The Pretty Pretty Princess Party

Today Peanut turned 3. The only thing she asked for was a "pretty, pretty princess party." Since she doesn't go to school and really only has one little friend, we kept it small (which is still big compared a lot of families) and celebrated a day early. Good Mommy came through with a pretty good cake too:



She kept hugging me and saying "It's so pretty!" as I was making it. It took two hours and one MAJOR hand cramp to make it, but the happiness it brought her made it so worth it.

Dear Peanut,

You are my little ray of sunshine. Even when a storm cloud brews over your head, it passes in seconds and that big beaming smile returns. That smile is so big it takes up half your face and it makes me smile too.

You are a tiny bundle of energy. It makes me laugh that you don't even weigh 10 pounds for each year that you've been alive. You are smart, hilarious, sweet and kind. We are so, so lucky to have you in our family. Thank you for being such a wonderful little girl.

Love,
Mommy

Thanks...

...to readers Carolyn, Wendy and Gretchen for signing up for Swagbucks through my blog. You may have noticed that the Swagbucks format has changed a bit over the last day or two, but you are still earning bucks none the less.

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Daddy To The Rescue

Peanut: Mommy, tomorrow I want to go swimming.

Mommy: I think it's too cold outside for swimming.

Peanut: That's OK. Daddy will fix it.

Oh

StinkyMan posed a question yesterday that hurt my heart on a couple of levels.

"Mommy, how come some people hate some people?"

Oh.

Oh!

That is such a hard question to answer and it makes me sad that at the ripe old age of almost 5, he even knows anything at all about hate. We don't use that word in our house. It's a punishable offense.

I tried to think fast, tried to frame my answer on a preschool level and tried to remember that his version of "hate" is the kid who takes your playground ball and not Nazis and terrorists and hate crimes.

"Well...." I said carefully, trying to be truthful and simple all at once. "I think some people have too much energy and time to think about what they don't like. And all that energy and time turns into hate. If they spent time and energy thinking about what they like about someone, they might make friends instead. Like if you don't like somebody, you could think 'I don't really like that guy, but he has a nice smile.' "

He looked confused, so I pressed on.

"See, you don't have to love everyone. You don't even have to like everyone. It's OK not to like somebody. But when you don't like someone, just don't worry about them. Find something else to think about, like what you are going to have for lunch or what game you are going to play on the Wii when you get home. Hate takes a lot of energy and makes you an unhappy person. It's such a waste of your brain and your heart."

"It's not nice to hate somebody." He said solemnly from the backseat of the car.

"No, it isn't." I looked at my boy in the rear view mirror. "Who do you know who hates somebody?"

"Nobody. Everybody I know is nice."

"That's good, Bub. I'm glad you have such nice people around you."

If only it were that simple for the world, no? I wish all of us, especially the children, could never know hate. I wish there were more tolerance for differences. I wish my children would never have to learn that the world is filled with hate and hateful people. I wish no one hid their hate behind "tradition" or "religion" or "history" or "culture". I wish we could all just think about what's for lunch or what Wii game we want to play when we get home. I wish that we could all learn to appreciate each other and understand that while we may not understand everyone, we all have to exist together on this planet and that differences are part of what makes our world interesting.

And I wish that everyone was nice, just like in StinkyMan's world. Don't you?

Smart

Curly (filling out a gift tag): Mommy, can I write Love, Curly and Stinkyman and Peanut and BabyGirl on it?

Me: Just write "Love All of us"

Curly: OK.....how do you spell "Olevus"

Me: All. Of. Us?

Curly: Ooooooh. I know how to spell that. Never mind.

Yeah. Maybe we won't sign up for that gifted and talented program quite yet.

Expensive

StinkyMan: Mommy, did you know that when you have an itch it's good to scratch it?

Mommy: Yes, it does feel good to scratch an itchy spot, that's true.

StinkyMan: But you shouldn't scratch too hard because then you could get an owie.

Mommy: No, too hard isn't good.

StinkyMan: But four year old boys can't get owies, know why?

Mommy: Why?

StinkyMan: Because we are too expensive.

Mommy: Too expensive?

StinkyMan: Yeah, do you know what that means?

Mommy: No. What does that mean?

StinkyMan: It means that a lot of people love us.

Mommy: Oh. Well it's true, then. You are very expensive.

StinkyMan: Yeah.

My baby...

...isn't a baby anymore.

She's a full fledged toddler.

She will be 18 months this month.

Yesterday I went to pull her out of her crib after nap and, I don't know why, but when I lifted her my arms were prepped for baby weight, but it was a toddler in my arms instead.

And with sadness I realized that I really don't have a baby in the house anymore.

She's getting so big. She runs EVERYWHERE. She says "yes, no, hi, night-night, mama" and "YAY!" She is starting to throw tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants. She communicates her wants and needs super effectively. She always wants to be with her siblings, because they are probably doing something fun and she recognizes that. Daddy and Grammy are the end all be all people and she lights up and squeals when she sees them.

I had a little chat with her about staying small but I don't think she cared. Why would she? None of the other kids ever did and big is fun. Little is so...babyish, which may be what I want, but will be something that she, the youngest of 4, will spend her childhood trying hard not to be.

And so with a great sigh I accept that I have run out of babies. I think I will always miss having one.

Bring it on. You know you want to comment that it must be time for one more.

And you'd be wrong. ;)