So Daddy had a long work day on Saturday so me and Hadley had a date and went out for Chinese...our favorite. So after we ate we opened our fortune cookies and read them...mine...something mundane...Hadley's:
"You will get great pleasure out of doing things people say you can't"
My thought...'Oh Shit'! I mean..I already have a very stubborn stong willed girl..what next!!???
I left my day working today thankful for the "problems" I have in my life. My last appointment for the day with with a 28yr old woman who has lived her whole life sick. She has congested heart failure, renal failure, and is almost completely blind. Here she is with high spirits and seeking Hospice as she is tired of being hooked to the dialysis machine. She is taking her fate into her own hands.
This has been the way it has been in my last couple of weeks. I have recently had an 18yr old who a congenital birth defect, several younger men/women with children as young as 7yrs old, and then this amazing man whose wife was holding on til the last minute pass away right in front of me....all of this makes me realize, I am thankful for my "problems". I guess it just puts things in perspective, and sometimes in life we need that.
We went to see Disney's World on Ice show today. We love the Disney Ice Shows, they are always amazing!! I was able to get tickets right when they went on sale so we had great seats! Hadley loved every bit of it. She loved the Disney characters and also the ice skating, she would always comment on some of the moves the ice skaters were doing. Before the show they had a 'showing' of the Princess dresses and some of the princess were there. And of course there were the souvenirs..we always end up spending more than you plan, but then they also ask so much for a single item!! Overall, it was a great event! Anybody who hasn't gone to one needs to!
Hadley begs me to take her skating, even with her weekly lessons, she always wants to go. So Saturday after her lesson we went back for the open skate sessions. When we got on the ice Hadley turned to me and said, "It's okay. I got this Mom"..and this is what I saw in front of me....
my little baby...off on her own on the ice!
Today was parent-teacher conference at Hadley's preschool. Hadley is right on track with academics for kindergarten. No surprise there..and no surprise when it comes to her behavior either. Hadley is a mixture of both her Mommy and Daddy. She has a tendancy to be a leader, likes to be in control and at times likes to be a bit bossy and tells the other kids what they need to do or she wants them to do. And then the rest of the time she likes to be the class clown! Her teacher said she likes to get everyone laughing and rallied up. So...she is learning from her mommy who is a strong willed person who likes order, admits to having a control issue, and likes to take charge in situations because she cannot handle chaos. And she is learning from her daddy who likes to make everything a joke, goof off all the time, and be silly! I think it is a perfect combination....and I am proud that Hadley is a leader and not a follower. I just hope she keeps that up! And for the bossiness, well, that we will have to work on!! And the being a class clown..I can invision a few meetings with the teachers in our future!
Now her teacher did ask me how we structured things in our house, asking if we had a reward board. To which I said, well, sort of. We have a board we call "DOTS". We have a list of things she is to do everyday and at night we go over them and put "DOTS" next to the ones she does. We don't give rewards for this..these are things I expect my child to do without a reward. Things like..help around the house, take care of the dog, put toys away, and listen to mommy's words. As I was explaining this I was imagining her thinking, "oh, so this is where Hadley gets the control issues from." No, really, she praised me for offering up structure and rules as she sees a lot of parents dont. This made me feel good, we moms know we don't always get praise for our work!!
Overall the meeting went great..I just hope the little issues don't become bigger ones once she is in the elementary school setting!!
So, for Christmas I got Hadley the Easy Bake Oven. I had been waiting for her to be old enough to enjoy this gift. After all, she is obsessed with cooking..she still LOVES to watch the Food Network! And I remember having one as a child and thought it was great. So imagine to my surprise how all you can seem to cook with the Easy Bake is well, crap, specifically chalky crap! Now, I would never tell Hadley this as she loves to use it and eats everything we make with such excitement, and makes those around her eat them. I have to admit I somehow get away with NOT eating it..poor Grandpa at Christmas was subject to a few yummy treats and ate them with a smile! And now..besides Hadley, the only person in the house that seems to enjoy the treats, well, is the dog!!
So..here is an example of the misrepresentation you get when you buy this wonderful Easy Bake Oven. Notice the outcome is no where near what the package represents!!
And yes..that is how they came out of the oven..and no the icing does not melt over the cinnamon rolls but just sits there in a lump.
So..be warned and put your money and energy into something better!!
And yes, even though I feel so strongly about the chalky crap that comes as a result..this is a favorite activity in our house!
