6 Years Old!

 

Druebie May is 6!

And I'm really not trying to steal her birthday thunder by posting a picture of myself on her special day. I just thought it was neat to put these side by side for comparison sake.

These pictures make me think "cuteness". They may very well make her think "uh oh".

Say What?

Tomorrow is Drue's birthday!

Her SIXTH birthday!

But tomorrow is going to be a craaaaazzzzy day with work, soccer practice, etc. so we decided (with her permission of course) to take her out for her birthday dinner tonight.

We were all trying to put ideas in her head about where to go, but she stood her ground and chose Chuck-E-Cheese.

As we were getting ready to go I started thinking back to all the birthdays and special occasions we've spent there.

I turned to Reese & said, "Awwwwww....Reesie....Daddy & I took you to Chuck-E-Cheese for your very first birthday."

She smiled, "Really?".

"Yep. I remember it like it was yesterday. They gave you a little crown and everything."

I continued on with a cute picture of little Reesie in my head. I even remember what she was wearing that night.

"You were only 1...and you were so cute....now you're almost 8...." and I trailed off thinking about how fast the years have gone.

Apparently I should have finished my thought out loud because she thought I was heading in another direction and said, "...and now I'm not cute?!".

Coolest. Outing. Ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Diets

Tate is quite intrigued about what different animals eat.

Cows, horses, fish, wasps, bees, giraffes...he asks me all the time what they all eat.

As we were heading home from preschool the other day Tate said, "Mommy, do pandas eat baboons?".

"What?! No. They don't."

"What eats baboons?".

"I don't know..." I stammered not wanting to put a mental picture of a carnivorous lion ripping apart a baby baboon into my sweet little boy's head. "Nothing. Nothing eats baboons. They're cute little monkeys."

"Oh," Tate said, mildly confused.

He looked back down at his National Geographic Kids Magazine and said, "But this panda is eating a baboon."

I was getting ready to call David to ask what in the world he was thinking when he got the kids a subscription to that magazine when Tate continued, "It's a green leafy thing...".

I put the phone down very relieved and set him straight, "Sweetie, that's called bamboo!"

The Question

I have mentally prepared myself for dozens of questions my children will most likely ask me one day.

Tonight as I was putting the girls to bed Reese said, "Mom, Kylie said that there were 2 bad guys who flew their planes into a building and like 1,000 people died."

I was trying to piece together what TV show or movie she was talking about when she went on to say, "And she said it really happened...in real life."

Ahhhh. September 11th.

I said, "Yes it did really happen. It was a terrible day. I remember it well."

Of course she wanted me to tell her what I remembered. So I told her how I was headed to work and heard on the radio about a plane flying into a big building. And when I got to work, the 2nd plane had flown into the building. I went on to tell her there were more than 2 bad guys and more than 2 planes and unfortunately a lot more than 1,000 people who died.

"Why did they fly the planes into the buildings? Didn't the bad people know that they would die?".

"Yes, they knew they were going to die. But their leaders had them believe that was an honorable and good thing to do."

Her white little eyebrows were drawn up in a furrow by this time as she tried to sort everything out. "But that doesn't make any sense. That they knew they were going to die? And did it anyway? I don't understand...", she said shaking her head.

We talked about it for a few more minutes. Even though it was a tragic event, I didn't want to end our discussion on a bad note. So I talked to her a little bit about the heroes of the day. Firemen, policemen, servicemen, those who took down the plane in Pennsylvania.

After we were finished I could tell she was still trying to process it all, "Wow. I just wanted to ask you to see if it really happened."

"Sadly, it did," I explained.

Then she looked up at me and said, "Why haven't you ever told me about it before?".

I said, "Well, it happened before you were born. But I will always remember it. I don't really have a reason for not telling you about it I guess."

In my mind, I knew there was more to that question. Because I want to protect you from all the bad things of this world, shield your kind heart, and savor your innocence.

And He's Off....

 

My little buddy heading to Pre K. He took it all in stride. Posed for Mommy's numerous pictures.

 

The van was too quiet after I dropped him off. The house was too quiet. The rooms I cleaned stayed clean for a good part of the morning and afternoon.

 

My walk up to Drue's school to pick her up was peaceful. No stopping every few feet to pick a dandelion or inspect a bug crawling across the sidewalk. No one to push in the swing on the playground while waiting for the Kindergartners to file out.

 

One simple question from another mom/friend when she noticed the absence of my little guy, "Missing someone?".

Yes. Very much.

And the tears began to fall.

Different Strokes

It is ironic to me that Drue is the child who resembles me the most outwardly, but is more like David in personality. And the opposite holds true for Reese. Looks like David, acts like me. Tate is a mixture all around.

I'm a saver. A sentimental item saver. Birthday cards, movie ticket stubs, sweet little notes scribbled on scraps of paper.

I knew from the time Reese started preschool, however, that I wasn't going to be able to save everything made by little hands that was brought home from school. Without renting a storage unit, anyway. I do save some select items. Probably far too many select items.

I was becoming quite proud of myself for being able to part with certain creations/papers Reese brought home from preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade, etc. It gets easier. Starting in Kindergarten, a lot of what is brought home is examples of their daily writing work.

Then 1st grade hit. Six & seven year olds are apparently fascinated with construction paper. And when Reese and her little friends were finished with their work or had indoor recess, they were allowed to let their creativity flow. Reese's take home folder was beginning to come home filled with the finished products of these creative times. And she didn't just bring home her artwork. She and her friends would make things as gifts for each other.

She brought home huge construction paper kites, paper hearts, paper computers, paper jewelry. Scraps of torn paper with a message scribbled in marker, "You r mi best frend" etc.

Any tiny little scraps of construction paper would get thrown out by me. Later that evening, I would find Reese frantically searching her backpack for the "earrings" that Sally made her out of paper. Oops.

Most of the time I went through her folder while she was otherwise occupied and disposed of any non-essential paper items. She did discover some in the trash, however, one day. She pulled each piece out one by one and was sure they had made their way in there by accident. She was shocked to find out otherwise.

After that, I had to secretly throw stuff away, and make sure no piece of it was peeking out for her little eye to spy.

Towards the middle of the year last year, she finally consented (although a bit grudgingly) that we indeed couldn't keep every piece of paper she brought home. We compromised a bit and she would pick out just a few special ones to stow away in her room. She learned to go through her folder with me. And she would make sure I knew which items were to be kept for sure.

This year we began the process with Drue's Kindergarten papers. She is very excited to show them to me when she gets home and read to me her little paper booklets they put together each day. The other day she went on and on about a coyote puppet she made in Spanish class out of a paper bag. It was a brown paper lunch sack with the face of a coyote glued to it that she had colored.

He hung around on the dining room table for a few days. Then he ventured into the kitchen and sat on the counter for a few more days. Finally, I worked up the nerve to break the news to sweet Druebie that we wouldn't be able to keep all her papers she brought home from school.

I held him for her to see as she came through the kitchen. "Drue," I started sweetly. "We're not going to be able to keep this forever."

She looked at him. Then looked at me. And said, "Ok."

"That means I'm going to have to throw him away soon," I continued.

"Ok."

This was going much easier than I'd anticipated.

"Like right now, probably," I explained.

She just looked up at me.

"You might want to look away," I said dramatically as I headed to the trash can.

"Why?," she asked confused. "Here, I'll throw him away. I didn't really like him that much anyway."

And she flung him up into the trash without even taking a second glance.