The other day, Caitlyn asked for a definition of “girlfriend, like when grown-ups get married.” So I defined, aiming in grand parental fashion, for age-appropriateness and a balance between traditional definitions and using too many words to explain the various non-traditional relationships in our lives. Caitlyn then announced, “Me and Alik are girlfriend and boyfriend.” This was followed by a description of the afternoon’s events on the playground, a game that seems to consist of sitting at the bottom of the slide and waiting for the other person to crash into you as they come down. And then, nonchalantly, she …
Category: Caitlyn
Reality Intervened, after I had promised Caitlyn project time after school today, and she was all set for some no-sew fabric crafting. Instead, we made dinner. I’d been reading about Solar Oven Chef’s frittata and Hip Chick’s kale tortilla, so: She chose the potatoes from the pantry, then scrubbed them clean. I peeled and chopped. She put the water in the pot and carried the full pot to the stove, were we turned on the burner together. She watched the pot to be sure it didn’t boil over. I sautéd onions. She added the broccoli. I drained the potatoes, and …
Ian and I seem to have acquired a stomach bug and, as a result, Caitlyn got to watch The Wizard of Oz this afternoon. This was her first occasion to talk to the characters on screen, telling Dorothy and Co., “Hurry! Hurry! Run!” while they were attempting an escape from the Witch. And thus is the future habit of telling horror movie victims, “Not that way! Can’t you hear the soundtrack cues?!?” born.
It’s only a problem some days. Caitlyn’s school is in a room in the lower level of a Catholic school attached to a church. St. Joe’s has a lovely big white building, and if we get close enough, soon enough, we often get to listen to the bells tolling noon. Last year, we watched the lengthy process of stained glass window restoration/installation. But sometimes when we walk past the church to school, we walk past a bit of church life. If people would get married or christened at noon on a weekday, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but …
I’ve had a fairly steady routine script at bedtime for the last 3 years or so. After Caitlyn’s lullabies, I say, “Sweet dreams. Mama loves you. See you in the morning.” For quite some time now, Caitlyn has repeated each sentence back to me in a bedtime call and response sort of thing. Tonight’s version went like this: Me: Sweet dreams.Her: Sweet dreams.Me: See you in the morning. Mama loves you.Her: Mama loves you. I mean, Caitlyn loves you. She’s just shy of four and one-half. This is the first time she’s changed the subject of that sentence. Makes a …
Caitlyn is into nonsense, especially nonsense that rhymes or alliterates. She rattled off a string of it this evening while we waited for dinner to be served (Galway Bay in Ocean Shores – these are good potatoes!), then looked over to me and announced, “It’s funny the first time.” See, she’s also into repeating things that get a laugh out of people. Giggle the first time she says something and she’ll repeat it til your head explodes. We’ve been telling her that just because something is funny the first time, it’s not funny after that. Of course, random nonsense for …