I love you but...

My beloved daughter has just recently started prefacing many sentences with "I love you, but..." What's funny is that usually the phrase following "but" is pretty consistent with the idea of "I love you" (or at least isn't contradictory) so we have some work to do on the point of using "but." Once she said, "I love you, but I want you to sit by me." "I love you, but I want to read that book."

Last night around 2:30 she realized that I had snuck out of bed after she fell asleep (to sleep in my own bed with my own husband--not, of course, to just be mean), so she started crying and calling for me or dad to come in. Daddy, being dead to the world, wasn't up for it, so I stumbled in, scooted her over, and settled down to go back to sleep. She flipped over to announce, "I love you, but I want you to lay down with me." Yeah, I got that part.

I started wondering where she might have picked up this phrase--because we're nearing "personal catchphrase" status with it. As all children, she listens intently to what we say around and to her. We hear ourselves more often than we'd like sometimes. I'm pretty sure that I must have the habit of saying something like, "I love you, but I'm not pleased with how you are acting right now." or "I love you, but I would rather you not hang on me while we're trying to eat."

If that did come from me, I hope that she always dwells on the first part of the sentence more than whatever the second part says.

Fairy, Fairy Quite Contrary

Today began the birthday party season in our circle of friends. We were invited to a Fairy Tea Party to celebrate Sophie's 3rd. The invitation kindly offered to provide fairy wings for any "wingless fairies," but GG and Papa (having the direct line to the Mouse) hooked Bryn up with a sweet Tinkerbell outfit. She was fairy from head to toe--including a purse to top off the outfit.

It was a fun to watch her play with her fairy friends from school. They danced, played ring-around-the-rosy, were dusted with "fairy dust" (which turns out to not be all that different than body glitter), and ate cute little blocks of sugar made to look like mushrooms and tea cakes. To be fair, the mushrooms were large marshmallows with some sculpted gummie stuff on top to look like petals or something, and each of the cupcakes were tied with a little ribbon....nice touch. The raspberry punch was served in sugar rimmed teacups. The table was beautiful, but of course, the entire thing was a mine field for parents who prefer their daughter not consume refined sugar.

As a result, I suspect Beau didn't have much fun because he was being hyper vigilant about the quantity of sugar on the party table, the safety hazards that lurked in the goodie bags, and Bryn running around a wood floor in fairy flip flops.

Bryn was a lovely guest (apart from crowding the gift opening a little bit). She sang Happy Birthday with conviction, and she even thanked Sophie for inviting her to the party.

Over the coming months we get to celebrate just about one party a month. Thinking I was getting a jump on things when buying Sophie's gift, I bought presents for all of her friends with upcoming birthdays. One point for my foresight. All the gifts are variations on a theme, but I thought the theme was an awesome one so if they were all different it still works. I didn't quite consider that all these kids would be at the same parties and SEE the theme unfold, seemingly uninspired month after month. I'm going to have to scramble or else Bryn's going to end up with a mess of floor puzzles for her birthday. Maybe eBay is still working.