We are currently trying to teach Emmarie not to put coins in her mouth. I know that in a perfect world, I would be a super mom, and there would never be any choking hazards available to Emmarie. BUT this is reality, and coins tend to make a beeline for the floor at our house.
We have tried to make a game out of putting spare change into her piggy bank. We hope this will make her WANT to put money in there instead of her mouth. I might also be trying to subconsciously make her think that saving money is fun and the "cool" thing to do.
Dave Ramsey would be so proud of me.
So last night, I found a penny and a couple of dimes on the floor (*These were not on my side of the bed.) While Brad was holding her, I picked up the coins and went to her room to get her bank. When I got back, I made a big deal about making the coins dance over to the edge of the coin slot and then said "Yay!" as they dropped in. Emmarie thought this looked like fun so I let her try. She acted like she was going to put the coin in and then like The Flash she was trying to put that penny in her mouth. I grabbed her arm and said No! At the same time Brad was yelling "No, No Emmarie!!" She took one look at him and started to cry.
This was not turning out like I had imagined.
I settled her down, and I convinced her that no one was upset with her. FINALLY, she was ready to try again.
She did the exact same thing.
This time I took her hand and put the coin between her two fingers and moved her hand over to drop in the coin. This worked. She smiled and reached for another coin. The teacher inside of me was smirking and thinking that I was turning her into a baby genius. I handed her another coin.
This time I let her do it on her own. She made a motion like she was going to put the coin in her mouth, but she saw my face and slowly put her hand back down. This is where the story takes an unexpected twist.
She then proceeds to pretend to put the coin to the slot to drop it in and casually puts her hand back down and under her leg. Since I am a grown up and know that coins clink when they hit the other coins, I knew she still had the coin in her hand. I asked to see her hand. Surprisingly when she brought her hand up, there was not coin to be found. Still suspicious, I moved her leg and she jerked back in surprise. Deep under the rolls of her chubby little thighs, I found a nickel. She looked at me and gave me little smile like "Now how did that get there?"
I was hesitant, but I knew that we needed to try again because it could have been a fluke that the coin ended up under her leg. I gave her another coin. Once again she pretended to drop it into the piggy bank while actually hiding it under her leg. I showed her how to actually drop the coin in the bank again, and we both tried valiantly to hide our laughter. We were not successful, and she reveled in the show she was putting on without actually knowing what we were laughing at. I can only imagine the things she will try to "hide" next. She is certainly a sneaky baby!
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