BABY STEPS: The 'Other Cooper'

When my husband was a child, he had an alter ego named Bad Max. Bad Max was responsible for all of the terrible things that Max did. Hit your brother? Nope, it was Bad Max. Color on the floor? Nope, Bad Max did it. Personally, when I was told that story six years ago, I thought it was adorable. Now I'm not so sure, since I have my own "Bad Max" called the Other Cooper.

The other morning while I was getting Cooper dressed, I made a comment about how full his diaper was and that he should use the big boy potty. He then proceeded to tell me no, he didn't wet his pants -- the Other Cooper did it. Confused and in a hurry, I just ignored it and went about getting him dressed for the day.

Later that evening after I picked him up from the sitter's house, I smelled something rank coming from the back seat. I asked my son if he messed his pants, and he told me no. I have a stuffy nose, so I thought maybe I just smelled something else. Later when we got home, I couldn't stop smelling this horrible smell, so I finally cornered Coop and took him to check his pants. He had, of course, messed in them, but vehemently denied doing so. Jokingly I asked him if he didn't do it, then who did? He told me the Other Cooper messed his pants. I asked him who the Other Cooper was and he simply stated, "The Other Cooper," like I should know.

Not knowing what to think, I just changed him and let him finish playing. Still confused, I went about my evening. Dinner came along and we had chili. Cooper loves chili, but that night he was refusing to eat it. If he doesn't want to eat, I never make him; I am of the mentality that he will eat when he is hungry. I finished up my dinner, loaded the dishwasher and cleaned the kitchen.

When I went over to clean up Cooper's plate, all of his chili was gone. I went into the living room to give him a high-five and a treat for finishing his supper. I told him, "Good job on eating all of your chili," and he told me he didn't do it -- the Other Cooper did. Being a trickster myself, I told him that if he didn't eat the chili then he didn't get a treat -- the Other Cooper would get a treat. Cooper said, "OK, Mommy, I don't get a treat. The Other Cooper does."

At this point I was dumbfounded. My kid will cry for an hour after supper if he doesn't get a treat. He will eat anything you want him to in order to get a treat, but there he was telling me that he didn't deserve a treat. I just put the marshmallows back in the pantry and sat down next to my son and watched 'toons.

When Max got home that night, I told him about our day. I told him all about our other son, "Other Cooper," and how his behavior was not just naughty, but good, too. Max, of course, is concerned, because he has heard story after story about his Bad Max stage and he thinks this is the start of something horrible. I, on the other hand, think it is just a new way for him to express himself. Yes, it is different, maybe even weird, but all geniuses are, right? As long as the Other Cooper turns out like Bad Max did, we will be OK. The Bad Max turned out to be a pretty great guy.

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Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that by age 25, she'd be married with a baby and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a first-time mom -- one who's still a girl trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.