I am Whistler's Mother

Lucy is learning a new skill and it might just drive me straight out of my mind.

For my kids, whistling seems to be a pre-Kindergarten skill. Emily learned how to whistle in pre-K and was one of the first girls to master the skill, after several boys figured it out.

Lucy is going to spearhead the whistling development in her class, as she has it well under control now.

The bad news is that she whistles all. the. time.

I know it is a developing skill and that she will (eventually) (please) stop whistling with every breath, but for now, chances are really good that I am going to lose my mind before she has completely mastered whistling.

I was talking on the phone with Mike today and kept wandering away from Lucy and her whistling while we were talking. After a few minutes, Mike started laughing, because he could hear the whistling get closer and then farther away and then closer and then farther away as I walked away and then Lucy tracked me down and then I walked away and Lucy followed.

I am trying, desperately, to not ask her to stop whistling except when I am on the phone, even though it is so incredibly distracting I can barely work.

And then, when Emily gets home, SHE starts in whistling, too. So I have TWO girls whistling tunelessly* at the same time. And I'm forced to bang my head on the desk to get the piercing sound of a little girl whistling out of my head. I never realized how piercing whistling can be.

If you need me, I'll be hiding over here, researching ear plugs.

* Though tuneless whistling is MUCH better than the afternoon that Emily came home whistling 'Pumped Up Kicks'.