Lunch Time with the Littles

For some reason, I usually end up sitting at lunchtime with Ella and Felicity with Klaus in the high chair.  Maybe Kian doesn't like what we're eating for lunch or isn't hungry yet.  Maybe Abby grabbed her food quickly and is back absorbed in a book she can't put down. 

I don't usually enjoy eating lunch with the littles.  I prefer a meal with family members that know how to stay seated more than 30 seconds at a time.  I prefer to have a conversation where we all can share what we've learned that morning or what we plan on doing that afternoon.  With the littles, our conversation is more like this:

Ella: "My green smoothie looks like boogers!"

Felicity:  "Ha ha ha!!  Boogers in my cup!"

Klaus:  "Mo!  Mo!  Mo!  Mo!"

The conversation only gets worse from there.  And all throughout the disgusting discourse, in the background I hear Klaus yelling at me to get my attention, "Mom!  Mom!  Mom!  Mom!"  Or, "All Done!  All Done!  All Done!" 

All I want to do is sip my smoothie in peace after my very busy morning.  I usually leave the table and eat my lunch standing up in the kitchen, trying my best to ignore them.

Today, however, lunchtime was fun.  We had an interesting conversation (which met my requirement) and it was entertaining for the little ones too.  As Stephen Covey would say, it was a win-win situation.  Our topic of discussion:  pea-bo. 

Pea-bo is Klaus' word for peanut butter.  He loves pea-bo!  Today when I offered him some of my pea-bo sandwich, he gladly sang at the top of his lungs, "Pea-bo!"

That set Felicity laughing, her big belly laugh that comes all the way from the bottom of her gut and which makes me smile just hearing it.  Then one of us (who started it anyway?) came up with the idea of applying imaginary pea-bo to body parts.  "Pea-bo dripping from your hair! Ha ha ha!"  "Pea-bo coming out your ears!  Ha ha ha!"  "Pea-bo in your diaper!  Ha ha!" 

Before the conversation got out of hand, I redirected our peanut butter exclamations to items in the house.  "Pea-bo in the toaster!" I declared.  The girls laughed.  "Pea-bo in the toilet!" Ella contributed and Felicity laughed. 

Here are some of my favorite places for pea-bo that you have probably never thought of!  We were laughing and enjoying ourselves the whole time!

Pea-bo in the bathtub!
Pea-bo down your back!
Pea-bo in the backyard!
Pea-bo in your underwear!

"Pea-bo in the pantry!" Ella exclaimed.  "Wait a minute, Ella, that's where the pea-bo actually goes!"