Wit & Wisdom, week of Feb. 27

Here is this week's wit and wisdom, a collection of funny or smart things I've managed to catch Maggie saying. Any new words are in italics.

• We were snuggling Sunday night and had the following conversation: "Mommy, do you know what I'm thinking?" me: No. "I'm thinking that if I were scared, like maybe scared of the dark, it would be nice to have Peter Pan and Tinkerbell and Ariel and Eric and Aurora and Queen Clarion with me to help me not be scared." me: Or maybe Mommy and Daddy? "Well, either would be fine. But I think I'd rather have the characters."
• "I like being alive! I'm so happy! Now I can bring joy and happiness everywhere!"
• "Mommy, I love you more than myself."
• "Mommy, is the movie punishment over?" When I told her yes, she said, "Oh good. I thought so, but then I thought I was dreaming."
• "Bring the butterfly (a toy) over here! I think he wants some of the pollem on this flower!
• On Wed. I asked her who she played with at school, and I got this answer: "I played with Gigi and Ian. Ian and Bo usually play Power Rangers, but today Bo wanted to play with Parker instead, so Ian asked me if I wanted to play with him, and I did." I asked her what Power Rangers did, expecting to hear what SHE'D done as a Power Ranger. Instead, she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I dunno. Must be a movie Bo has or something." You've just gotta love the play-by-play of a 4-year-old!
• I had some shoes in a stack of consignment sale stuff, and she asked, "Can I try on these shoes? I have socks on, so I'm sure they won't give me a splinter."
• She was spinning around to make her dress flare out, and she explained to me that she was trying to look "ballerinaful."
• She's started testing us a lot on discipline, trying to get off on technicalities. Two examples from our Wed. night dinner at Red Lobster: 1) Bobby told her to stop pulling on the string for the blinds, and a few minutes later, I saw her playing with it again. When I told her to stop and reminded her that Daddy had already told her once, she answered, "But Daddy said not to pull on it, and I'm not pulling it." 2) She kept pulling up her dress to shoulder length, so I was trying to explain modesty to her. She already knows that certain parts of her body are private and shouldn't be touched or seen by anyone else, so when I reminded her of this as she bared her chest in the restaurant booth, she said, "But no one can see me because Daddy is blocking me." Argh!

Mommy Brag Time/reading update: She is really getting good! Although she finished the second set of Now I'm Reading books, she doesn't really seem interested in doing a lot of sit-down reading. This is where I have to fight the urge to "strongly encourage" (i.e. pressure) her to keep at it ... I know if she were more consistent she'd really be flying through books on her own, but I also believe at this age it's best to just follow her lead and let her do what interests her. She is, however, reading a lot of random things all around her -- signs in stores, ads in magazines, nametags on people ... that sort of thing. Thursday in Target she read a sign that said "stock up for less" with no trouble. I love how she'll just bust out with something and surprise me; it always takes me a minute to figure out what she's just seen.

We also discovered a FUN series of longer books -- it's the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park. The books are anywhere from 60-80 pages and are arranged in short chapters (but few pictures). Maggie loves them, and Bobby and I do too -- we laugh out loud in some parts! We have JBJ and The Yucky, Blucky, Fruitcake (read a sample chapter of it here), JBJ Smells Something Fishy, and JBJ Has a Monster Under Her Bed. They are great! Maggie was very engaged and asks a lot of questions throughout their reading and after.

And since I've already written a novel and seem to be in the book recommendation business, I have to give a special shout-out to Stephanie's Ponytail. My friend Annette loaned it to me last week after we were talking about raising strong, confident daughters (she has two amazing teenage girls). I LOVE the message in this book -- it's all about not following the crowd and being yourself. Maggie loves the silly illustrations. Another great book (by the same author) is The Paper Bag Princess ... really great. I've ordered Maggie her own copies of these, and I liked SP so much that I ordered a few extras to keep on hand as gifts. Check them out!