Daisy

~ I've come to the conclusion that a big reason that the girls won't clean up their stuff is that they have too much freaking stuff. Seriously. They just do. So I did them a favor today and filled a large garbage bag with toys and things they don't actually play with but which contribute greatly to the clutter that makes my life a living hell. I did this while they were out in the backyard playing, hoping that my stealth would go undetected if I worked quickly, but alas, Daisy came upstairs and caught me. She saw the garbage bag of toys and asked what I was doing. I told her, simply, "Cleaning up," and sent her back downstairs. Later when I was finished and the bag of toys was safely stowed downstairs, the kids called it a day and came inside. The first thing Daisy asked was, "What did you do with the bag of my toys?" I had to think fast. "I gave them to a family who didn't have toys for their children, because you guys have way more toys than you need." (I felt that this was not a total lie, as I do plan to donate the toys to Goodwill.) Daisy asked me, "When did you go?" "They came to the door," I said (okay, so I lied). "What was their name?" she asked. (Now I'm thinking, geez, how many questions is she going to ask, and therefore how many lies is she going to force me to tell? This wasn't part of the plan . . .) "Smith," I answered (it was the first name that came to mind). I thought, well, she'll at least feel good that a less fortunate family is benefitting from her old things. Guess what she said. "Well, when I grow up, I'm going to take all your stuff away and give it to another mommy!"

Sigh.

~ Today was also a big day for Daisy. Her preschool teacher, knowing about Daisy's terror of any living creature that's not human, told me a couple weeks ago that they were going to be "raising" butterflies from caterpillars. And the fact is, Daisy has been known to freak out over butterflies. So. This morning when we arrived at school, the teacher told me that the caterpillars had arrived and were in the classroom. I sighed and told her I'd stay close to home in case she needed to call me to come get Daisy. Well, I didn't get a call. When I went to pick the girls up from preschool, the teacher motioned me over and had me peek inside the classroom. She told me that Daisy did, in fact, freak out over the caterpillars, that she was quite hysterical for some time. However, somehow they talked her off that ledge and she became fascinated with the caterpillars and spent most of the rest of the day sitting right next to the butterfly thingamajig that the caterpillars are living in, watching them. So when I peeked into the classroom, that's what I saw: Daisy right up close to the caterpillars, watching them. And she couldn't stop talking about them for a long time after school. So while this may seem like small potatoes, it was a huge step for her.