Last night, as we were preparing Isabella for bed, Melanie was trying to get Bella to give her a kiss goodnight. Ever since Sophia was born, Bella’s bedtime ritual has been turned around. Instead of mommy doing the bedtime reading and rocking and tucking in after prayers, it’s daddy now. So mommy takes her leave from Bella at the end of prayers.
For some reason last night Bella was being recalcitrant with Melanie, ducking her head for a hug, instead of giving Melanie a kiss. Melanie kept coaxing her with “Give mommy a kiss, Isabella. Give her a kiss.”
In order to model the behavior she wanted, she said, “Look, daddy gives mommy a kiss.”
Then she turned to me, leaned in and said to me, “Give mommy a kiss.”
…
Um, yeah, that was a bit too weird for me.
