open while trying to watch a movie. Or when one of us says good night 'earlier' than the teen crowd deems normal. 

Have I mentioned that I live with a bunch of comedians?

TOO MANY TIMES:  This is my favorite. It has a very worthwhile purpose. If you know toddlers, then you get that they are a repetitive people. For the love of all things, do NOT repeat the same words to me 50 times in three minutes. I can't. I won't. For example, the twin girls that just turned 2, who I adore, will alert me that a truck is on the road when we drive ANY WHERE. 

"A truck, a truck, a truck, a truck, a truck." Or when I suggest that we might get to go outside before lunch, they will repeat at nauseum:  "Go outside, go outside, go outside." - see how I am ending it here with a period, you're welcome. In real life there is no actual end. Thus, my need to institute a TOO MANY TIMES rule of thumb. Eventually, tots get the point that it is time to shut their little miniature pie holes. 

*The twins did not get the point at the start of summer, but I happen to know that their mother is utilizing the same correcting technique. MAYBE they will utter something once come August. One can hope. 

My family members LOVE to use the TOO MANY TIMES words against me, or one another, or they get crafty and aim it at commercials, etc. It's fun, you should try it. If I repeat something that I may have asked them to do a million times, they will say  TOO MANY TIMES, to me - their mother, the one who COINED the dang phrase. 

What weird phrases do your people use, even if your people are not toddlers? I get that non-toddlers need to be redirected with family phrases too. Do tell. Or, which of the above phrases might you find useful in your own world?