Kid-bits and Stuff

Teagan has been playing in her room before bedtime each evening. She gets about 5 or 10 minutes of independent quiet play time and then it's sleep time. Lately, there has been an addition to this routine. I'll be sitting on the couch and she comes running out of her bedroom... "Mommy! I was looking out the window and I saw a MONSTER!" (insert quivering chin and chattering teeth) "A monster? What did it look like?" "It's big and gray and has 20 eyes and 3 mouths!" "No ears?" "Uh... no, no ears." "Whew! No ears! Easy to beat- he can't hear you sneaking up on him!" We then scoop up pretend tennis balls and throw them out the window to knock him over. The next night... "Mommy! I was looking out the window and I saw a MONSTER!" (insert quivering chin and chattering teeth) "A monster? What did it look like?" "It's big and gray and has 20 eyes and 3 mouths and this time he has EARS!" "Hmmm... do his eyes go all the way around his head?" "Oh yes. Wait! I know how to stop him!" "You do? Tell me!" "He's so tall that he can't see us way down here! We can throw pretend rocks at him!" So we scoop up pretend rocks and throw them out the window. And the monster runs away. He hasn't come back but maybe he'll visit again soon. *** Driving in the car, on our way to dance class... "Mom? How big do I have to be to not sit in my carseat anymore? 10 years old?" "Well, honey, it isn't about how many years you are. It's when you weigh enough and are tall enough that it is safe for you to not be in your carseat." Silence, as she mulls this over. "Maybe when I'm 10, I can sit in a big girl seat without my car seat. And then I won't pick my nose." *** Zach took a little nap this morning. He now sleeps in his big boy bed all the time. But he tends to wake up, sit up, and call for whatever family member he wants to see. Today, he changed it up. I hear... a knocking. On his door. From inside his room. He woke up, turned on his bedroom light, got out of bed, read some books, and then knocked on his door to let me know he was ready to come out! He's a genius! *** This afternoon, we head to Target to pick up a small photo album for Teagan to carry pictures of her brother with her in her backpack at school. We drove by her school on the way home form church and Teagan announced that she is very happy to go to school tomorrow. She has a new pair of shoes (from the clearance shelf at Target- only $1.49), her new backpack, will soon have her photo album, has discussed the drop off routine for tomorrow, has picked out her clothes. The camera is charged, the memory card new and empty, the tissues have been purchased. We are as ready as we can be. I am so excited, so ready, so eager for all the things she is going to learn and experience. And yes, I think I will cry. Maybe.