Backwards!

Recently, Connor has been into doing things backwards. Probably this is because he’s related to Ed who has a penchant for doing things backwards. For example, until I needled him about it, when Ed prepared for bed he flossed his teeth before he brushed them. Ridiculous, I know. Thank goodness he has me in his life to set him straight. I have also pointed out to him that the back of the toothpaste tube actually recommends rolling the tube up from the bottom, rather than squeezing from the middle, but I guess some things just can’t be learned once you reach Ed’s advanced age.

 

For Connor’s part, he likes to walk backwards, and when he does it, it’s as if he is walking on a tightrope above a pit full of lions waiting to strip his skinny body from his bones. He tries very hard to perform the feat in a straight line. He also tends to ride his toys backwards, rather than turn them around when he hits a dead end. Thankfully, he still turns around and sets his feet safely on the ground before he attempts to exit a tunnel, and most often, he still slides backwards rather than sitting up – probably because he has tumbled down the slide a couple of times when attempting to ride in a seated position. Of course, the one thing I would really like him to do backwards – maneuver down stairs – he refuses. Because, after all, he is a man and men just don’t walk down stairs that way.

 

But tonight on the subway, I learned his fondness for backwards things extended to counting. I was totally impressed when I told him we had 8 stops to go and at each successive stop, he reduced that number by one, until he was telling me that “Connor and Mommy get off at the next stop to ride the merry-go-round”. And indeed, we arrived in time to catch a whirl around the merry-go-round before heading out to the Sculpture Garden to catch a little jazz and enjoy a picnic.

Elaine