Spicy

Will has always been pretty tolerant of spicy foods. He started eating and enjoying buffalo wings as soon as he was old enough to eat meat, and he actually enjoys spicy salsas and dips. But despite the fact that Will's spicy-tolerance age is probably three or four times his chronological age, Tom is always trying to get Will to sample even spicier foods like jalapeño peppers and hot sauces. And because Will wants to please his daddy, he often agrees.

Recently, Will tried something hot (perhaps Tom's homemade salsa or a drop of hot sauce on a chip), didn't like it, and exclaimed loudly, "Oh! That's too spicy!"

Hallie heard Will use the word "spicy", determined that it meant "bad", and within hours started using it as a replacement.

"Mama, I not eat my Cheerios. Dey (they) are too spicy."

"Daddy, I not take a snoozy-snooze. Bedtime is spicy."

"WILL! DON'T CHASE ME! Dat (that) is spicy!"

Hallie is in the throws of the terrible two-and-three-quarters, and can be pretty difficult to be around these days. As I've mentioned before, she must do everything all by herself, has very specific ideas about how everything she can't do by herself should be done, and believes all of our lives should revolve around hers. One day a couple of weeks ago, when Hallie was driving us all crazy, Tom looked at her and said, jokingly, "Hallie, you're being a little bit spicy". She freaked out ("I'M NOT SPICY!"), but the rest of us laughed and the descriptor took. We now regularly use "spicy" in reference to Hallie's behavior, and she's come to use it herself as well. It actually works really well, as it's a way for us to let her know we don't like the way she's behaving without telling her she's behaving badly or being a bad girl.

I fear we may have ruined hot foods for her though...