I'm Number One!

A toddler I cared for asked me to sing him songs one day. I started to sing, and after each song he would say "one more!" This went on for awhile, to the point I was running out of songs. I told him that he would get 3 more songs, and to count them as I sang them. He said OK, and held up 3 fingers. As I finished each song, he would put a finger down, which was great, since I could tell he was grasping the counting concept. In the middle of my third and final song, I looked over at his little hand, which had one final finger remaining in the "up" position. I did my best, but I ended up lauging. Instead of having his pointer finger raised as most of us would do when counting down, the last finger standing was his middle. I'm sorry, but it looked like the kid was flicking me off! He asked me "Maaaaary, what's so funny?" in his cute little voice, laughing along with me but not knowing why. I sidetracked the question, and told him in a serious but not stern voice "Honey, when you are you counting the number 1, you should use this finger, not that one." and helped him figure it out. I thought I handled it well. I didn't say the middle finger was "bad", or "wrong", because that would have opened the door for him to ask "why?", at which point thoughts of teaching him about road rage might have entered my mind. Good job, "Number One Nanny" ! :)