Lilly went on her first sleepover this weekend. It was her friend Sonja’s eighth birthday and the event was held at her grandparents cottage an hour north. Though Lisa worried about homesickness and injury, Lilly came through with flying colors. She was tired on Sunday (bedding down at 10:30 pm and rising at 6:00 am) and a bit out of sorts from having to return to the humdrum reality after the earth-shattering fun of the weekend.
“PanPake” = Pancake
“If you go to hell you get fired.”
“I’m slow as a poke.”
A few days before my birthday, Maeve announced: “Poppa we have a surprise for you… don’t look… IT’S UNDERWEAR!” Lilly begin to whack her, indignantly shouting “You’re not supposed to tell him Maeve.” I played dumb: “Tell me what? I didn’t hear a thing.”
The next day, Lilly cornered me asking if I really hadn’t heard anything. Doubtful, she decided to give me three guesses based on three clues:
My guesses (and Lilly’s responses):
She continued: “No. I guess you’ll just have to wait until your birthday to find out.”
So, on the morning of the 17th, Maeve presented me a two-pack of boxer shorts. I was a bit surprised at the muted brown plaid. Given that Maeve had picked them out, I was expecting something like flaming tiki torches.
Lilly had a dream last night. She dreamed that we were moving because I was very sick and we had to move closer to work so that it was easier to drive. When I reassured her that we weren’t moving anywhere considering how much work I had put into this house, she nodded in agreement: “I know.”
Lilly is loving second grade so far. But the peer pressure is already starting. We’re getting questions and requests for things like a later bedtime, a cell phone, sleepovers, and pierced ears. We’re also seeing the moodiness that comes with the sometimes catty world of girl friendships. She’s so sweet and so beautiful that sometimes it breaks my heart to hear her tales of who said what about who.
Maeve now has an allowance. The only reason we instituted this was for the express purpose of being able to take it away. Taking away a nickel at a time seems to be making an impact… sometimes… sorta… She just doesn’t seem to care about getting in trouble. She screams and cries but two minutes later she’s all smiles and sunshine.
Related to the marriage discussion, I suppose, Lilly claimed she didn’t like make up (responding to something Lisa said). Maeve quickly chimed in, “I DO!”
We went to Milwaukee to get new Irish dance dresses for the girls. Maeve did not shut up for the entire trip. I looked back at Lilly at one point and she had her head down and was covering her ears. Maeve kept up her running commentary all the way there and all the way back and then sang and danced loudly until bedtime and then didn’t go to sleep until nearly 10pm. I have new appreciation for what Lisa has to deal with on Mondays, Fridays, and Sundays. wow.
I showed the girls a video of their Poppa performing with his noisy rock and roll band. After seeing me singing, Maeve commented: “You look mad, Poppa.” Lilly’s first reaction at my spazzy antics was “Why would you do that, Poppa?” Then she asked if I was going to “act like a wiggle-worm” at my next show. When I told her “probably,” she shrugged and said “you ALWAYS act like a wiggle-worm don’t you?”
Later, commenting on a scrape on my forehead (home improvement… don’t ask), Lilly expressed concern about me going to work. Maeve piped in that it looked “cool.” Lilly set her straight: “He needs to look nice at work and he needs to look cool for shows.”
Photos are now up for our train adventure to California. We took the train from Chicago to LA with a stop at the Grand Canyon. The destination was ultimately Santa Barbara for Aunt Sandra’s wedding on July 7. And, yes, we took the train all the way back home too.