You're Never Gonna Believe This

Cristina: Mommy, I have to tell you something you're never gonna believe. You're not gonna believe this.

Me: What's that, Cristina?

Cristina: Today, I punched Ella in the stomach and then I pushed her two times.

The First Day

Well, the first day of school was success.   The girls were swarming me when I came in the door from work.  Charlotte was excited to tell me about kindergarten. "Kindergarten was great and I didn't even go to the principal's office on my first day!  Can you believe it?"  I'm a little concerned that Charlotte's goal for the first day was to not go to the principal's office.  It's not like she was in trouble all the time in pre-K!  Crazy girl.

After dinner, Charlotte had a little questionnaire that she had to complete and turn in to her teacher.  One of the questions was, "What do you hope to learn in kindergarten?"  Charlotte's response: "Teacher things, so I can take Mrs. Lisa's place in pre-K, since she is tired all the time."  For awhile now, Charlotte has been saying she wanted to take her pre-K teacher's place.  I'm sure Mrs. Lisa was tired all the time, since she was pregnant the whole school year and had her baby girl two weeks after school ended.

Bullying

Tonight, Emma and Charlotte were talking to me about the first day of school.  The conversation quickly turned to bullying.

Charlotte: I'm excited about kindergarten, but I'm a little worried about bullying.

Emma: You should be because I've been bullied a ton.

Me: You have?

Emma: Remember that kid in first grade who was always teasing me?

Me: Oh, yeah, Andrew.  (Sidenote: He's a mean little kid.  Once when I was volunteering with his mother in Emma's classroom, he yells at her, "Where the fu@# were you?  I needed....")

Emma: He was so mean.

Charlotte: Well, did he go to the principal's office?

Emma: He had to sit in the time out chair.

Me: You  need to be prepare to tell a bully that you don't like it and you want them to stop, so they know that they can't keep bullying you.  You can say something like - I don't appreciate what you are saying and I'm not going to listen to you anymore.  Then, just walk away.

Charlotte:  Well, I know what I am going to say if someone bullies me.

Me: Practice what you are going to say.

Charlotte:  What you are saying to me is inappropriate.  Bullying is not nice.  This conversation is over.  I'm still on God's side.  You should be too because God is about love and loving children.  God is not about bullying.   This conversation is over.

Me: That's good, Charlotte.

Charlotte: Well, I'm still excited about kindergarten.  I hope no one bullies me tomorrow because that will just....just ruin my day and I will not like it.

I hope the girls both have a great day and they don't run into any bullies.  I've been talking about this with Emma for awhile because she isn't very good about standing up for herself - she clearly takes after me too much. Charlotte, on the other hand, has never been one to keep her opinion to herself, so I'd honestly expect her to tell off any kid that tries to push her around.  She has been threatening for years to beat up the kids that pick on Emma!

Happy birthday to us!

When I got home from work, Emma and Charlotte were eager to make a presentation for our anniversary.  They had Brian and I sit on the couch and close our eyes, while they brought us a limited edition card and gift.  The gift was two rings - one handcrafted especially for Brian by Emma and the other a cupcake topper for me.

Emma: Happy anniversary! Happy anniversary!

Cristina (Quite exuberantly): Happy birthday!  Happy birthday!

Emma: It's not their birthday.  It is their anniversary.

Me: It's okay.  Today is like the birthday of our wedding.  We've been married for 13 years.

Charlotte: Bravo!  Bravo!

Then, Emma had us close our eyes again while she brought out another surprise. CONFETTI!  What a gift....all over the living room floor.  Then, she sang a "Happy Anniversary" song that she wrote all by herself.

Afterwards, Brian and I decided we should go out to dinner as a family in celebration of our anniversary.  Charlotte suggested we pick the restaurant, while Emma was lobbying very hard for Chick-fil-A.  Emma is pretty smart when it comes to her persuasive arguments.  Her key points: 1) we could order without the kids distracting us, 2) we could eat in peace because they'd be on the playground and 3) we could all have ice cream for dessert.  In order to win out over Chick-fil-A, I suggested we all get dressed up fancy and eat at Taco Mac.  For those of you familiar with Taco Mac, it is definitely not five-star dining, but I'd say it is a step up from Chick-fil-A.

The Pot of Gold

Tonight, in the midst of our mourning over the loss of Belle Barbie, we were graced with a beautiful rainbow.  Emma came running into the house to tell us to come outside to see a rainbow.  So, Brian and I went outside to see it.  The girls were giddy with excitement.

I'm standing in the front yard talking with a neighbor and the girls are running up the street saying they are going to find the pot of gold.  Cristina comes back into the yard and grabs me around the legs and says, "Thank you for the rainbow, Mama."  I had to chuckle at that one.  Finally, the neighbor gets the hint that I want to go back inside before Ella gets bit by another mosquito and I yell at the girls to get back in the yard.

Charlotte comes dashing down the street and runs up to me.

Charlotte:  Mommy, can Emma and I please go look for the pot of gold?

Me: No, you need to stay in the yard.  You know you're not supposed to be walking up the hill by yourselves.

Charlotte: Please, Mama, I promise we'll be back by morning.

Me: No, Charlotte, you can't go.

Charlotte: I said I promise we'll be back by morning.

I about fell out.  Like I'm going to let my 5 year old and 8 year old go venturing off into the sunset looking for a pot of gold as long as they promise to be back by morning?!

A Sad Day for Barbie

Charlotte was eager to tell me when I arrived home today about the death of her "favorite" Barbie.  After severe questioning of Emma and Cristina, she wasn't sure who broke the head off of the Belle Barbie, but she was pretty sure it was Cristina.  For the record, when it comes to anything, Emma and Charlotte blame it on Cristina. This brings us to dinner...

Charlotte: Today was a sad day.  Tonight, we are going to have a funeral for Belle.  Just her head is going to be at the funeral.

Me: That is pretty gross, Charlotte.

Charlotte: It is not.  She was my first Barbie and first Barbies are always special.

Me: She wasn't your first Barbie-

Emma: Yes, it was.  She got it for her birthday last year.

Me: No, it wasn't.  She had a Mulan Barbie before that.

Charlotte: Yeah, I had a Mulan Barbie and a Tiana Barbie.  So, this was my third Barbie and third Barbies are always special.

Emma: You just said first Barbies were always special.

Charlotte: Well, so are third Barbies.

Later tonight, Charlotte decided to hold the funeral for the Belle Barbie with just the head as promised.  She was/is keeping the head in a little wooden box.  As I indicated earlier, it is creepy.  Anyway, she is sitting on the floor in the living room singing, while holding the Belle Barbie head: "You were my best friend.  We did everything together, but now you're dead and all I have is your head."  Jasmine, Dolly, and My Little Pony were there to pay their respects.

Let's all have a moment of silence for Belle Barbie, whose head will reside indefinitely in a small box in Charlotte's bed.