Twinkle: MIL in Denial

In addition to "f*ck off" and "baby ducks," Twinklette has another phrase that she loves repeating over and over again: "mommy." Unlike "f*ck off," it seems like a perfectly normal thing for an 18-month-old to enjoy repeating over and over again, and as y'all can imagine, it's music to my ears.

Well, we all know my MIL is less than willing to believe that Twinklette actually shares a special bond with me. She'd rather believe that I'm just one small part of a large, extended "village" of caretakers--and one of the more inexperienced members at that. Of course, Twinklette and I know the truth about the existence of a mother/daughter bond, whether or not my MIL believes it or not. Long before Twinklette could tell anyone what she wanted, I grew accustomed to MIL saying, "She's hungry! She's thirsty! She's cold!" (followed by, "Why isn't she wearing her hat?!?!?!?"), and, of course, "She wants Grams!" Never once has that woman uttered those four obvious words that are true for any unhappy baby: "She wants her mommy." I don't know if it doesn't occur to her, or if she truly believes I'm not important. I gave up on trying to figure it out a long time ago, and it's so egregious that it sort of became something Mr. Twinkle and I joke about.

So tonight, after General Tzo's vegetables at Sesame, it came time to pay the bill. Twinklette was sitting on the lap of my father-in-law, who was paying with a credit card, and when she looked at me and said, "Mommy," my mother-in-law said, "What? Money?" Weary of the whole subject of whether or not my child likes me, I said, "No. She's saying 'mommy'." MIL said, "Oh. I though she was saying 'money'," and I said (not in a b*tchy way), "I really don't think she associates credit cards with money." (I mean, really--Twinklette doesn't know what money is, much less credit! How could she even have the concept of money at this point in her young life?!?) Just then, Twinklette launched into another of her favorite phrases, "MamaDaddy," confirming my earlier assertion that she was saying "mommy" all along.

I know it's totally predictable behavior and I resigned myself to it a long time ago, but I find myself unable to believe it each time she sinks to a new level of denial. I wonder how MIL will deny it when Twinklette can speak in complete sentences, and actually says, "I want my mommy." It's hard to believe she'd be able to deny something so blatant, but I'm sure she'll find a way.