Saturday, February 6, 2010

High Standards


"Aahnt fahn-see un. Aahnt fahn-see un."

The first time I heard this utterance just a few weeks ago, I was very confused. What was Oliver trying to tell me? "Aahnt" I knew well as his own personal conjunction for "I want," but what was this mysterious "fahn-see un"? And, of course, my confusion didn't take long to escalate his frustration. I really had no idea what he was demanding, only that he was definitely demanding it.

I don't even know how I made the connection, really. I was opening the cupboard to get out his sippy cup for some milk and he got increasingly louder with this demand. A la game of hot and cold, I was getting warmer, warmer, HOT. Something was HOT in the cupboard. I could only conclude that I was in very close proximity to the "fahn-see un." As I grabbed his sippy cup, he was fairly frantic. Then, my 'ah-ha' moment: He did not want his everyday animal sippy cup, he wanted a "Fancy One". When I grabbed one of the non-stackable, non-conforming sippy cups from our stash, his relief was palpable, as was mine. Sure, you can have your milk in this BPA-free yuppie-inspired mug of rubber-hugged stainless steel in the colors of gumby and pokey. Whatever floats your boat, kid.

Floating boats is a funny thing, though. It can sometimes take hold of your every decision. Now he will hardly ever drink out of our ol' tried and true Gerbers. And it's not even that it has to be truly "fancy" (and he does say it with that extra elitist air: "fahn-sy.") It just has to be not run-of-the-mill. The Future-Chico-State-Wildcat sports bottle works fine. The mixed-and-matched of the old Born Free toddler bottles, lids, and nipples work. Even a plastic solo cup with a straw seems to fill the bill. It's really quite funny – until, of course, all the fancy cups are dirty. Oy.

There are a few other odd demands in servingwear, like when he can't let go of the need for the Orange fork. Purple just won't do. Or when he insists on the smallest bowl in the set for a serving of Cheerios. But this fancy cup fascination is much less fleeting. The only surprise at milk time these days is that his pinky isn't in the air as he's drinking from his "fahn-see un."


Standard Cups:
Fahn-See Un: