Nancy grows up

Michael and Emily have introduced me to Radiolab.

Admittedly, I don't find it as fascinating as they apparently do, which is not to say I don't enjoy it. It is nice to listen to when working from home. Like news, but (mostly) not as depressing.

I am currently listening to the one about Time. They did a audio montage of a child going from birth to age 12 within, I believe, 12 seconds.

It was both interesting and disheartening. I could identify very clearly where Maddy currently is in her speech development. And I could see, or hear, rather, at the same time, where she is going. But I cannot fathom Maddy being 12 years old. (Or me being the mother of a 12 year old for that matter. Or still, even a mother for that matter.)

Coincidentally to this podcast, I have been generating a theory in the past few days. You see, Maddy has become increasingly...oh, let's say EXTREMELY irritating lately. For example:

Maddy: "Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. "
Me: "In a minute, baby, I'm cooking dinner." (Literally, hands dripping with turkey juices. Not yummy.)
Maddy: "Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. Mommy, I want some milk. "

Or

Maddy throws something on the floor.

Me: "Maddy, please pick that up."
Maddy: (smiling) "No!"
Me: "Tilda, Mommy asked you to pick that up. Please pick it up or you will go to Time Out. Do you want to go to Time Out?"
Maddy: "Yes! I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out! Mommy, I want to go to Time Out!"

(by the way, Time Out consists of her going to a corner and looking at a wall. She doesn't seem to mind it a bit. Sigh.)

Or

I serve Maddy something for dinner that she has not tried before.

Maddy: "Mommy, its good! I like dinner!"
Me: "Well, I'm glad, Tilda."
Maddy: "No want (insert dinner item here). I want yogurt in the chocolate." (Yeah, you read that right.)

So my theory? Well, at this stage, Maddy is, at most times, Super Cute. No, I mean it. She says cute things, she looks cute, she smiles cutely...almost enough to make me think about having another kid just so I can go through this state again. And then she comes up with the annoying crap specified above. So my theory is that the Terrible Twos exist to convince parents that, eventually, Baby's got to go.

See, if kids remained cute forever, parents would never want them to leave. Therefore, they have to be horrible. That way, parents think and dream of the day that they will, theoretically, be "free" and the Maddys of the world will have to fetch their own damn milk.