Maddie and I spent a delightful evening together tonight. Her older sisters were out with their daddy at their first rock concert. (I know, I know – they’re kinda young for ROCK concerts! Take it up with their daddy! He turned them into little rockers at a very young age! It’s Simple Plan – I sincerely hope they’re basically harmless fun. It’s their Christmas present.) Anyway, back to me and Maddie…
We spent the first part of the evening wandering around our favourite bookstore (where you have to climb Pooh’s tree to get to the children’s section 🙂 I’d promised to buy her a little something, since it was buddy night for us, and her sisters got concert tickets. Well, she didn’t find what she wanted at the bookstore. Nor at the dollar store, or Children’s Place, or Zellers. She didn’t even want doughnuts at Tim Hortons. She wasn’t in a very materialistic mood tonight, which made me smile because when I promised her something, I had visions of her begging for EVERYTHING.
In the end, we headed to Value Village (big second hand store), and her and I both found some “gently used” pants (I got lucky AGAIN! I don’t know what’s up with my luck with pants lately!) As her treat for the evening, she picked an Itsy Bitsy Spider game. Not bad for $1.99 – I love the fact that 3 year olds have no concept of the “monetary value” us adults place on things!
As we were leaving Value Village, she said to me “Are you having a rough evening with me, Mom?” Hmmm… what kind of signals was I sending her? “No, sweetie, I’m having a very FUN evening with you.”
Later, in the car, this conversation took place – making me wonder once again, what she’s picking up from me:
Me: “I really like you, Maddie.”
Maddie: “Do you still like me when I’m bad, Mom?”
Me: “Yes, of COURSE. I like you ALL the time, Maddie. Every day of your life.”
Maddie: “And when my sisters are making too much noise, do you still hear me?”
Hmmm… wonder what’s behind THAT question?
Me: “Yes, sweetie, even when your sisters are making too much noise, I still TRY to hear you.”
And then I turned the tables on her…
Me: “And when I’M bad, do you still like me?”
Maddie: “Mo-om – YOU’RE not ever bad!”
Me: “But sometimes I get grouchy and impatient.”
Maddie: “Yeah, well sometimes I do too.”
Do you WONDER why I like that kid so much? 🙂
(By the way, ccap, Maddie picked out SEVERAL things she wanted to buy Abby, long before she found anything she wanted for herself 🙂