Raising Devils

I Change My Mind

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 | Virtual Twinning

More from the frontiers of virtual twinning:

Rory does something Wyatt hates. (Don’t worry, Wyatt does PLENTY that Rory hates!) Whenever there is ice cream–and only when there is ice cream, and only, in fact, when there is a selection of popsicle ice cream stuff, like you find at a swimming pool or ice cream truck or, frankly, in our freezer, she chooses–and then, once he has chosed, frantically changes her mind and gets whatever he got.

I have no idea why.

She doesn’t do it with snacks, or with dinner in a restaurant, or lunch things, or drinks, say, on one of those rare occasions when I’m letting them each choose a bottle of soda from a gas station or something. She doesn’t have to have the same as him then. She doesn’t do it with candy, if they bring their money to the pool and get to use it to buy something. She doesn’t do it–well, I don’t think she does–if I buy them each something in a store, although I can’t actually remember the last time I did that. Probably the bookstore and they each got a book. She doesn’t do it then. She doesn’t even do it if we are somewhere where you choose a flavor of ice cream to have on a cone.

Only popsicle/ice cream truck ice cream.

It just clicked for me last night, although Wyatt’s been complaining about it for a while. All through our last vacation, when that kind of ice cream happened probably five or six times in a week, she got the same thing he did EVERY TIME, even if he changed his mind after she asked for the same thing he had–she just changed her mind too. I was going through these crazy fantasias of ordering. “Are you sure? Are you sure?” with both of them switching so much, but even though, like I said, he kept pointing it out, I was just blowing him off. “She can have whatever she wants, Wyatt! It’s ok if it’s just like yours!”

But last night, when she tried to put her already unwrapped popsicle (the one she’d been gloating over, because it was the last one of a kind Lily particularly liked) back after he chose an ice cream bar (we don’t have air conditioning, ok? We have popsicles.) so the SHE could have an ice cream bar, all those other times kept rushing back. I think I’ve mentioned this in passing, but it wasn’t until now that I realized how pervasive it’s become.

I have NO IDEA why.

I sympathize with Wyatt (I had a grandmother, oddly enough, who used to order the same thing I did in a restaurant every time and it made me crazy) but not really enough to make her stop–I mean, she really CAN have whatever she wants. Only, of course, she’s not having what she wants. She’s having what he wants. Which is what she wants. Which is fine.

This is just a random oddity, really. I don’t think it means anything. I’m sure it will stop soon enough, too.

It’s doubly funny because for years now, she’s looked to Wyatt for her cue to how to behave in any new situation (even if it’s new to him, too) but ice cream–now, that is so not new. In fact, I don’t think she did this last summer at all.

Maybe she’s doing it just to mess with him. I kind of love that.

Related posts:

1. I Didn’t Know I Did It Until I Didn’t
2. A Daily Paper for Kids Whose Parents Don’t Read Newspapers

Tags: faux twins

2 Comments to I Change My Mind

thewonderfulhappens
Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I’m curious to know what you did when she had already unwrapped a popsicle and then changed her mind? Did you let her get something else or did she have to eat what she chose? I only ask because this happens in our house. I make them eat the one they unwrapped because I hate to waste food and because, come on, you know you only changed your mind because of your brother.

KJ
Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Oh, we made her eat that one. But at the store or something, I KNOW she’s going to change her mind, so I usually do her last.