Fun Dates with the Girls.

After a fairly frustrating experience with my fabulous daughter, I realized she may be in need of some quality time with her mother.  We were very lucky to have a friend in our neighborhood who invited Elizabeth and Mitchell over for a playdate on Friday.  Now, an opportunity was open and ready for us to spend an afternoon together.  We had discussed what might be an exciting and fun "date."  Madeline's idea?  To go get an electric toothbrush.  Yes, it is true, my sweet Madeline has been desiring an electric toothbrush since she went to the dentists office a few weeks ago.  Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to fulfill all her dreams and wishes.  We went on our date to Wal-Mart (my least favorite place to shop, but the cheapest).  We discovered her dream electric toothbrush, which was green, and had no princesses on it, she is big now, after all.    I pulled her over to the bike display, hoping she would become impressed with the bigger bikes, maybe she would really discover she wanted to become a professional biker after all.  Nope, she thought they were nice, but she was ready to go look for some jewelry.  We skipped our way over to the jewelry and she

 pleaded for a disney princess locket/choker necklace.  I am not in the habit of purchasing all the bountiful things my little ones ask for, but as I pondered on this decision, I realized I was prepared to spend much more to take her to a movie, so I guess a $5 necklace wouldn't be too crazy.

At this point, I was done.  Yes, whatever business we needed to accomplish at Walmart had to be finished, and quickly.  I have a very short attention span shopping, and I have an even shorter one at Wal-Mart.   Now  I am wondering, what I am supposed to do for the rest of our date.  I have realized I am a seriously boring mother, but I will prevail. 

 

I see Kohl's across the parking lot, and I realize they have some fun stuff there.  This could work.   So, we go across the parking lot and hop in the store.  What did we find there?  Makeup.  It is true, I forgot they had makeup there, we could try it on, smear it all over our faces, and really go crazy.  So, that is what we did.  We tried all the fragrances in lotion and perfume form.  We tried on lipsticks, glosses, eyeshadow, blush, powders, and mascara.  Truthfully, we had a fabulous time.  I finally realized that, yes, we are bonding, we are enjoying this day together. Madeline was feeling like a grownup and I was feeling like we were actually making some headway.  We had so much fun together, and I was glad that we took the opportunity to bond to one another.

Finally, came the dinner.  When I asked her where she wanted to go, she said "somewhere fancy, and quiet."  Seriously, she must be my daughter, but I can't afford to take her fancy and quiet.  So, we go to Chili's.  She ponders about maybe getting a salad, because she loves salads, but in the end, the little girl in her couldn't help herself.  She had to have macaroni and cheese, with fries on the side.  I got a salad.  Here's the best part, (or maybe the worst), after we started eating I realized that my chicken was raw, pink in the  middle, not fit for consumption.  Great, I had already eaten half the salad (but luckily not the chicken, since I only eat it because I know it is good for me).  So, I inform the waiter of the issue, and he looks horrified.  Poor guy, he could see his tip going out the window.  The manager was sent directly over, offered a replacement which, of course, I refused because now I was ready to never eat again.  But, offered to comp the entire order.  Yeah, so I just went out to eat, but didn't have to pay for a thing.  Happy day for me.  I know, I am slightly a freak, but I got two bonus'.  I didn't have to pay to eat, and I wasn't hungry after that.  Weightloss and money gain.  

We have had a better week this week, and I am attributing it to the fact that I spent some fun time with my Madeline.  Hopefully, as I continue to take some time alone with her, we can avoid the pitfalls that can often come to us.  I also dream that she will grow to know how special she is and that the frustrations that come so easy to her now, will in time be easier for her to control.  There is no guarantee that these moments will make an impression on her, but they made an impression on me.

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