Xander Week 105 – Can’t Want To
February 16, 2009
Xander has somehow confused the words can’t and don’t. Instead of telling us he doesn’t want to do something, he tells us he can’t want to. It turns out this is actually a pretty entertaining phrase. We say
‘Xander, please try your broccoli’
And he responds,
‘I can’t want it.’
It’s grammatically correct, and implies a whole new level of dis-interest. It’s more than he doesn’t want to try it, it’s that he really can’t even want to want to try it. This entertaining phrase is starting to seep into my adult world too. When one of my students asks me to help them reset a password, the first phrase that jumps to my mind is that I really can’t want to do that.
I’m not sure when Xander will figure out the correct differences between can’t and don’t, but for now it makes for some pretty entertaining conversations in our house 
Xander has been spending more time on his own lately (a side effect of having an extra baby in the house). He’s been doing really well with this new independence, but sometimes seeks some reassurance from his parents. A few entertaining examples:
We’ve had Parker home for almost a month now, and every single diaper we’ve changed has been poopy. This has cause a rather impressive diaper rash for the little guy, and I feel so bad for him when he cries and tries to wiggle away when we’re cleaning him… We discovered with Xander that a combination of Desitin and baby powder (to help keep him dry) seemed to work best, but despite my most vigilant efforts that rash has been hanging on for quite a while… We joke that Parker likes to wait for a clean diaper before he poops – as he seems to make one messy just as we pick him up from the changing table.