Just Plain Gross

In the car this evening, we passed The Casket Store. Emma, being the burgeoning reader she is, sounded it out and asked "what's a casket?", which led to a discussion of caskets, cremation, and funerals. I explained in an age-appropriate way how cremation is only done once you are sure the spirit has left the body and how the ashes can go back to the earth but for people who want their bodies buried in a box, it takes much longer for the body to return to the earth but that's what some people want... and you have a funeral, which is a special ceremony....

Emma: "Do you have cake?"
Gail: "Well, not at the funeral, but sometimes there is a reception..."
Emma: "When Nana dies, can I make a cake?"
Gail: "Well, we hope that won't be for a while..."
Emma: "I want to make a cake with a dead body on it! Or maybe an actual dead mouse!"
(She was very pleased with herself.)

I guess the topic will be re-visited at a later date.

Silly Questions

Gail to Emma: "Why don't you have any pants on?" (This is a common question for the "cocktail hour" for some reason.)
Emma: "Because somebody got baptized in the church!"
What planet am I on??!

Storymania

Another story today!!

Girl + Keyboard

Emma sat down at the computer this morning and must have run out of time to play computer games, since she typed a story all by herself. Here it is, unedited. Emma says "I hope you enjoy this story. As you can see, it's by me, Emma. Now sit back and enjoy!"

Frog,s Brthday
By Emma

frog,s Brthday wus the best
day in his life. he invited three
frogs. Fly,s present wus a new tung.
hopr,s present wus new legs.
greeny,s present frog stickrs.
then it wus cake time. the end

Quotable Quotes

Looking back through my Emma journal tonight, I came across several choice quotes from days past (mostly around age 3) from Ours Truly:

“Every day I am amazing myself."
“You’re only one woman; you’re not another woman, because we have a pickle.”
“Sometimes when I’m in trouble, I just clean the trouble up.”
[after learning the word "destroy" from a movie] "“No! Daddy—don’t kiss Mommy; you might destroy her!”
“If Sylvia gets the whole rice cake, I’ll be crushed!”
“I can’t [put that in the trash now]; I’m really dreadfully busy.”
“I’m chasing my own bottom” (she was!)
"I don't want to be calm. I want to be loud and cranky!" (she was.)
“I’m going to worship God by painting my toes” [you go, girl!!]
“Mommy, you deserve great love. I’m going to give you a massage.”, and the ever popular:
"My bottom is not for sale."
"I'm glad we don't live near a volcano so we won't be erupted!"

Birthday Party

Today was Emma's sixth birthday party. We held it at the place where she learned to love swimming this summer. It was a blast! She helped me decorate the cake. We're taking bets on how many days it'll be before the planning starts for next year's event. Sorry I can't think of anything more clever to say but my feet hurt and I need to go collapse.

From Soccer Mom to Lunch Lady

Ok, it's not all about me... in fact, it's actually all about Emma's becoming a big kindergartner. She was pretty anxious before her first day, saying she didn't want to go, etc. As we were walking in, she announced she was going to walk in like a big girl. I asked if this meant not holding my hand, and she specified "like a big girl holding your hand." After I took her to the classroom, the bell rang, and I waited outside the door with a few other parents while the kids said the pledge of allegiance and had their very politically correct moment of silence. Emma had this look on her face of "I'm not totally sure about this..." when I waved goodbye. All summer long, I've looked forward to getting my life back, but it didn't surprise me when I went home that morning and cried. Kent and I reminisced about how fast our girl has grown and said a prayer for her. I have a feeling that, as parents, we would do well to make friends with that bittersweet mix of pride and letting go.

She had a good first day. By day 2 or 3 she was pushing me out in the mornings "go, Mom!!" (smiling) and asking how many more days until first grade. One of the side benefits of her being in Miss Robinson's class is sometimes at home she just goes crazy with "yes Ma'am, thank you Ma'am"s, and has discovered what an instant antidote to grow-up grumpiness that can be and how it increases the chances of her getting whatever she wants dramatically.

After experiencing life at a cooperative preschool, where I got so familiar with each classroom, where things were kept and how the teacher liked things done, as well as relating to and disciplining other people's kids and vice versa, I wanted to ward off feelings of being an outsider to this new world of Emma's, so I signed up to volunteer once a month in the school cafeteria as a cashier. Yesterday was my first shift. Emma gave me a big hug and I learned that, according to Highland Park ISD, anyway, tater tots are a vegetable (?!?). So now, I'm even sexier than a soccer mom; I'm a soccer mom AND lunch lady!! (No hair net, thankfully.) It was pretty fun.

Here are some photos from Emma's first week at school, including one with her teacher, Miss Robinson, and one with Emma and her special two-toned jello and home-made white chocolate chip cookies as part of her happy first-day of school dinner. She planned the menu: spaghetti with meatballs and broccoli with cheese sauce and, of course, a special fancy surprise dessert. (Her latest favorite word is flabbergasted. She enjoys the looks of flabbergastery on people's faces when she shows them she knows what it means. My latest favorite word, meanwhile, is flabbergastery.)