Guilty of Eating Dirt in the First Degree

Yesterday we received a brief rain shower which made the world feel and smell wonderful. After who knows how many days without rain, I loved how the scent of rain lingered on the ever present breeze. Once I was done with the dinner dishes I decided to do some much needed grooming of my flowerbeds and further enjoy the rain washed world. Noah was antsy, so I took him out to play in the front yard with his slide. We were having a fun time, me snipping dead flowers, Noah toddling in the grass, babbling about a bug or whatever else had his attention.

At one point he came over by me and held up the most infinitesimal speck of dirt about six inches from his mouth. When he saw me look at him he said in his soft little voice, "N-n-n-o, n-n-n-o." I smiled and told him that was right, it was no-no to eat the dirt and what a good little boy he was. I then proceeded to mentally pat myself on the back that my  almost 1 year old was being so mindful and obedient. I had not even finished my mental victory lap, when I watched in horror as my little "angel" grabbed the largest fistful of dirt he could managed and popped it right in his mouth, watching me the whole time. We scurried inside and I washed out his little mouth, as he tried to spit out the dirt.  By the way, washing dirt out of a spitting toddler's mouth is not easy.

I think the part that gets me is he had just told me it was no-no, and I know he understands what that means. Stairs and electrical outlets are no-no too. But then I thought about how many times I know that something is wrong, I will even tell others not to do something, and yet I still turn around and do it. I wonder how many times I have popped a "fistful of dirt in my mouth".

So while the Yeatts family court found Noah guilty of knowingly and with forethought consuming dirt, charges were dropped, and he was allowed out for good behavior. Of course, giving hugs and kisses to the prosecutor sure did not hurt things.