Maggie-isms

My Maggie. Oh, me-oh, my- my Maggie is going to make me turn grey early. Hardly a day goes by that she doesn't either try my patience, test my parenting, or make me laugh aloud. Here's just a typical week in Maggie's world:

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Tonight at bedtime, we read "Going on a Bear Hunt," which ends with the family shutting the door, running upstairs, and pulling the covers over their head. After reading this delightful children's book, Maggie follows up with, "If I was that family, I'd pull out my shotgun and shoot that bear to make sure it doesn't come into my room."

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Today, we had a painting day for 4-H projects for the fair. The girls involved selected such lovely scenes to paint: a farm with a red barn, a pasture with two horses, a beautiful sunset... and a volcano. Guess which girl is painting a volcano, "with bright orange rivers of fiery lava flowing down the sides and a big mean ash cloud!" Yep, that's my Maggie.

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Yesterday, Maggie had an Alexander kind of day. You know, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. She had just lost the privilege of playing at her friend's house and was going home to pick cherry tomatoes with dad. From the backseat of the car, in the sweetest voice you can imagine, I heard:

"Mommy, can I have a restart for this day and just start over again?"

"Yes, Maggie. I think that'd be a very good idea."

"Mommy, since the day is just starting, can I go play at C's house now?"

Ya... that's a negative there, Einstein.

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I went shopping with Maggie for her 4-H outfit last week. We knew she was going to wear a new pair of jeans, because, according to Maggie, "after analyzing my wardrobe, I need new jeans that don't have holes in the knees." So, the only difficult part was going to pick out a shirt. Maggie set her eyes on a bright pink shirt with some funky lace bottom and a silver crown on it. It's not my favorite, and the 4-H judge will have plenty to dislike about the bottom cut. So, the rest of the shopping day went like this:

"Maggie, do you like this one?"

"Sure... but not as much as the pink-shimmery-cool-lace-crown shirt."

Repeat ad infinitum.

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She drives me nuts, but I know she'll stick to her guns, no matter how much pressure others put on her. Now, if only I can establish a strong enough value system before her friends' influence out-weighs ours. We can only hope, anyway.

And I love her, just the way she is.

Don't let the smile fool you. She was screeching about every single weed.