f.o.u.r.

All she wanted was a pink cake. I made two. One to bring to her classroom and one to celebrate as a family that night. All that pink frosting reminded me of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back. I never really liked that book as a kid. The thought of trying to get rid of a pink cat ring around the tub that ended up in the snow just always exhausted me. As did frosting two pink cakes. But she was so happy when she woke up and saw those two pink cakes that I decided I'll do it every year 'til I die if that's what she wants.























So friends. Let me share a story with you.

The other day while the kids and I were at the club, M was busy flitting back and forth around the perimeter of the playground. As she made her round past me nursing EZ, I asked her to throw some trash away. She grabbed the refuse from my hand and skipped over to the trash can across the other side of the playground.

I watched her with fondness. My little girl! So helpful. And then I watched her grab the edge of the trash can and lean her face against the edge as she peered inside to see what other goodies were lying in the pit of all that is heinous. "M!" I yelled. "M! M! M!" Getting more frantic the longer she had a firm grip on the can and her face was smashed up against it. The germaphobe within was writhing in agony. Finally I broke EZ off and started bee-lining it for her.

That's when I saw it. The look in her eyes as she turned her face toward me then. She had heard me the whole. time. She smirked, started backing away from the dirty can and slowly let her hands slide down the side. "M!" I yelled, as she flipped her head and started heading in the opposite direction. Oh, no you don't, I thought. I grabbed her skinny, little arm and marched her over to the stroller where I could slather her in baby wipes and anti-bacterial gel. And do you know what she said to me in a perfectly nonchalant voice, dripping of absolute awareness of her crime? "What, Mom? What?"

Pray for us.