Tuesday, December 2nd, and we have a new 6 year old in the family.
She's grown up so much in the past 6 months, she honestly seems more aware of who she is, her boundaries and what proper behavior is expected. Of course there are times where she forgets and there's a screaming/crying fight, but we haven't had a temper tantrum in a long while and on the whole she's learned it's best to just give up something or offer alternatives than fight tooth and nail for it, especially when it's something like a piece of paper to draw on.
The morning began with her popping up in bed and annoucing "I'm six!" Then it was off to school with the expectation of a special show-n-tell. When the afternoon arrived, the boys and I packed off to ISM with a cooler of snacks and Pomelo. Rebecca had been asking for several weeks if she could bring a cat and what better day than her birthday. He didn't like the drive there very much and in the classroom he was happiest being held by me or hiding behind the teacher's computer yowling for his sister. Rebecca was happy, the kids thought it was neat and to top it off, we went to the library and checked out a stack of books and then stopped in the canteen and bought ice creams.
A trip to Seafront FPO and medical unit and we were home in time for Katherine to change and get dropped to Brownies. Rebecca had received a pencil from a classmate with princesses on it and she was repeating over and over "It's a nice pencil, a pencil is a good present, I'm happy with my pencil". It seemed that the day was done and she was accepting that there was no cake and there were no other presents. At least, no one had said anything to the contrary. Doesn't that show how much she'd changed? Not long ago she would either have asked outright or just burst into tears at the thought of no gifts.
So we sent all the kids upstairs to get ready for bed and Rebecca had her pencil. While stories were being read, Ian prepared the cakes (I'd bought 6 little chocolate cakes to form one big cake) by sticking two "3" candles in one (oops, mom loses points for forgetting a birthday candle), and we called her out to the den. She was happy. So I asked her what would make the day even better. Her sister piped up before she had a chance with "presents!" but since Rebecca had already talked herself out of expecting more gifts, her face lit up when we brought out a small stack of gifts.
Grandparents sent her a tiny set of American Girl paper dolls, complete with background scene and storage box, and a complete set of Felicity American Girl books. She said she just -knew- she'd get books, and was thrilled with the topic. At the library earlier, she'd asked to go check out the American Girl book section, "just to see them". OK, so she's a little strange too. She noted that the Felicity books were too tough for her to read now, so she was going to let Katherine read them first. Didn't I say she'd changed??
Following those, she received the "Barbie in the Nutcracker" movie from dad (though I think she was hoping it was a computer game. I guess she'll have to wait until her stocking!) and a shimmery orange dress from mom. To the dress she asked what it was... "A clown"? I guess I just can't win. But that's OK, she loved the other gifts and she said she had a great birthday, and that's the whole point.
Now she's just waiting for some teeth to fall out. Of course, it would help if they were even a tad bit loose first.
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