Things to Avoid doing with your 4 year old

I should lead here with 1. spend time together. Based on the week I have been having with my daughter but I won't. (but still I did - see how I fooled you?)

1. Don't watch movies about orphanages (Annie) or Orphans (James and the Giant Peach). How do you explain the concept of an orphanage to a toddler. No matter what you say you end up here: "But where are their parents?". I also include James and Giant Peach in this category because trying to explain that the insects were his family is tough!

2. Don't have conversations about marriage and love. When my daughter talks about marriage now she leads with "one day I will find a boy or a girl that I love so much that I will want to spend my whole life with them". While it is nice that she is paying attention I feel like I somehow brainwashed her??? oh well.

3. Don't disagree with them. Lately I feel like I should just concede from the start to make it easy on both of us. She is so very sure about her opinions that I am sure that she somehow went from 3 to 16. oh and yes, I know that I am in trouble. BIG BIG trouble.

4. Don't discuss morality and ethics. So far we have gotten to the concept that sometimes good people do bad things but that does not make them bad and sometimes bad people will do good things. And that when you steal because you need something for your very survival it is somehow not as bad as stealing something just because you want it. And then I am lost. And she is loster. And my husband is laughing his ass off.

5. Don't lie to them. They remember everything and talk about leading by example. Just. don't. do. it.

I'll stop here basically because I have run out of venom (which is good) and time (which is bad). Are there any things that you have discovered don't mix well with toddler?

Let me know so I can do my best to avoid them.

Oh and tomorrow I will try and post some things that are great to do with a four year old. The top of that list at the moment is sleep...