Peep Toes

I think it's well established that Paige has a shoe fetish.  She has been obsessed with shoes since she was around a year old.  It really is all about the shoes in this house.  Some mornings I let Paige help pick out my clothes.  It's not a big deal to me.  Especially since I have a hard time deciding some mornings exactly what I want to wear.  Paige has been picking out my clothes based on what shoes I can wear with it.  She has to ask what shoes go with something before she picks it out.  At this point she's mostly figured out what type of shoe goes with what type of clothing.  She knows tennis shoes do not go with a dress or skirt.

Lately Paige has been completely fascinated with my peep toe shoes.  She keeps picking out dresses and skirts that will work with the peep toe shoes I have.  I have a pair of blue and white spectator style pumps with the ankle strap and peep toe.  Then there's the 4 1/2 inch black Candies' patent leather peep toe pumps.  She's picked those out twice this week.  I'm going to have to buy something else to go with the blue and white shoes.  They only match one dress, and I'm getting a bit tired of wearing it frequently.  It's also a bit dressy for work.  The other problem with that is my knee.  The arthritis in my knee doesn't like all these high heel peep toe shoes.  I'm glad tomorrow is casual Friday at work.  I get to wear jeans, a t-shirt and my Converse.  Sounds great to me.

Playing Paige Style

We encourage Paige to be creative.  Her idea of playing may not fit in with what every 4 year old girl normally does.  Last night we went bowling.  We didn't go with a huge group of people, just me, Ronnie, Paige and a couple of other adult friends.  Luckily, our adult friends are as warped on SciFi as we are.

Paige and I were wearing our Silly Bandz bracelets.  I'm currently wearing the Princess collection, and Paige is wearing the jungle animals collection.  One of my bracelets is a shoe; one of hers is a bug.  I'm sure you can see where this is going.  She took off the bug and had it attack me.  I certainly didn't want bug on me, so I took off the shoe to smash the bug.  It seems smashing the bug wasn't enough.  Paige pulled my iPhone out of my purse, opened the Sonic Screwdriver app, and used it on the bug.

Yes, my child used a Sonic Screwdriver app on a bug Silly Bandz bracelet.  Normal? Probably not.  Fun?  Most definitely.  We were giggling and having a great time.  At least she was being nice about it.  She didn't open the phaser app and set it to kill instead of stun.  That would have been worse.

I Said WHAT???

As a parent I've said things I never thought would come out of my mouth.  One of my favorites has always been "Don't lick the dog."  Another of my favorites is "Cats don't wear chapstick."  After those words escaped my mouth I immediately threw away all of my chapstick.  You know, just in case that wasn't the first time she had tried to put it on the cats.  Especially since she was trying to put it on the cat's butt.  Gross.

Today was another of those priceless expressions.  We were getting ready for Tae Kwon Do and trying to get out the door.  Paige stopped at her toy box to pick something to bring with her.  She decided she needed a pink princess tiara to wear during class.  I actually said the words, "Sorry, Paige, but we can't wear a pink princess crown during Tae Kwon Do class."

How many parents have said that one?

Back to being parents

We picked Paige up from Grammy's house this afternoon.  She said she didn't want to come home with us, she wanted to stay with Grammy.  She only cried for us once the whole weekend, and that was only because she thought she was in trouble.  Paige had pulled something from the back of Granny's computer.  My mom, Grammy, didn't know how to fix it, so she told Paige they would have to get Uncle Kenny.  Paige was afraid he would be mad at her and started crying for us.  Once he told her she wasn't in trouble she happily went back to playing and didn't want to go home.

Ronnie worked yesterday and I enjoyed my day to myself.  I spent the day reading, relaxing, and just recharging my batteries.  This would have been better if my arthritis was under better control and I wasn't hurting quite so much.  I finished one book and started on another.  Ronnie got home last night and we just spent the evening watching a movie and enjoying the quiet.  This morning, we did something we don't normally get to do.  We slept past 6 am.  I can hear the other parents of small children wishing for the same thing.  We slept till 8:30 this morning.  And a big thank you to Ambien for that pleasure.  Our anniversary dinner got moved to an anniversary lunch.  Ronnie got home from work too late to grill last night.

This morning we relaxed more and watched another movie.  Our Netflix que is completely caught up for the first time in a long time.  We had a leisurely lunch of rib eyes with grilled asparagus and Brussels sprouts and sauteed onions and mushrooms.  After eating we went to get Paige.  We missed her and were ready to get her back.  We get to the store to pick her up and she was happy to see us, then let us know she wanted to stay with Grammy.  Of course she did.  She gets away with so much more at Grammy's house.  After the evening we had I'm sure she would like to go back.  Paige had an issue with talking back and sticking her feet in my face.  After some reinforcing of the rules around here, we're back on track.

Tomorrow morning it's back to the normal routine around here.  Paige will go to school while Ronnie and I go back to work.  We have a meeting Tuesday night about Paige staring K-4 in the fall.  I can't believe my baby is already starting school.

Weeks half way over

More or less.  Paige has been having a blast at VBS this week.  The first night she came home so hyped up on sugar and wasn't listening at all.  We had issues with brushing teeth and going potty.  Paige was told one more chance, if she was like that on Monday night, she wouldn't go back again.  Problem solved, Paige was much better the other nights.  Ronnie and I have watched a couple of movies from Netflix that were gathering dust.


This morning Paige and I were going over her schedule for the rest of the week.  Today was water day at daycare, then karate this afternoon, and finally VBS tonight.  Tomorrow she has a field trip to a bowling alley, then the final night of VBS.  Friday is ice cream day at daycare then she goes to Grammy's house for the weekend.  She's really looking forward to that.  She's especially excited about working in Granny's store.  Paige asked me this morning if she would be the boss.  I laughed and told her Granny is the boss.  That actually disappointed Paige. She was looking forward to being the boss and telling everyone what to do.  I didn't want to tell her that as a great grandchild she can get her way more than she realizes.  I'm not about to tell her that.  She has to figure it out for herself like the rest of us did.

Ronnie and I are trying to decide what to do for our anniversary.  It's a big one for us, number six.  Both of us were married before, and both of us divorced just after five years.  We're definitely celebrating making it to six.  We have decided on small gifts for each other.  Ronnie's is back ordered, but he said he's willing to wait.  This is what I'm getting him.  It's perfect.  As much as I plan everything else, our celebration is still up in the air.  We haven't decided if we're going out or staying in.

Childless Week

This week Ronnie and I are getting a break from parenting, for the most part.  It's almost like our own little summer vacation.  This week is Vacation Bible School, VBS, with Aunt Wii.  It's Sunday through Thursday nights, 6 to 8:30 PM.  Ronnie will get Paige from daycare, and feed her supper before she goes.  Ronnie gets off work a few hours before I do, so I won't get home till close to time to leave for VBS.  I'll still get her up in the morning and get her ready for school.  By the time she gets home in the evening it will be after her bedtime, so it will be a quick bath, then off to bed.

This coming weekend is our 6th anniversary.  Paige is having a sleep over with Grammy.  When I get off work Friday I'll drive her over and drop her off.  We'll go back Sunday afternoon to get her.  Paige is looking forward to this sleep over.  My grandmother, Granny, owns a store and Paige will go work in the store for a day.  I'm sure she'll love pretending she's the boss.  Ronnie has to work Saturday, so I'll get the day to myself.  I'm still trying to decide what to do with myself.  I've got the obvious covered: sleep late and read.  I just need a few other suggestions.

This is Paige's 3rd year going to VBS.  She really enjoys it each time.  She comes home talking about the things she did that night.  I'm glad she's going and having fun.  Each time as VBS is starting I keep thinking about how nice it will be to have a small break.  By the time the week is close to over, I'm missing her.  And feeling guilty, I hardly see her and don't really feel like Mommy.  I'm sure she'll have fun and enjoy herself, and that's what matters.

Sprucing up the place

I'm doing a bit of cleaning up around here.  You've probably noticed the updated background.  Paige loves pink and pirates.  Seemed like a really good background; at least for now.  I'm not sold on it, so when you come back tomorrow you may find it changed to something else.  The banner is also a work in progress.  I'm not sold on the pictures, so I'll have to do some more digging in one of three computers and four hard drives floating around here to find some I'm in love with.  I am in love with the one of Paige laying in my bed reading though.  That just shows how much she's me.

You'll notice I've cleaned up my blog roll.  I've finally admitted that some of the bloggers have completely stopped, and added some that I've been reading.  I even updated my book list to what I'm currently reading, and my favorite authors.  I'm not currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird, but it's one of my favorite books of all time, and I pick it up again at least once or twice a year.  Orson Scott Card is by far my favorite science fiction author.  Twilight books sucked me in completely.  And Paige is all about Curious George and The Magic Tree House books.  We read some from the Tree House books every day.

I'll be playing with the format and changing things up a bit.  Please remember I'll be doing this in Safari, and checking it in Firefox as well.  I do not have Internet Explorer.  If you use IE and it loads funky for you, please let me know.  You can either leave a note in comments or email me.  The email is scifimama at gmail dot com.

Tonight is Paige's recital.  Wish us luck.  First that she does well.  Second, that we make it through the performance tonight with no drama.  There are more issues with the dance teacher than I've posted here. We were told if we didn't play extremely nice Paige would not be allowed to dance and we would be kicked out by security.  Ronnie's letter got a scathing 3 page reply that got mean and nasty.

Recital Pictures

Paige's first dance recital is coming up this Saturday.  There's no way we could make the recital pictures they had planned for us. Especially since the date and time of the pictures is constantly changing and we still don't have a set time other than sometime Saturday.  That wasn't going to work for us, so we took Paige to get recital pictures taken somewhere else.  We used Portrait Innovations instead.  Here's my favorites from our session on Saturday.

If you haven't tried them yet, you should really check them out.  They have lots of backgrounds, encourage outfit changes, and are very reasonably priced.

Creative Parenting

We've been having some issues at daycare.  Very unladylike issues.  Paige has been pulling her dress up and showing her panties.  We've tried and tried to make her stop.  And she does for a little while, depending on the punishment, but it never seems to last. We've tried talking to her, time outs, spankings, and grounding her for the night.  All of these have had varying degrees of success.  She'll stop for a time, then start back up again.  After the last time she did it I told her if she did it again I wouldn't let her wear dresses to daycare again.  That seemed to work for about a month.

Today when I dropped her off I was told she kept doing it so much yesterday they made her change into shorts.  Yes, I noticed she wasn't in a dress when I got home yesterday, I'm not that unobservant.  But she and Ronnie had been bike riding, and they always change out of a dress to ride bikes, so I didn't think anything of it.  No, she was being bad and showing her panties.  She also bit Cameron and threw rocks at windows.  The biting was an easy solution.  I told her next time she bites Cameron I will let Cameron bite her back.  Teachers may not be able to let it happen, but Mommy can.  Paige doesn't want Cameron to bite her because it hurts.  Hopefully that will stop her from biting.  Mac Mac, her teacher, got her to stop throwing rocks by letting her know if she throws rocks again she'll lose some playground privileges.  The dress thing was a bit more difficult.  I did follow through on my promise of no more dresses to daycare.  But I also told her I would talk to Daddy and we would decide on her punishment together.

As I drove to work I called Ronnie to talk about it.  I had told her she couldn't wear dresses to daycare, but that still left lots of other places to wear one.  There was still weekends, church with Aunt Wii, Grammy's house, lots of places.  Ronnie took it one step further.  She can't wear dresses for a month. Ronnie brought home a couple of small boxes from work and Paige packed up her dresses and skirts.  She understands why she can't wear them.  We stacked the boxes up on a dresser in her bedroom with the date on them of when she can wear them again.  I was going to take a picture to post here, but at the last minute Paige had a temper tantrum and got sent to bed in a hurry.  I didn't have a chance to snap a picture.

I'm hoping this punishment will be effective.  Paige loves to wear dresses and not being able to wear them for a month will be pretty harsh on her.  That may sound like overkill to some of you.  But we're hoping that by taking them away, by the time she gets them back she'll have broken the habit.  Or, she'll be so happy to have dresses again that she won't want to lose the privilege for another month.

Self Rescuing Princess

Like most 4 year old girls Paige likes playing Princess.  She likes the Disney Princesses, has lots of princess dress up clothes, and says she wants to be a princess when she grows up.  That's great.  I know she'll go through many likes and dislikes as she grows up.  Ronnie and I may not like the whole princess thing, but we are most definitely letting her be her own person and express herself.  All of that is great.  We want her to have fun and at this stage, that includes princesses.

Of course, Mommy is a rather independent person.  That's how I was raised.  I want Paige to be independent as well.  Most of the princess stories don't really have self sufficient heroines; they're waiting around for a prince to come save them.  We have plenty of those stories around here.  I was wanting more books that showed the princess as the heroine, not the damsal in distress.  As I was browsing one of my favorite websites, Think Geek, I found this shirt.  Ah yes, they have it in both Mommy & Paige sizes.  I love the write up on this shirt.  Think Geek does a great job on all of their descriptions.

As I read, I knew all of the women or movies they mentioned: Star Wars, Buffy, Wonder Woman.  But who was this Elizabeth?  I hadn't read the book they mentioned The Paper Bag Princess.  I did a quick search and found the basis for this story.  I knew we had to have it.  This princess takes charge, kicks a dragons butt, and tells the prince off in the end.  Paige may not understand the whole meaning behind the story yet, but she does understand most of it.  The first time we read it she was sad they didn't get married in the end.  Then I pointed out that the prince wasn't very nice to her, and she agreed Elizabeth needs to marry someone nice.  We've now read the book 4 times in the very first day.  She keeps asking me to read it to her again and again.

Girls Weekend

Paige and I are having a girls weekend.  During tax season Ronnie picked up the majority of the housework.  He also did a lot of the parenting while I was working late and gave up his weekends and time with friends to care for Paige.  Now that tax season is over, I'm back to more reasonable hours. I worked 45 hours last week instead of the 50-60 a week before April 15th.

Ronnie made plans to go to a Sci Fi convention this weekend.  Let's be honest, I would LOVE to go to a good Sci Fi convention.  But this one?  Not so much.  It's a small one in town and is designed more for gamers than Sci Fi addicts.  Now, if it were ComiCon in Vegas I would sooooo be the first one packed.  Ronnie packed his bags this morning and went off for the weekend.  He's staying with a friend at the hotel.  That way he can come and go and be out as last as he wants having fun and gaming with friends.

While he's out Paige and I are having some good Mommy Daughter time.  So far today we've been to the pet store, a great free place she loves, and the grocery store.  Depending on when the rain gets here we'll spend our afternoon at either the park or the mall.  She asked to go to the mall so she can get a Starbucks.  I'm thinking this afternoon will involve painting toenails and having some girly time.  Tomorrow she's going to church with Aunt Wii while I do some housework and curl up on the couch with a good book.  From the sounds I hear coming from the monitor, my little girl is up and ready to continue our afternoon of fun.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

I loved Saturday morning cartoons as a kid.  There was nothing better than getting up, getting a bowl of cereal and claiming the bean bag chair for hours to watch them.  It was great.  I watched Smurfs, Looney Tunes, School House Rocks, all the good ones.  Yesterday morning I watched cartoons with Paige.  And I realized, once again, Saturday morning cartoons are just crappy.  I think part of it is e no longer have to wait for Saturday to watch cartoons.  Our cable network has at least 5 channels dedicated to cartoons.  Plus Disney Channel which has lots of cartoons.

I'm not opposed to new cartoons.  Really, I'm not.  There are some out there that I really like.  Like Phineas and Ferb, and The Fairly Odd Parents.  Luckily, Paige likes both of those.  In fact, we invited Phineas and Ferb to her birthday party in January.  They declined, of course, via Facebook, where Daddy is friends with the creator.  It's just that most of the stuff on the networks on Saturday morning is just yucky.  Badly written, badly drawn, badly voiced.  We're sticking with the stuff on Nick and Disney mostly, with some Cartoon Network thrown in.  

Of course, we do want Paige to know the good stuff too.  We have several season packages of Smurfs and Fraggle Rock.  We have all of School House Rocks.  She seems to enjoy them.  Good thing too.  There's a Smurf movie coming out next year that Mommy wants to see.  It's much better if I can take her with me to see it.  I'll get less funny looks that way.

Magic Tree House

I should probably start this by saying we are a family of readers.  Think about it, we named our daughter Paige.  And that's not just because of Paige on Charmed or because Ronnie insisted we have a P name for her middle name.  (Her monogram is STP, you know, like the band.)  Thanks to this blog by Jonah Lisa we have discovered The Magic Tree House books.  Her son, Huck, is the same age as Paige and I decided if he can sit through several chapters a night, we would try it too.

At first I tried to get these from the library, but then realized that was too slow.  They didn't have them in order, or would have to get them from another branch.  We're going through them at a rate of 1 book every 3 days and the library just couldn't keep up with her.  I've taken to buying them in sets of 4 from Barnes and Noble.  I love their pick up service.  Find the book I want online, reserve it in the store, get a text telling me it's ready, stop by and pick it up.  No having to search for it, or have a wasted trip.  

To say Paige has become hooked is an understatement.  She absolutely loves this series.  I'm sure she doesn't understand quite all of it yet, but she will.  One of the good things about owning the series is she can go back and re read them for herself when she gets older.  The series is based on a brother and sister, Jack and Annie, and their adventures in a magical tree house Annie finds in the woods.  We usually read 3 chapters a night for 2 nights, then finish the last 4 chapters on the 3rd night.  Sometimes on weekends we cheat and read some during the day plus our usual chapters at night.  You know it must be good when your 4 year old brings you the book and asks you to keep reading.  

We started book 9 last night, Dolphins at Daybreak.  Paige has already pulled out book 10, Ghost Town at Sundown, and asked how many more nights until she can read that one.

April, In Pictures

Things are settling back down to normal around here.  Tax season is over and we're getting back into the routine of both Mommy & Daddy being around.  I do realize I haven't posted many pictures lately, so here's our April, in pictures.  Prepare for picture overload, and enjoy.

Paige in her Easter dress with Star the unicorn at the botanical gardens.

Paige and Daddy relaxing with books in the spring/ summer ready back yard.

The Easter Bunny was good to us.  To all of us.  First to Paige.

And also to Mommy, Daddy, and Grammy.  Mommy got the Kinder Egg, Daddy got a Perry, and Grammy got a selection of sugar free candies.  We all got bubbles.

Daycare had an Easter egg hunt and party.  We both took off work to make it and had a blast.

Easter Sunday was spent with Ronnie's Dad and Step Mom at their crawfish boil.  The drive to New Orleans was completely worth it.

Paige decided she wanted to learn to boil for herself. 

The weekend after Easter Paige needed a new bike.  14 inch?  Legs not fully extended. 16 inch?  Legs still not fully extended.  18 inch????!!!!????  Yep.  

That weekend was also Girls Day with Grammy, Aunt Glennis and cousin Nicole.  We made a trip to Bellingrath Gardens to see the azaleas in bloom.  Paige got to meet Aslan from Chronicles of Narnia.  To be honest, I'm not sure what the lions name is supposed to be, but that's what we've named him.

April 16th is my birthday.  We had a few friends over that Saturday.  Ronnie and Paige baked my cake, as usual.  This year I asked for a cake I had when I was a kid, R2-D2.  Same cake pan by the way.  It's a 30 year old cake pan and used sparingly these days.

Paige and Daddy planted me some pretty flowers for my birthday since they'll last longer than cut flowers.  They even planted my favorite- daisy's.

Most recently, Tia Patti and Uncle Hal celebrated their 15th anniversary with an awesome party.  It was an 80's theme, at the skating rink.  Paige started learning to skate.

I think that catches you up on our April so far.  We'll close out the month with Relay for Life Friday night.

Coolest Parents of the Year

And the award goes to US!  Here's why.

Before

During

After

Paige and Mommy both have pink hair now.  How many parents let their 4 year old have pink hair?  It's only a temporary.  It will wash out in a couple of weeks with regular washing.

Conversation with Paige

Coming home from daycare today Paige noticed something on the windshield.

Paige: "Is that bird poop on your window?"

Mommy: "Yep."

Paige: "Why?"

Mommy: "I guess you didn't find the bird and put a diaper on it."

Paige: "Well, this time I'll find the bird and shoot it."

Mommy: "Why would you shoot the bird?"

Paige: "So it doesn't poop on your window again.  That wasn't nice."

Mommy: "What will you do with the bird after you shoot it?"

Paige: "Bury it so no one can find it."

Hmmm.  I'm wondering if the bird is in the witness protection program so we have to make sure it's never found.  Her original idea, several months ago, was to catch all birds and put diapers on them.

The Easter Bunny Rocks!

I love Easter.  It's usually close to my birthday, and has my favorite candy of all time: Peeps.  I know, I know, you can get Peeps all year round now basically, but the Halloween Peeps aren't the same as the yellow chicken Peeps.  A real Peeps lover understands that.

I, excuse me, the Easter Bunny, has been picking up items here and there when they are on sale.  Aqua Sand, Moon Sand, Pixos, Princess Crazy Bands bracelets, Tinkerbell wings, pajamas, lots of stuff.  Toys R Us has had some buy one get one free sales, I had a really good coupon for The Disney Store, things just add up.  I've got stuff hidden under the bed just saving it.  The Bunny found some cool plastic eggs at Walmart of all places.  They look like cupcakes. And they aren't the usual really cheap flimsy eggs you usually get either. These are a harder plastic that should hold up for a little longer than usual.  They will be great for playing tea party and in her kitchen.  Plastic Easter eggs tend to stick around for months of playing afterwards.  I'm still stepping on some from last year.  At least this way they'll be cute and have a purpose.

The ultimate part of the Easter basket is usually the chocolate bunny.  Not this year.  This year the Bunny went all out.  When Mommy lived in Germany I got hooked on something called a Kinder Egg.  They are amazing.  The description on Wikipedia doesn't do them justice.  Imagine a thin layer of milk chocolate delicately lined with white chocolate, and a cool toy hidden inside.  How much better can it get than that?  They are so delicate that they melt easily and can only be made during the colder months, even in Germany.  At least that's what I was told by my German friends.  They aren't sold in the US.  Something about the pieces of the toy being so small and a choking hazard.  Oh well.  There are still companies willing to ship them in.  Even better, at Christmas and Easter, they make something called Kinder Egg Maxi.  The regular eggs are only 2 1/2 inches, these bad boys are 7 1/2 inches tall and have an even bigger toy inside.  I ordered two, one for me, one for Paige.  Hey, if the Bunny can get one delivered from Canada, he better get two, cuz Mommy isn't sharing!  They arrived in the mail today. I ordered from this site a few weeks ago.  I can't wait to see what Paige says.  And I really can't wait to dig into my egg to see if it's as amazing as I remember.

Don't worry, the Bunny didn't forget Daddy.  I just can't mention what Daddy is getting since he reads my blog.

Growing up too fast?

Every generation seems to think the one below it is growing up too fast.  And for the most part, I do agree that kids tend to grow up faster with each generation.  Advances in technology make it seem that way.  Some of our parents are just now learning to use computers.  We started using them years ago in the work place.  Our children were on them by the age of 2.  So yes, it appears they are growing up faster.  Paige can play a computer game, the Wii, and my iPhone really well.  She knows how to send a text message and what games there are on my phone to play.  (Thank you, Steve Jobs, for building in a lock feature which prevents her from calling Chine on my phone.)

I don't think Paige is growing up faster than I did.  Or at least not dramatically growing up faster.  I also don't think she's behind in her peers.  At least, I didn't.  She's 4.  She doesn't know who Hannah Montana or iCarly are.  She knows Phineas & Ferb, Spongebob, Dora and Wonder Pets.  She picks out her own clothes in the morning and usually puts her black pirate rain boots with whatever she's wearing.  Her clothes cover her body.  No bare stomach shirts, shorts cover her little bum.  You would think this would be the norm for kids her age.  But I'm learning it's not.

Over the past few weekends we've been to birthday parties at local parks.  Kids there, also around the 3 or 4 age group, are dressing in little midriff showing shirts.  Usually with Hannah Montana on them, or at least something else from her on their clothes. They are talking to their parents in rather nasty voices and expecting to get away with it.  Probably because they do.  I don't have anything against Miley Cyrus.  I'm not a fan of her music, but at least she wears clothes and isn't a horrible role model for young girls.  Paige just doesn't find her show interesting to watch.  I saw girls at Toys R Us dressed like small versions of their Mom, complete with the little dress and tiny heels.  Do our 4 year olds really need that?

I don't think Paige is sheltered.  She is just having fun and being a little girl.  She picks out her clothes, and for the most part wants jeans or shorts.  She likes dresses, but says she can't play as well on the playground in a dress.  She may go 2 weeks wearing nothing but shorts, then go a month wearing all dresses.  It all depends on her mood.  I see nothing wrong with some kids having their own cell, depending on the situation.  Not all guidelines apply to each situation.  I try not to look at kids at the playground and make snap judgments.  I will say that sometimes, that can be rather hard.

Mommy is So Proud

We all hope that we'll raise kids who are like us.  We want them to be good kids who enjoy the same things we do.  Somehow I managed to get a little girl who loves pink and can be the ultimate girly girl in her ballet clothes.  I love lime green and my biggest girly indulgence is my pedicures.  We both love shoes, but that's to be expected, right?

First I'm proud that the washing her own hair concept is getting better.  That could be because of the bribe I offered, but I'm not positive.  Well, I am positive that's why, but I'll take what I can get.  If Paige can listen to us, and wash her own hair for a week with no screaming fits, we'll take her to Chuck E Cheese.  She's been begging to go for a few months now.  We've managed to put it off until now, so I think we did good.

Second, I'm so proud that she's starting to be like little versions of Mommy and Daddy.  I'm seeing some of our likes coming out in her.  What I'm seeing now makes me think she'll be a pretty cool kid to hang out with in a few years.  Yesterday we were driving home from daycare.  I had the radio on to a station that plays what they want.  It's mostly 70's, 80's, and 90's rock.  Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train came on.  I looked in the rearview mirror to catch Paige head banging.  She's been working on her head banging here and there, and it's the first time I've seen her do it to the right music.  Although, I will say that watching her bang her little head to Rascal Flatts is hilarious!

Then tonight on the way home, Paige started talking about a new toy she would like.  She said she really, really needs a pair of vampire teeth.  Paige has announced she likes vampires.  She wants to see a vampire movie now too.  I wonder if I can find a vampire movie she can watch.  I think there was a child vampire movie with the kid from Jerry Maguire.  She's definitely not ready for Bram Stoker's Dracula, or Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire.  Twilight?  I enjoyed the books, but not really the first movie.  I haven't seen the second yet; it doesn't come out on DVD until next week.  Besides, vampires don't sparkle in sunlight, they burn up.  Everyone knows that.

It looks like there are some ways that Paige is like us.  She's enjoying the same music we do, and is showing some interest in our types of movies.  I wonder if this has anything to do with the first book I ever read out loud to her: Stephen King.  What can I say?  She was a newborn and he had a new book that had just come out.

Horrible Parents

We are such horrible, horrible parents.  Someone should probably call child services on us.  We sent Paige to bed at 6:30 tonight.  We told her that would happen if she threw a temper tantrum.  We had this conversation at the dinner table.  Then we repeated it again as I was running the water for her bath.  We were just trying to make sure she knew the rules before we got started.  Tonight was a big occasion.

You see, tonight Paige was going to wash her own hair for the first time.  Yep.  At the age of 4 we've decided to not wash her hair anymore. We've been having these little talks with her about how she's growing up.  It's time she did more things for herself.  Paige can put her own clothes on, but a lot of times she decides she doesn't want to; she wants us to do it for her. We've decided she needs to do these things for herself.  She knows how to do them, she just needs to do them more.

Paige, of course, threw a complete temper tantrum.  She was sent to bed early, kicking and screaming the whole way.  She's now in bed and sleeping peacefully.  She wore herself out from all the screaming.  We turned down the monitor so we couldn't hear her as well.  Then, being the super awesome parents we are, we put in a movie.  Yeah, as my child screamed and cried because she had to wash her own hair, we watched Zombieland.