Do All Kids Do This? Or Just Mine?

Foot-bothering - Tom likes to bother things with his feet. Especially board games, his father and the cat.

Hobbit-obsessing - Lately whenever eagles, bears, bridges, rings, swords, or a myriad of other seemingly unconnected words come up, Katie screams "Hobbit" and starts singing "Hobbit! Hobbit! Hobbit! Hobbit! Hobbit all the way!" to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Inappropriate Standing - If there is something in the room that one should not stand on, my children will move to it as quickly as possible and then . . . stand on it.

Food Puppetry - All food - every bean, cereal flake and granola crumb - must be animated, usually as a character from a Tolkien novel (see Hobbit-obsessing).

Laundry-tossing - I left a basket of clean, folded laundry in the living room as I put away the towels. I came back to find my children gleefully throwing items of clothing into the air one by one, yelling "Chorizo!" with each toss.