Audrey is a very funny, smart, caring, and pretty girl. She tells jokes and laughs and laughs at them, she is quickly learning letters and numbers and words, she has a very special bond with both her sisters, and she was blessed with her daddy's big green eyes.
She recently went through a stage where she refused to wear jeans. She told me, "Mommy, can you take care of all my jeans?" I asked her what she meant by "take care" of them, and with a whisk of her hand, she said, "Just get rid of them. Give them to Charlie." So, I packed away her jeans which were just taking up space in her drawer, and got what she called "comfy pants" at Target. The comfy pants stage lasted a few weeks and then she decided all she wanted to wear was skirts and dresses. Lydia never went through a skirts and dresses stage, so I didn't have many. We took a trip to the children's resale shop and I got her about a dozen dresses, a handful of skirts, and leggings to wear with them. Now, she insists on wearing dresses daily or skirts with "pretty shirts" which means they have princesses on them.
I wasn't too concerned with the dress-wearing until she started to constantly ask me if she's pretty. She would get dressed and ask me if she was pretty. I would do her hair and she would ask me if it was pretty. I was a little concerned about the obsession. One day I asked her, "Audrey, would you rather be pretty or smart?" She replied, "Pretty!" without even a moment to consider the options. Lydia said, "No, Audrey, the right answer is smart." I told Jayson my concerns and he informed me that it's all because of one of Audrey's friends at the gym. Apparently, this little girl has told Audrey that jeans are not pretty. Then she started telling Audrey that she has to wear dresses to be pretty. My heart sank. She loves her little friend at the gym, but I don't know her mom and wouldn't feel comfortable talking to her about it, and I don't even know what I would say anyway.
I definitely want Audrey to feel pretty and know she is beautiful both inside and out. I keep trying to tell her that she can wear whatever she wants and still be pretty. Lydia told her, "Audrey, we're always pretty. We can wear anything and still be pretty." It might sound a little bit boastful, but that's the attitude I want them to have! I never want them to feel anything less than pretty, and I also don't want them to think that "pretty" is some goal that they have to strive to reach.
So, I'm kind of at a loss. Audrey will continue to go to the gym, will continue to play with her friend, and will continue to be told that she has to wear dresses to be pretty. On my end, I will just try to keep reinforcing that her friend is wrong, and I will keep telling her that she is smart, funny, and nice too.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sunny Days
Jayson and I are 99.99% firm in our decision not to have any more kids. However, any time I see a newborn little baby, I get a little lump in my throat and really want to have one to just hold and love and smell for a few hours and then give back. I am 100% done with being up all night, feeding all the time, and constantly being attached to a little miniature human being. I am so happy that Charlie sleeps through the night, feeds herself, and is very independent. In fact, having older sisters to play with helps a lot because if I'm busy doing something, I don't have to worry about keeping her entertained.
So, one of the joys of finally having all the girls independent is that now that the weather has turned absolutely beautiful, they all play outside together whenever they can. And playing outside all day long leads to excellent bed times. We have a gated back yard, so we can send them out without having to worry. Not that we just send them out and ignore them -- we go out too when we can, but it sure is nice being able to make dinner in peace while they play outside and run off some energy.
They're really into bubbles, chalk, and riding bikes. Today, they watched a butterfly fly around the yard. Until Lydia called for me and said, "Mom, the butterfly is in our bubbles." I came out to inspect the big bubble tray they use for making giant bubbles, and there was a butterfly submerged in the bubbles, with one little leg still trying to hold on, and it quickly faded.
A little later, after they had been outside for close to an hour, Audrey came up to me to show me how clean her hands were. I was a bit surprised. They had played with bubbles and gotten sticky, then chalk and they got dusty, then back to bubbles. They had been crawling around on the deck and searching for toys in the piles of junk on the porch. "Those are really clean!" I said. "How did you get them so clean?"
"I licked them," she said, very proudly. Wonderful.
So, one of the joys of finally having all the girls independent is that now that the weather has turned absolutely beautiful, they all play outside together whenever they can. And playing outside all day long leads to excellent bed times. We have a gated back yard, so we can send them out without having to worry. Not that we just send them out and ignore them -- we go out too when we can, but it sure is nice being able to make dinner in peace while they play outside and run off some energy.
They're really into bubbles, chalk, and riding bikes. Today, they watched a butterfly fly around the yard. Until Lydia called for me and said, "Mom, the butterfly is in our bubbles." I came out to inspect the big bubble tray they use for making giant bubbles, and there was a butterfly submerged in the bubbles, with one little leg still trying to hold on, and it quickly faded.
A little later, after they had been outside for close to an hour, Audrey came up to me to show me how clean her hands were. I was a bit surprised. They had played with bubbles and gotten sticky, then chalk and they got dusty, then back to bubbles. They had been crawling around on the deck and searching for toys in the piles of junk on the porch. "Those are really clean!" I said. "How did you get them so clean?"
"I licked them," she said, very proudly. Wonderful.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Daylight Savings Time and I are Not on Speaking Terms
Saturday night, we sprung ahead, and Sunday when on without a hitch. We somehow managed to get to church on time and the girls went to bed at reasonable hour. Not so lucky today, It's 7:45 and they are still in their room yelling, more than an hour after bedtime.
The first incident involved Lydia getting out of bed and coming into the living room to let us know what horrible words were coming from Audrey's mouth. "Audrey is trying to get me to say the B word." I asked her what the B word is. "Baaay... Baaaay... " I told her to go ahead and say it. "BANGIT!" I immediately turned to Jayson with my best attempt at a straight face and started laughing. We told her to go to bed. Jayson told me I need to stop laughing when they say things like that.
Not much later, Lydia yelled again. This time Audrey was saying the S-H word. I was a little surprised until Lydia told me it was "Shut up." The potty mouth on that kid. Seriously.
Jayson and I thought they had finally settled down and we got a box of cookies and some milk for a little snack. These were not just any cookies. They were WhoNu? cookies, which are supposed to be like Oreos packed with nutrition. I'll let you guess how they taste. WhoNu? We knew. Jayson had them on his lap and Lydia got out of bed again. I told him to quickly cover them up and he threw a pillow on them. Lydia once again had some minor complaint. We told her to get back in bed, but first she wanted a hug. She hugged Jayson and as the wrapper from the cookies crinkled, Jayson and I pretended to hear nothing. Lydia looked confused and grabbed the pillow to reveal the cookies. Jayson and I started laughing. Lydia got mad and asked us why we were hiding the cookies.
We told her that if she went to back to bed and went right to sleep, she could have a cookie tomorrow. Really a win-win situation because she goes to bed and we don't have to eat those godawful cookies.
The first incident involved Lydia getting out of bed and coming into the living room to let us know what horrible words were coming from Audrey's mouth. "Audrey is trying to get me to say the B word." I asked her what the B word is. "Baaay... Baaaay... " I told her to go ahead and say it. "BANGIT!" I immediately turned to Jayson with my best attempt at a straight face and started laughing. We told her to go to bed. Jayson told me I need to stop laughing when they say things like that.
Not much later, Lydia yelled again. This time Audrey was saying the S-H word. I was a little surprised until Lydia told me it was "Shut up." The potty mouth on that kid. Seriously.
Jayson and I thought they had finally settled down and we got a box of cookies and some milk for a little snack. These were not just any cookies. They were WhoNu? cookies, which are supposed to be like Oreos packed with nutrition. I'll let you guess how they taste. WhoNu? We knew. Jayson had them on his lap and Lydia got out of bed again. I told him to quickly cover them up and he threw a pillow on them. Lydia once again had some minor complaint. We told her to get back in bed, but first she wanted a hug. She hugged Jayson and as the wrapper from the cookies crinkled, Jayson and I pretended to hear nothing. Lydia looked confused and grabbed the pillow to reveal the cookies. Jayson and I started laughing. Lydia got mad and asked us why we were hiding the cookies.
We told her that if she went to back to bed and went right to sleep, she could have a cookie tomorrow. Really a win-win situation because she goes to bed and we don't have to eat those godawful cookies.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
No Rest for the Weary
It seems appropriate that on one of the busiest weekends we've had in a while, we lost an hour somewhere thanks to Daylight Savings Time. However, as rushed and busy as this weekend was, it was also very enjoyable. It started with me meeting a friend for a glass of wine Friday night and staying out much later than I had planned, which led to an early morning on Saturday. Jayson had to go into the office, so I took the girls to the gym so I could get a little bit of time to myself before the busy day, and also so I could shower without three girls running in and out of the bathroom, pulling the shower curtain back, and yelling, "I see your butt!" Besides, the girls love the gym. We are very fortunate that our gym has excellent childcare. Charlie is in a room with other kids her age, and on Saturday, a student of mine who I trust very much was working in the room too. Lydia and Audrey go to the area for the older kids where they can run around and play games or sit and color or play with toys, etc. On this particular day, they apparently were allowed to run around the basketball courts, and Lydia told me she ran 100 miles. I told her that probably wasn't true, but she assured me her teachers told her it was 100 miles.
After the gym, we went directly to Lydia's skating lesson. I thought ahead and packed sandwiches to eat in the car on the way there. Skating was pretty uneventful. The hardest part of skating lessons is the actual walk into the building because there is a huge parking lot that is very busy and I feel like cars come out of nowhere. Usually Jayson and I both go or one of us stays home with Charlie, but with Jayson at the office, I was with all three, and I'm pretty sure plenty of people stared as I made the girls hold hands and walk in a row and snapped at them if they got out of line. I know it seems extreme, but on the way back to the car, Audrey got behind me and out of my sight for one second and it seemed like there was immediately a car behind her.
From skating, we went back home to get Jayson so we could head downtown to the birthday party our friends were having for their sons. We first had to stop to get the gift (we didn't realize until a couple days before that we would be able to make it), then find a spot by the Irish pub where the party was being held. It also happened to be the same day of the St. Patrick's Day parade, so there were drunk college students in matching T-shirts everywhere. Jayson and I finally got to sit down and eat while the girls happily played with the other kids.
On the way home, we stopped for a few errands (pick up some hockey tickets for a game in a couple weeks, grab some dinner, grab a Red Box movie, coffee at Starbucks because we got a half-price coffee with Jayson's receipt from that morning.)
When we got home, Charlie was exhausted after skipping her nap so she ate and went right to bed. The other two stayed up with us and we watched Hugo. I was ecstatic that they loved it because it means we have moved into watching movies that are actually good and Jayson and I can enjoy them along with the girls. Surprisingly, neither of them fell asleep during the movie, but I think they did as soon as we got them in bed.
Today we debated skipping church, but were able to get things together and made it. After church, we made a stop for ham and rolls and then came home for lunch. Lydia and Audrey begged to clean the windows, so I acted like it was a big deal, and of course I let them. Then it was nap time and quiet time. Audrey watched Hugo again. I made Lydia take a nap so she was rested for her birthday party in the afternoon. After naps, we ran to Target for an addition to the birthday gift and some diapers. Jayson took Lydia to the party and I took the other two to the park. We met back at home just before bedtime and got everybody to sleep.
That was a long post about a lot of things that probably sound pretty boring, but it's a typical weekend for us. I like weekends like that because everybody stays busy and it seems like the busier we are, the better the girls are. Plus, it creates memories and experiences for them and for us.
After the gym, we went directly to Lydia's skating lesson. I thought ahead and packed sandwiches to eat in the car on the way there. Skating was pretty uneventful. The hardest part of skating lessons is the actual walk into the building because there is a huge parking lot that is very busy and I feel like cars come out of nowhere. Usually Jayson and I both go or one of us stays home with Charlie, but with Jayson at the office, I was with all three, and I'm pretty sure plenty of people stared as I made the girls hold hands and walk in a row and snapped at them if they got out of line. I know it seems extreme, but on the way back to the car, Audrey got behind me and out of my sight for one second and it seemed like there was immediately a car behind her.
From skating, we went back home to get Jayson so we could head downtown to the birthday party our friends were having for their sons. We first had to stop to get the gift (we didn't realize until a couple days before that we would be able to make it), then find a spot by the Irish pub where the party was being held. It also happened to be the same day of the St. Patrick's Day parade, so there were drunk college students in matching T-shirts everywhere. Jayson and I finally got to sit down and eat while the girls happily played with the other kids.
On the way home, we stopped for a few errands (pick up some hockey tickets for a game in a couple weeks, grab some dinner, grab a Red Box movie, coffee at Starbucks because we got a half-price coffee with Jayson's receipt from that morning.)
When we got home, Charlie was exhausted after skipping her nap so she ate and went right to bed. The other two stayed up with us and we watched Hugo. I was ecstatic that they loved it because it means we have moved into watching movies that are actually good and Jayson and I can enjoy them along with the girls. Surprisingly, neither of them fell asleep during the movie, but I think they did as soon as we got them in bed.
Today we debated skipping church, but were able to get things together and made it. After church, we made a stop for ham and rolls and then came home for lunch. Lydia and Audrey begged to clean the windows, so I acted like it was a big deal, and of course I let them. Then it was nap time and quiet time. Audrey watched Hugo again. I made Lydia take a nap so she was rested for her birthday party in the afternoon. After naps, we ran to Target for an addition to the birthday gift and some diapers. Jayson took Lydia to the party and I took the other two to the park. We met back at home just before bedtime and got everybody to sleep.
That was a long post about a lot of things that probably sound pretty boring, but it's a typical weekend for us. I like weekends like that because everybody stays busy and it seems like the busier we are, the better the girls are. Plus, it creates memories and experiences for them and for us.
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