A Child's View

Back in April, David took Reese to work with him for "Take Your Child to Work Day". He has been wanting to take her since she was born, but Quest says they have to be 8. So this was her year.

His plan was to keep her 1/2 the day, then drop her off at school after lunch. She decided she wanted to stay the whole day, so he ended up keeping her til around 3:30 and I went and picked her up.

He loaded her up with all sorts of Quest memorabilia. Pens, paper, leather portfolios, you name it. Right away, the kids started playing "office". Whenever we return from somewhere, they almost always start playing whatever we just experienced. After dentist appointments, they play "dentist". After the circus, they start "training" all their stuffed animals.

So I got a kick out of Reese rounding them up to play office. She scrambled around and found some of our old cell phones. And taught them how to answer the phone "Quest Diagnostics, this is _____________".

David recently took a new position as the Operations Manager of a lab that Quest owns, called Ameripath. So I started prepping the kids over the weekend and teaching them the new name of where Daddy works.

Reese piped up and asked completely seriously, "So, at his new job...does he do anything? Or does he still just check emails and make phone calls?".

Word Misheard

I don't like freezing cold days.

I don't like fiery hot days.

Wednesday and Thursday of this week were the perfect days weatherwise I can remember having in a long time. The kids and I stayed outside practically all day long. Just because.

Wednesday we went to Deanna Rose Farm, ate outside at Sonic, came home and played in the backyard, then Drue and Tate played at the school playground during Reese's soccer practice that evening.

Thursday we didn't really have much planned so we just lounged in the backyard. I had told the girls I would paint their nails that day so I had them gather up all the supplies and bring them out to the deck.

We set up a makeshift nail salon on the steps. Drue was looming over me while I did Reese's nails. I was having a hard time getting the polish evenly distributed on her tiny nails when I realized Drue was blocking all the sunlight.

"Hey Drue," I said, "How 'bout you move and get out of my light?" I asked.

"Whaaaaaat?" she asked in disbelief. She shifted over to the side a little bit then assured me, "I'm not going to get out of your life!".

Lost but Not Found

 

Drue lost her first tooth! (Ok, it was last month, but we are still excited). She is a late tooth loser apparently. Reese had already lost her first tooth at this age. A lot of Drue's friends have been losing teeth this year as well. I haven't done much research on the topic but I heard somewhere that if you were late getting your teeth, you'll be late losing your teeth. So I passed that along to her for some consolation.

She was my 10 month old baby with nary a tooth in her head. Shortly after, when I weaned her (I will never feel comfortable using that word in normal conversation) she woke up with half her set of teeth breaking through. She wasn't fussy, drooly, or exhibiting any other signs of teething. It was the weirdest thing. Sure, she may have gnawed on a bannister spindle or two, but I didn't really think twice about it. One day she had no teeth. The next, specks of pearly whites peeking through her little pink gums.

Also, her teeth are tiny. The tiniest teeth I've even seen in a child's head.

A few weeks ago during Tate's Cubby award night at church she was talking to me and I noticed that one of her bottom teeth was kinda sticking out funny. "Is your tooth loose Drue?" I asked.

"Nope," she said confidently.

I stuck my finger in there and, sure enough, it wiggled, ever so slightly. She was beyond thrilled. She'd been waiting for this moment. Throughout the rest of the ceremony she wiggled it. The whole rest of the night she wiggled it. And this continued on for days.

Apparently, it's a big deal where you lose your teeth nowadays. Reese lost one at church, Salty Iguana, home, and various other places she'd be happy to recount for you if you ask.

Drue was really wanting to lose hers at school. They get a little necklace with a tiny tooth shaped holder for their tooth.

When I went to pick her up from school a few days later she came running up to me, beaming, with a tooth necklace around her neck. "Oh my goodness!" I said, "Let me see!". She smiled and, sure enough, had a tiny whole where her tooth used to be.

I was still gushing over this momentous occasion when her teacher walked up to me and said, "I am so sorry".

Uh oh. I figured she was about to tell me that Drue's tooth had fallen out as a result of getting punched in the face by the little bully boy in her class. Thankfully, this wasn't the case.

They were at recess when her tooth fell out. So her teacher got her little necklace. Apparently, it didn't latch completely and when Drue was running over to show one of her friends, her tooth fell out of the necklace into the rocks on the playground. I have replayed this scene in my head a few times. If it were in a movie, I'm sure it would have happened in slow motion with tear evoking music playing in the background.

Her teacher felt so bad about it, she was down on her hands and knees sifting through the tiny pebbles for Drue's even tinier tooth. I assured Drue that she could write a note to the tooth fairy and everything would work out fine.

That night she sat down and started writing. She explained, in detail, what had occurred and even put the name of her school so the Tooth Fairy would be certain where to look. She read it out loud to me as I was putting her to bed. At the end she said, "P.S. Give it to me".

"Huh? Give you what?" I asked cautiously.

"My tooth," she clarified.

"Uh...that's not the way it works," I explained. "She takes your tooth. She can't give it to you. She leaves you money."

Drue was bound and determined that she wanted the Tooth Fairy to give her her tooth just for a little bit and then she would leave it out for her to take when she was ready.

Didn't see that one coming.

I stated a few more times that I was sure the Toothy Fairy wouldn't be able to leave the tooth and that Drue should fully expect to find a nice shiny golden dollar in the morning.

As luck would have it, Drue placed the letter at the foot of her bed. So I laid the golden dollar on top of it, instead of having to sweat it out, trying to slip it under her pillow, holding my breath the whole time and hoping her big hazel eyes didn't pop open.

Poor Druebie. Nothing is easy with her. Nothing seems to go the way she expects it too. She woke up in the morning, saw the golden dollar on her letter and the tears started to flow.

She was very disappointed the Tooth Fairy hadn't delivered her tooth to her. (I had predicted this reaction, and yes, even contemplated leaving one of our beagle's teeth or Reese's teeth under her pillow). What? You don't keep your pets' teeth when they fall out? Odd.

I thought I had her somewhat settled down when a whole new flood of tears came. "What are you upset about now?" I inquired ever so comfortingly.

"Reese's golden dollars had a picture of the Tooth Fairy on them! Mine has a picture of a man on it...of John Adams!".

That's our Druebie. Pays attention to the smallest detail. Nevermind that she confused Sacajawea with the Tooth Fairy.

She has moved on from this disappointing experience and is excited to watch her new tooth growing in. I just hope her next go round is a little less traumatic for all of us.

Perspective

Just a little word of caution. If you happen to be around my girls and notice how Drue is inching up to Reese's exact height, you might want to keep it to yourself and not say it aloud. You would be correct in your observation, but it doesn't sit well with Reese. She will smile at you when you say it but then be almost in tears about it that night.

She figures since she's older, she should be taller. End of discussion.

My prediction for the kids is: Tate will be the tallest, Drue next, and then Reese. I think they will all be taller than me, however. But this doesn't prove to be any consolation for Reese.

As for Drue. She's just tall. She was the tallest one in her Kindergarten class this year. She's in the very center of the back row in her class picture.

She thinks it's cool that she was taller than a lot of the 1st graders too. And even taller than some of Reese's 2nd grade classmates. So I've never worried that she feels out of place or strange since she's excited to tell me everyone she's taller than.

However, she's our sloucher. I didn't think much about it at first, because I'm a sloucher too. But I don't want her to be one. So I've started with, "Drue, hold your shoulders up." "Stand up straight."

A few weeks ago I started worrying that maybe she was slouching because part of her does feel strange being taller than all her little friends.

One particular day the girls and I were having yet another discussion about height and what not. Reese was once again, bemoaning the fact that she is going to be short her entire life and will never grow one inch beyond her current height. When she walked to the other room I took my opportunity to pull Drue's slouchy shoulders gently back and encourage her that she should be proud to stand tall.

And just to drive home my point even more I reassured her, "Drue, tall people are beautiful!", at the exact moment Reese walked back into the room.

Great timing. Reese's jaw dropped and she froze in place. And I had to quickly back pedal and try and explain my reasoning behind that statement.

I'm blaming all you people on this one. Or at least anyone whose ever said, "Wow Drue! You're almost as tall as Reese!".

Life in the Fast Track

Oh my heavenly stars! I haven't posted anything on here since March 21st? Where are my faithful readers who usually give me a gentle reminder that it's been awhile (Morgan!)?

Life has certainly seemed to pick up at a rapid pace since our leisurely Spring Break. Thus hindering me from kicking back on the couch to draft a post lately. And somewhere along the line, David was given a much larger area to cover for work (Nebraska down to Branson) which has him traveling somewhere 3 weeks out of every month. It's just become routine for us. This last overnight trip he forgot to tell the kids he was leaving. When darkness fell Reese asked, "I wonder why Daddy is working so late?". To which I casually replied, "Oh, he's in Wichita tonight."

During a typical week we have something going on every evening:
Monday- Softball Game- Reese
Tuesday- T Ball Practice- Tate
Wednesday- Soccer Practice- Reese
Thursday- Soccer Practice- Drue AND Softball Practice- Reese
Friday- Softball Game- Reese

Not to mention Saturdays full of 3 soccer games.

From time to time between transporting laundry up and down the stairs, digging cleats out from under the beds, and listening to a child who just finished a snack whine, "I'm staaaaarving," I'll exclaim, "I need a vacation! A solo vacation!".

And David will say, "Ok. Where do you want to go?".

Which stops me in tracks as I realize I don't really want to go anywhere. I would miss these guys and our crazy days together.

And the silence would be deafening.

Spring Break