Love letters

My soon to be 4 years old daughter came home with two envelopes in her hands. I opened them up, found out they were from her preschool classmates J and C. One letter says: Dear T, you are my best friend. I love your shiny shoes. Love J. The other says:Dear T, you are my best friend, I love you because you are very nice. Love C. I was in awe. These are the first two hand written letters she got in her life, and they are two 6 years old girls, how cool is that? Eagerly, I asked her whether she wants to "write" some letter back, she shrugged and said "Nah". I wonder what those 6 years old see in her?

Next day I went to her school to attend one of her boy friends's birthday celerbration. On the way out, C, the 6 year old girl asked my daughter whether she can carry my daughter's backpack. I thanked her and told her that I could carry for T. Her teacher smiled and told me in whisper: you know T never carries her backpack, there is always some older kid carry for her. Wow, could I be more surprised. How did she get all those love? She is amazing.

Grandma

My two year old said to me today: "mommy, if I have a baby, you will be grandma". It made me laugh. I am glad she got that all figured out. But I'v never thought of myself becoming a grandma. Yes, I can never imagine myself being old. Kids make you aging faster, don't they? I will have to accept the fact that I will be a grandma, one day.

I am curious

My two year old has been using phrase like "I am curious" a lot lately. It is especially funny to hear her saying that out loud since she has always been curious. She is curious about all my makeups: she is more eager to open the package of the foundation than I am. Some mornings, when I paint my face, she is always there to help. I should have taken a picture of her, holding my lipstick and keeping asking: mommy, are you ready for lipstick yet?. The answer is mostly like "no, sweetie, that is my last step". Then she says:"ok, mommy, let me know when you are". The conversation just makes me laugh at my heart.

My angel, I hope you will be always curious about life like you are now.

Merry Christmas

It has been said so many times, by so many people. But it is still a good thing to say at this time of the year. I am saying it too, with a smile.

You have two choices

My daughter woke up at 4am this morning, asking for milk. So I got up and went to kitchen to warm up some milk for her. When I came back, I found her sitting on the floor crying. "I wanted to go to get the milk with mommy", she shouted. I got down on the floor, and handed her the milk cup. She pushed it away and said "pour it out, I want to get it by myself". This is typical terrible two behavior. She wants to feel her bigness by doing everything by herself, on the other hand, she pretends to be a little baby sometimes.

I decided to let her cry for a few minutes. So she did, crying and insisting doing it by herself. After 5 mins, I picked her up and put her in bed. I told her "you have two choices: either you drink the milk and go to bed, or just go to bed without the milk. Mommy will let you "do it by yourself" tomorrow". She sat up and kept crying and saying "I want to do it all by myself". The tantrum lasted about another 10 to 15 mins. She was tired and lay down, she was still crying, but it sounded weaker. So I patted her and told her " I love you, and I know you are a big girl, but sometimes you can't get to do whatever you want." She cried for another 5 mins, and then asked for the milk. After she finished the milk, she rinsed her teeth with water and drifted to sleep.

I tend to do whatever she asks for, but I know that is not the right way to raise a child. They need to learn that they can't get whatever they want, that is just the truth. I hope she learned that from the "milk fight". Tough love.