Goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to Peter Mr. Beta Fish.  It became apparent yesterday morning that he was not long for this world when I saw him just lying on the rocks at the bottom of his bowl using all of his energy to gulp big breaths.  I prepared A by letting her know that Peter didn't look well, that he might be sick.  She thought he probably just needed a break.  By late afternoon, I knew he was gone.  She kept coming back to check and see if he had moved.  This morning, she noted that he hadn't moved all night long.

So after naps today we discussed funeral plans.  She suggested putting him in the trash; I countered with flushing him to the ocean.  Really, I knew that we wanted to do a little burial.  As hard as it would be to talk it through, I knew it was a good opportunity to introduce death and temporary goodbyes.  J agreed, so we talked about Peter's body being empty now and how he was with Jesus in heaven (I know...we bent the theology a bit to make it applicable.  I figure we can straighten that out later.)  She colored a pretty picture and wrote "Peter" on it.  Daddy folded it into a little box and we tromped outside in the drizzle to lay Peter to rest.

It wasn't until Daddy was covering the hole that the tears came.  "But what about Peter?!" she bawled.  I immediately followed suit.  It's not the goodbye to the fish that got to me, but the goodbye to a little bit of her innocence.  This was a baby step into the harsh reality that the world is not all fairies, rainbows and ballerinas.  I was so sad to see her sadness.  I am glad that we persevered and took the opportunity to have a tough conversation.  And I don't think she'll be upset for very long.  She was asking for a new fish before we made it back inside.

Again?!

Yes.  Again with the, "When did you do that?! And where was I?!  How on earth?!"

In case you can't tell, that's pencil scribbles all over the wall.  When I first saw it, I made her come and listen to my scolding about how we don't write on the walls, only on paper.  Then she peeked around the corner and showed me the other wall she had scribbled on.  I gasped in shock and she thought that was funny, so she pointed across the hall to yet another example of her artistic license.  I was speechless.

As I was supervising the scrubbing, A asked if she had ever written on the walls when she was little and I told her no, this was the first incident of misdirected art at our house.  (I'm so glad it was pencil.)  But I can say with a smile on my face that the writing's on the wall...baby #2 ain't like baby #1.

Tiny Dancer

Yesterday was our first dance lesson.  It was a fun experience, in spite of the tornado warning that went through town while we were at the studio.

Notice no ballet shoes in that picture?  I'd been scrounging all over town to find a pair in her size that I didn't have to pay full price for.  As I tell A, we "really didn't want to spend extra dollars that way."  Can I just say that God totally provided!  I had all of the other pieces of her outfit and had saved more than half what the studio was charging so far.  But I had resigned myself to paying their price for the shoes.  We went in early so we could do our shopping and God provided a pair in her size that were FREE in the used bin!!  Thank you, God!

All the mommies watching through the one-way window were very impressed that the teacher got the little dancers to all line up on tape spots on the floor on the first day.  I was also amazed at how quickly you can transform a little girl into a prima donna.  Apparently, all you need is wall-to-wall mirrors, head-to-toe pink, a ponytail, some noisy fun tap shoes and her hands on her hips.

As she came out of the room, I asked her if she had fun and she nodded a very approving yes while showing off the lollipop she got.  Nothing like a little sugar to keep 'em coming back for more.

We'll do one 45-minute lesson each week.  Part of the time is spent learning ballet and another part on tap.  It's a real shame we don't have one of those special black floors at our house to practice tap dancing on.