The Suisse Family Robinson

Reed told me the other day that he thought I was doing a great job as a Mom and that he knew it must be hard to be a mind reader all day.  I thought about it for a minute and then said that I didn't think I was so much a mind reader as a body reader.  You know what I mean- the way you have to look for signs to see what your kids are actually trying to tell you?  And, if you have multiple kids, each one is different?   Case in point-

Sleepiness: 
Lara sucks her thumb A LOT when she is tired and gets really whiny.
Vivi just gets crazy.  It is almost like she purposefully picks exactly the opposite of what you want her to do and makes really bad choices.  Like a few days ago when she whipped Mariella in the head with a pair of pants and thought it was funny.  She was exhausted.
Mariella find her pacifier and caresses her stomach with her Snow White Doll.

Hunger:
Lara and Vivi get super whiny but Mariella just goes into the kitchen and finds whatever she wants to eat.  I'm not sure which one is better.

Need for Attention:
Lara is getting to the age where she can actually tell me that she wants to spend time with me.  That's always nice when kids can articulate their needs.  :)
Vivi starts hugging me a lot and telling me that she loves me.
Mariella starts doing things like pulling hair, or destroying a book shelf.

That's just to name a few.  I do like it when they can actually tell me what's going on.  But if that's not the case, I can at least rely on these few signs to help me out!