When I'm Old, I'll Be Five

    Several weeks have gone by with Evelynn reminding me that "On April 14, when I'm old, I'll be five," and I've mulled over in my mind what I would put in this space in honor of her birthday. My heart and soul want to be cliche and bemoan that fact that my oldest is five. Where has time gone? Time flies. They grow up so fast. I can't stand that so many of you with grown children are right about this. But then I thought maybe I could fill this space with her witticisms. Honestly, after all the thoughts about Evelynn's 5th Birthday, I still don't know what to write. It's surreal.

    Her interests are so different from previous years. She's incredibly specific about how she sees life. She's my little responsible person. She is thoughtful, kind, protective. I can't say that I know too many five year olds that voluntarily clean their room, help me clean other rooms, take care of her sisters, watch over her sisters, and show such a mature level of concern about life. She is the advice giver. She is brutally honest, but somehow knows to temper it with love. She calls it like it is. Of course, we work with her on appropriateness of her talks and when to just remain silent (which for her can be quite hard), but I love that she already has a healthy sense of boundaries, what's wrong and what's right.

    Evelynn loves music, adores her dance class, loves writing/drawing and is desperate to read. Already she can be found late at night, with her light low and a pile of books beside her. Having spent so much of my life doing the same, I have a hard time telling her it's bed time. She has a quick ear, capable of picking out anything that is said or sung, whether it's in English or another language (particularly German). I look forward to introducing her to another culture and immersing her in another way of life and language when we got to Germany next month. She will tell you all about that, too. Time is not moving fast enough for her, but yes, it is for me. I want to put a brick on her head, tell her to quit growing like a weed and tell her she's supposed to stay a little girl. But I won't. I look forward to the next year of her life more than I wish it wouldn't come.

Target with 5,3 and 1

    Shopping has become a major ordeal, and not necessarily because my children are misbehaving. Take yesterday, for example. I had 45 minutes to get the few things on my list and make it to Evelynn's dance class on time. We make it through the door, load up in that Cadillac cart (the new three seater at Target, it's an improvement on the last one, but the seats for the two older girls are too narrow and look really uncomfortable and the buckles for all three of them are not efficient in holding them down). We walk twenty feet into the store and two of my children have to go to the bathroom. Ten minutes later we are back in the cart. Then it really begins.
    McKenna smiles and says "Hi" to everyone who passes us. Evelynn introduces our entire family or talks nonstop to anyone who even looks our way. Caelan horrifies any observers of the other two gabbing girls with her antics in this new cart. I become an incessant stream of "What are you doing? Sit down. Stop talking. They don't want to talk to you right now. Sit down. Stop growling. No, we don't need every box of fruitsnacks that are made. Sit down. Where are you going? Get back in the cart. Keep your head in the cart. Your head almost hit the shelf. That lady can't get by. Your body is in the way. Are we not taking up enough space as it is with this big cart? We don't have to tell everyone everything we know. Now is not a good time to show that person how you can dance. Sit down. Please, stop talking. No, we don't need peanut butter. Yes, I know it's peanut butter. Get back in the cart. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? You're not listening to me. Did you hear what I just said? Then why aren't you doing it? SIT DOWN. How on earth can you still stand up when you are buckled in as tight as I can make the straps? Caelan, that man does not want to speak to you. Really, he won't speak to you. Stop talking to him. Yes, he's wearing something like a dress and yes, his hat is... well, I wouldn't call it cute. Yes, we are going very fast. We need something on the other side of the store. Away from the man wearing the head covering. I know you were just saying hi, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't speak to any women. Yes, dear, I know that sign says to sit down and stay buckled. It also says that if you don't you could get hurt. That lady is trying to shop. Leave her alone. She does not need to know about your birthday. We're almost done. Let's keep it together. What do you mean you lost your ball? Didn't I tell you that if you brought it in, you had to keep up with it? You gave it to McKenna? And it's her fault. I see. We don't have time to look for it. I'll check back next week when we come. Sorry, you should have kept up with it. That's what happens. Nope, no crying. Sit down. Please stop crying, we're almost done. Caelan, sit down. Buckle up. The straps were not meant for Tarzan tricks. Quit swinging on them. The cashier has a job to do. Stop talking to him. He doesn't know where your ball is. How far apart in age are my kids? Too close apparently. How old are they? 5, 3 and 1... but they aren't mine. That would just be insane."

The Birthday Party Planner

    Yesterday morning, Keith went in later than usual which thrilled the girls. They don't usually see him until he gets off in the evening. Somehow, by intuition or something, Evelynn knew that it was Keith's birthday. She sang out the first 'Happy Birthday!' and was delighted that it was someone's birthday and that would be her Daddy.

    No sooner had Keith left for work, Evelynn called a meeting. "We need to make Daddy a cake." And she had it all planned out. It had to be chocolate. And she really, really, REALLY wanted it to be in the shape of a dragon. Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon) to be exact. I agreed to the chocolate and added the idea of peanut butter frosting, but wasn't so keen on a dragon shaped cake. There were other things to accomplish before his return home.

    The lack of a dragon-shaped cake did not slow Evelynn's planning down any and she quickly thought to put her 'Toothless' toy on the cake. She went on a rampage looking for her dragon. Digging through one basket she found two of her other dragons and insisted they had to be present for the birthday. She finally found Toothless, but his wings were missing. It was a near crisis, but she was vigilant. She eventually found the wings and could not wait to see the cake.

    Then Evelynn asked me who was coming to his party. Well, we weren't exactly having a full blown party, but told her I would call some friends of ours to see if they would swing by for cake. Evelynn, the party planner, was pleased and began counting down to Daddy coming home. She even cleaned her room and was quite upset when Caelan messed it up a little by playing with her Barbies. Keith finally came home and our friends came over. Evelynn was beside herself with excitement and was so glad to plan this for her Daddy. The evening was a success and Keith and I have marvelled at the nature of her heart and her party planning abilities.

   

Belated Blog Birthday

I realized a couple of days ago that the first anniversary of my blog has come and gone. The first post was on February 2, 2010. In light of that, I put together a short video of the girls over the last six months or so. I don't tend to think myself too technologically challenged, but this video has been a bear in just getting it to upload. All uploading angst aside, I hope you enjoy!

The Values of Willy Wonka

   

    My children love the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and many of the characters have taken on 'family' meaning for us. I can guess that for those who don't know the impact this movie has had on the girls they would be slightly confused, if not concerned, upon hearing Evelynn say "Please don't put me in the trash" or "Please don't make me a blueberry" or "I don't want to be shrinked." But what it comes down to is when they are misbehaving selfishly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, or being disrespectful, I have only to tell them that they are behaving like Veruca Salt or Violet Beauregard or Mike Teavee and they completely  understand the seriousness of their offense.
    To be threatened with Veruca Salt, they know that because she was an ugly brat, she was pushed into the garbage chute. Her repetitive 'I wants'  were too much and the squirrels took care of the problem that her father would not.

    When the girls do not listen to me, I ask them if they want to be a blueberry. Of course the answer is always no and Evelynn, at least, says she does not want to be like Violet Beauregard. Evelynn calls it a 'Bloober' because of the British accent of Charlie Bucket. She insists the British know how to say blueberry more than I do. Oh, well. She neither wants to be a blueberry nor a bloober.

 

  For rude, hateful and disrespectful behaviour (I thought about correcting that 'British' spelling, but maybe Evelynn is rubbing off on me, so I left it), the culprit would be Mike Teavee and Evelynn does not want to be "shrinked".

 

   This is serious business, folks. As of yet, we have not used the lesson of gluttony that Augustus Gloop fell into (chocolate, if you remember). Of course, Charlie Bucket is the more disciplined character here and Evelynn thinks he is 'so sweet' and who could argue with that? The lessons that can be drawn from this movie are priceless. So if you hear my children beg not to be shrinked, turned into blueberries or thrown in the trash, it's not that I would literally do that. But as long as they get the point, I have no probem running with the concept.

The Irish and Those That Wish They Were

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter

Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.

Poems and songs with pipes and drums

A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.

Destinies, Elephants and Narnia

Random overheard conversations between Evelynn and Caelan:

~Evelynn: It's my destiny!!
  Caelan: It's your destiny?
  Evelynn: Yes!
  Caelan: I don't think so.
  Evelynn: You just ruined my life.

~Evelynn: I would love a talking couch.
  Caelan: Ok, here's one.
  Evelynn: You are so thoughtful.

~Caelan: I'm pretending to be an elephant.
  Evelynn: But I wanted to be the elephant.
  Caelan: But I am.
  Evelynn: Ok. I'll be a large hippo.

~Evelynn: Do you want a creature power suit? (a PBS Kids reference)
  Caelan: Yes!
  Evelynn: Ok, but after we wear our princess dresses.
 
~Evelynn: You know why they have to leave on that train? (explaining the the initial scene to Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
  Caelan: Because their Mom is waving?
  Evelynn: No, it's because of the airplanes. It's dangerous so they have to leave.
  Caelan: The airplanes have to leave.
  Evelynn: They won't, just Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy.
  Caelan: Oh. But why?
  Evelynn: I said it was dangerous.
  Caelan: Oh. Why are the airplanes there?
  Evelynn: I don't know. Mom?

~Evelynn: Are we going to dance or no?
  Caelan: No, we're going shopping.
  Evelynn: I wasn't talking to you. Mom, are we going to dance or no?
  Caelan: Mom said no, we're going shopping.
  Evelynn: No, we're not. We're going to dance.
  Caelan: And then shopping?