Just the Girls

The other day, Annalee was in a teary mood where everything made her start whining and crying.  It happens sometimes--especially when she hasn't eaten in a couple of hours.  As annoying as it is to deal with, I have a deep reservoir of patience for those times because I know EXACTLY where she gets it from.  Sorry, Annalee...genetics are ruthless.  So in the midst of all that, she looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes and said, "Mommy, I just really want to spend some time with you."  Really?  What do you think we do everyday?  Practically every moment of my time is spent with my two kids!  But then I thought about it and realized that recently Daddy had taken her out for some daddy-daughter time and I had been at home with Vander.  In fact, it had happened a lot.  So I decided that we would have a mommy-daughter day on Saturday.

We drove to the Boise Towne Square mall, where I had a big surprise that I was super-excited about.  A local ballet studio was hosting an American Girl (the dolls that look like you) Fashion Show and they were looking for 200 models, size 6x and size 10.  Annalee is 6x!  I just knew this was going to be so neat, a chance for Annalee to show off and strut her stuff and get attention like she always wants.  Unfortunately, I overlooked one important truth: Annalee can't handle surprises.  I don't know why it took me this long to figure it out--the signs have been there all along.  If we are doing anything new, meeting a new relative, or going someplace we've never been, Annalee needs to be prepared.  If she is prepared, she is a rock star.  When she was two we scheduled her first dentist appointment.  The night before, we "played dentist" with a toothbrush and a pick.  When we went to the dentist they got confused about what I wanted, which was just a "Smile Check" to get her used to coming to the dentist.  Instead, they did a full cleaning.  And she did awesome!  She opened wide and let them do everything, even flossing, which we'd never done.  Everyone was amazed that she was only 2 years old.  But!  I had prepared her.

She has to be prepared.  Even good things, like getting a gift, she must be prepared for.  Otherwise, she won't like the gift or won't say thank you or will be more interested in something else.  No surprises.

So, it shouldn't surprise anyone that once we got to the Model Search Annalee buried her face in my leg and refused to come up for air.  I kept thinking, "What in the heck?!"  I do not have a shy girl.  She loves to have everyone look at her.  She thinks any person in proximity to her is her friend.  She thinks that any old person must be another of her grandparents.  She tells clerks at the grocery store intimate details about our lives.  ("I have to go potty right now, but we aren't going potty until we get home because the toilet there is better.")  But right there in the mall she decided she was shy.  And boy, was it annoying.  There were all these smiling, nice ladies and cheery ballet girls leading us from table to table as we filled out forms and took Annalee's measurements (her body was glued to mine as they tried to measure her).  Finally, they tried to hand her an American Girl doll to hold while she walked between two cordons.  She flatly refused.  I was embarrassed and mad.  I tried to tell her how fun and exciting it would be.  I tried to bribe her with ice cream.  I dearly desired to threaten her and MAKE her do it, like one of those psycho pageant moms.  It wasn't like I was trying to get her to do it to fulfill some dream I had.  I knew that this was something she would genuinely enjoy being a part of, if only she would knock it off!  But I backed off.  I told her we could go home, if she wanted.  Finally, she agreed to walk down the aisle if I went with her.

And then she grimaced the whole way.  Perfect.

So that was a colassal flop.  The actual show is in October, but I doubt we'll be there.  For one, the kids get in free, but each adult has to buy a $40 ticket.  Say, wha?  Sounds like a racket to me!

We started walking around the mall.  Then we found the activity that ended up being her favorite part of the whole day: riding the escalators.  I found a spot on the second floor where I had a great view of both the up and down escalators.  Then I let her have at it.  With Pinky the Poodle clutched firmly in one arm, she rode the escalator down.  She ran to the next one.  She rode it up.  She dashed back to the first.  She rode it down. et cetera, et cetera.  She was in heaven.  We went to the rest room and then came back so she could ride them again.  I just watched her and smiled and thought about how kids weren't meant to be in fashion shows, they were meant to be kids.  Finally, we left the mall and went to the Art in the Park festival in downtown Boise.  On the way, I prepared her for what we would find.

The Children's Museum had a tent set up where the kids could make jewelry or paint a picture for a dollar.  She painted a very dark picture (all the colors mixed together) and then we went looking for food.  We saw a lot of neat booths, but I was more interested in them than she was.  She deeply desired a candy apple when she saw someone else with one but I had a feeling it would not see more than a few bites.  Instead, we shared a teriyaki bowl ($7.50, sheesh!) and then an elephant ear ($6.50).  It was ginormous!  They served it on a 12" round cardboard pizza form, and it took up the whole thing.  We shared that sugar-saturated confection while we listened to a live band, which she actually enjoyed.  In the end, I was feeling a little sick from the sugar overload, but Annalee was still licking her fingers.  We walked back to the art booth to pick up her dry picture, then drove home.  She fell asleep on the way and didn't even wake up when I pulled into the garage.  Daddy carried her in and laid her on the couch.