EVER!

"Don't touch my toys. EVER!"

"Don't look at me. EVER!"

"You don't do that. EVER!"

Ah, yes. This is the latest thing out of Leah's mouth lately. Leah knows what she wants and now, she can (try to) demand it. The way she yells it is kind of amusing and I seem to giggle every time she says it, which is probably why she continues to do it. (Yes, negative attention. I know. Ooops. It just comes out like "EVAH!" and I can't help myself. She's like a teeny little dictator.) I've been trying to piece together how she picked this up. Last summer, she was very much into the movie, "Lilo & Stitch". In one scene, Lilo tells Stitch, in reference to a precious item, "Don't you touch that. Don't EVER touch it!" That was my first thought, but up until recently, Leah hadn't watched that movie in months. Did that really stick out in her mind?

Then, I realized I sometimes say it when disciplining her. "Don't ever throw things at the dogs!" "We never, EVER hit anyone!" Etc, etc. And of course, she imitates nearly every phrase I use on a consistent basis, so that sort of made sense.

And then, we have "Tangled". Leah has been in love with this movie lately and while paying attention to it one day last week, I noticed that Mother Gothel scolds Rapunzel for wanting to leave her tower. "You're not leaving this tower! EVER!" Ah-ha! Ding, ding, ding!

Truthfully, it's probably a combination of all three of these influences. I, like any mother, simply choose to believe it was from a nasty character in a movie and not me, of course. ;)