Two days after her fifth birthday, Kiley lost her first tooth. First, let me say, the Tooth Fairy has a business model our government should follow. That gal has a racket going on. We Googled the going rate for baby teeth and it appears it is $10. That's a little stiff for my wallet. If she can afford to be giving out $10 a tooth, I want to know where she's making her money! Anyhow, when Brad called me to tell me Kiley had a loose tooth, I couldn't believe it. It wasn't just the tooth, though. It was what happened to my little girl. Literally, overight, she has blossomed into this uber independent, uber articulate, uber self-sufficient little girl. She is making her bed, dressing herself consistently, and paying attention to personal hygiene (which means she doesn't want to take baths with Robyn anymore, but too bad on that one!). For the moment, it is a parent's dream. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm soaking it up. I just can't get over how fast it happened. You get so used to a child being one way and when she decides to change, it is a stark reminder that she is her own person, making decisions independent from me. I am glad Brad is spending so much time with them these days. But I do feel that I am missing out on some big milestones. I am jealous that he gets to watch them play, cuddle, and romp while I miss out. But I love what I am doing and enjoy the time we have in the evenings. Pretty soon, Kiley and I are going to venture to the ice skating rink. Start praying now.
As for Robyn, she can keep up with any boy you put in her path. Yesterday, while we were at Chick-fil-a, she decided to play queen of the playset and pushed a little boy down. His mother ran in to save him and I blushed and rushed in to discipline Robyn. But secretly, I was kind of proud of her. Does that make me a bad parent? Since we moved here, the people who have cared for Robyn have called her "Queen Bee", "independent", and "determined". I think it is a good thing she is so cute. People are more likely to forgive her. But for all her independence, she has a deep soft side. She is actually a giver. Most of the time, she is looking for ways to share with others. She will be the first to comfort when someone is hurt. She loves to cuddle and hug passionately. She is in every way different from Kiley. I love my experiences with both of them.
We are learning that our girls have not been used to being around each other 24/7. They have had to adjust to sharing parents all the time and having to compromise on activities. We try to separate them once a week to take them on individual date nights. I think school and daycare will be really good for them. We have observed that they both flourish with other children around. They do not want to be at the playground by themselves. But if there are other children, they will be content for hours.
I love the diversity of LR. Kiley and I were at Subway a few days ago. The man helping us was Hindu and Kiley wanted to know what the red dot on his head meant. So, I encouraged her to ask him. He was very gracious and, I think, enjoyed the opportunity to talk about his religion to this curious child. He was hesitant at first, but once he realized I wasn't going to try to evangelize him on the spot, he was very forthcoming with information. He explained that the dot is called a Chandlo and encouraged Kiley to Google it when she got home. This, of course, sparked some spiritual conversation when we got back in the car. She had lots of questions and I took the opportunity to explain Jesus. It is very hard to explain to a five year old the differences in what we believe versus our new friend at Subway. After some discussion about Jesus and how we have to believe in him to go to Heaven, Kiley took the next logical step in her mind and asked "Does that mean our Subway friend is not going to Heaven?" I'm not sure I had an appropriate answer, but I told her the important thing to remember was that our job is to love him and be his friend and hope that one day he will believe in Jesus. Again, I'm not ready for her to grow up. Pretty deep conversation for five years old, huh? Point being, you never know when opportunity is going to cross your path. I beleive God was fully aware that Kiley has a lot of questions right now and he was helping me address those by making my take note that she is curious about him. How wonderful it must be for him to watch those sorts of things unfold in a child's mind. I wish I could have just a glimpse of what he sees in our children's minds.
We are confident that our move to LR was a good one. Our children are being exposed a lot of diversity and culture and it is stretching us to face some tough questions. Any advice is welcome. Regards...
1 comment:
great post sis!
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