Routines, Quality Time and Cool Scars (or the lack thereof)

Boy, my head is spinning a little.  We have not exactly eased gracefully into the new school year.  None of us seem to have latched on to the concept of, "Early to be, early to rise..."  In fact on Monday morning, after she had fallen asleep in her cornflakes three times, I simply sent Sophia back to bed and took her in to school an hour late.  I decided it was more important that she be conscious than on time.  Call me crazy.

I am enjoying the one on one time that I have with Lili now that those other people are off at school all day.  Having me all to herself means that Lil has plenty of time to declare her appreciation for different parts of my body.  This is particularly apparent when she climbs into the shower with me, pats me on the bum and chirps, "I like ya booty, Mama."  We've also played countless games of "Hide Seek."  When the excitement level gets too high, sometimes Lili forgets which part she is playing.  She has been known to jump out from her hiding spot and shout, "I FOUND ME!!" on more than one occasion.  Additionally she has sweetly nurtured me back to health a couple of times when I have stubbed a toe or gotten a paper cut. "Oh!  Owweee!" she sympathizes, "You okay, Mama?"  I'm not the only one who wants to just eat her up, right?

Yesterday I also had a rare bit of  scheduled 'alone time' with my eldest daughter.  We recently noticed an abnormal mole on her hip and followed our pediatrician's recommendation to have it removed.

Sophia was in school; Lili was at her best buddy Mae's house, and I was at good ole Dr. Phenninger's office with a somewhat nervous Emma.  As she sipped a complimentary mini can of Dr. Pepper in the waiting area, my attention was focused solely on her, and I realized that that doesn't happen nearly enough.  Logically, to ease her fears as well as to annoy everyone else sitting in the waiting room, we played "Club Fist," which took me back in time about thirty years.  (Having the "crows peck it off" was one of the ways my Papa Blackburn expressed his love for me.)  Club Fist didn't entertain us for too long, and the conversation topics eventually drifted toward the field of medicine and politics.  Talking politics with a nine-year-old is a wonderful thing.  A nine-year-old simply cannot understand why grown-up politicians cannot get their acts together, speak kindly to and about each other, and compromise occasionally.  She even learned a new vocabulary word: intransigence.  People shouldn't be so intransigent if they're going to be leaders, Emma thinks.

All was going well until we got into the procedure room and were left alone after the nurse gave Emma a once over.  Then I watched my nine-year-old transform into a very frightened five-year-old right before my eyes.  She was full of questions and apprehension.  While we waited, a call to my mom (Emma's Mimi) helped to ease her fears and distract her a bit, but when the doctor entered the room, Emma tensed up like a turkey at Thanksgiving.  Luckily Dr. Phenninger was an expert in dealing with terrified nine-year-olds.  The conversation went something like this:

Dr. P: "What's wrong?!"
Emma: "I'm scared."
Dr. P: "Why?!"
Emma: "Because I've never done this before."
Dr. P (with eyes as wide as saucers and a perfect quivering voice): "Neither have I!!"
Emma: Laughs
Dr. P: "Well, I've never done it ON YOU before.  That's true.  What are you worried about?"
Emma: "I just really don't want it to hurt."
Dr. P: "Listen, Emma, the chainsaw is really loud, but it doesn't hurt very much."

At this point he had completely won her over.  Wonderful Dr. Phenninger talked Emma through everything that was happening, and I'll be a monkey's uncle if she didn't prop up on her elbow and watch every bloody moment of the procedure.  Before it was over, she was, in fact, offering her expert suggestions to the doctor regarding how he might better "get it all off."  Thanks, Emma.  You're very smart.  Now, shut up.

Later on in the evening, I told Emma, "I know that what we did this afternoon wasn't particularly fun, but I really enjoyed spending time with you." 

She replied,  "It was really cool watching the doctor cut that thing off my skin, but I'm really annoyed that I'm not going to have a cool scar."   I choose to believe that this meant that she really enjoyed spending time with me as well.

  Welcome back to the craziness of the school year, y'all!