Cole Phases and Phrases

Cole is going through a phase right now. An eight year old boy phase. Both Spencer and Josh went through it, so it's not unexpected, but it surely doesn't make it any easier.

I LOVE Cole.

But the child isn't always lovable.

He's argumentative and NEVER wrong. No matter what. He's hypersensitive to anything his siblings say or do, regardless of whether it has anything to do with him. He hates homework. He hates reading. He hates chores. He hates any sort of responsibility.

He is obsessed with potty humor right now. To the point that even his siblings are tired of it - and that's saying something.

But.

He's also pretty funny. He's still just young enough that he says funny stuff quite often, without even realizing it. I love this and will mourn the day when he grows out of it.

For example, during the summer we went into Little Caesar's to pick up some pizza for lunch. As we were leaving Cole exclaimed "They had good pizza music playing. I like pizza music."

It took Spencer, Josh, and I a second to figure out what he was talking about. "You know, pizza music. They play it at places you buy pizza. Like Little Caesar's and Papa John's." And then it hit me: he meant the Latino music playing the background. And the boy's logic wasn't faulty - both places played the same kind of music whenever we went there.

And so now Latino music is affectionately known as Pizza Music in the Madsen family.

Then there was today. Cole ripped a hole in his church pants while we were at a baptism on Sunday. Not so happy about that, but pretty much thrilled that he told me about it on Monday instead of next Sunday morning. (Progress, people!) Having two older brothers, I knew we were bound to have some church pants that fit him somewhere around the house. I found some and told him to try them on. I walked into his room to discover him trying to put them on over his shorts. The epitome of laziness, right?

So I had to sit there while he changed because I didn't trust him to really take off his shorts and try them on unless I was watching. He pulled off his shorts and tried pulling up the pants, only to exclaim "They're just too small! They won't come up!"

"Um, Cole, come here."

He did.

I unbuttoned and unzipped the fly.

The pants slid on easily.

"You know, Cole, most people unbutton and unzip their pants before they put them on."

And in all sincerity and without any hint of irony he replied "Why would they do that?!"

So you see, it's not all terrible. I just keep telling myself it's just a phase and it'll pass. And then we'll move on to another phase and I'll look wistfully back on this time. (No I won't.)

What I'll really do is endure it and love the child and silently giggle with glee when I watch him struggle when his own children go through the same phases.

It'll be worth the wait.