kindergarten girls

Today was another milestone, Ella's first field trip, to the Pumpkin Patch. I wasn't able to chaperon so it was an exercise in letting go and trusting the school. They returned her in good health, a little dustier and a lot more tired. She proudly brought home her pumpkin and we carved it up like a "vampire that looks sideways a little."
We had our dinner, our Monday night Family Home Evening and made it into the tub with relative ease, when someone new showed up.

I call her "CRAZY MAISY" she is the insane and giggly creature that seems to take over my daughters when they are too tired or have had too much going on to process (for example your first field trip day ever!)
Maisy may sound fun, but when she makes my oldest girl refuse to put her clothes on apres le tub, Maisy is not our friend.

Ella was being silly and lost her bedtime story because she didn't put on her PJ's, lest you think me inhumane, I gave her 3 warnings and the final one being that if I saw her run through the halls naked one more time she would not get a story that night. As you have already surmised, Crazy Maisy went streaking through the hall and the story was lost.

I am glad that my daughters cherish their bedtime stories, but from the reaction that came next, one would think Ella's entire future happiness had rested upon her hearing that story. She howled and railed, she cried and hyper-ventilated, she had to go to time-out to try to calm down but ended up in bigger trouble for yelling at us, her innocent parents.

40 minutes later, she finally calmed down enough to lay down and crash, dead to the world asleep.

Eddie asked me where she gets the hyperventilating thing from and I had to confess, she is a girl, our emotions and our bodies are very tightly connected.

I was once a kindergarten girl too I give you exhibit "A"

I look pretty sweet and innocent, I was pretty sweet and innocent. I had two evil older brothers who made it easy for me to be the sweet and innocent one in the family (at least until I became an evil older sister, sorry Mary)
I can only now appreciate what my Mom went through, she survived 6 kindergartners, half of them girls.
Of course I can also now appreciate the benefits of really knowing a five year old girl.

Picture day hit us a few weeks ago, My big girl had a hard time sleeping the night before picture day (lack of sleep and Ella are a little too common) She was so excited and nervous for her class picture to be taken, her mind was racing and she couldn't fall asleep.
The next morning she spent ten minutes looking in the mirror because her teacher told her to "practice your smile"
She didn't just admire herself, she practiced all kinds of smiles and examined the benefits of each. She wanted her dimple to show, but she didn't want to show too many teeth, and so on.

One of the joys of having this beautiful girl in my family was seeing her face when she saw this face:

The perfect school picture!