The Land Before Time

Man, I loved this movie when I was young. We had the video and we watched it all the time.  I decided to buy it and show Elise, well aware that there is a scene where the mom dies in the beginning.  I've tended to avoid the whole death topic with Elise but thought that maybe this was a good opportunity to introduce it (beyond talking about bugs).  Well, man oh man, she was a wreck and cried her eyes out, especially at the end of the movie when she realized Little Foot would not be reunited with his mom.  Of course she started asking when I would die and she wouldn't believe me when I told her not to worry about it.  Finally I said, I will die when you become a grandmother.  She laughed at that because she understood how unlikely it was that she would in fact ever become a grandmother, haha!   She's watched the movie 2 times since and still cries at the end every time.

Still awake

It is 10:30 and Elise is still awake!!  I am working on my dissertation and she is next to me sleeping on a pull-out sofa in the office (don't ask).  She just turned to me and said in a very pedantic tone, "Momma, let me tell you something.  It is really, really hard for kids to sleep!"

If only it could be reversed.  Kids fall asleep easily and parents don't want to sleep so that they can get work done!

I care for him

Elise is already all about the underdog.  When we read stories or watch shows and there is a "bad guy", Elise will often insist, "But I care for him!" 

Hopefully this doesn't translate into dating preferences during the teen years.

Anxieties about the future

Elise has started to think about the future and all the scary things that come along with it.  Today in the car, she was telling us how she doesn't want to grow up because she's afraid of driving.  Here's what basically happened:

Elise: I don't want to grow up to be a mommy.
Me: Why?
Elise: I don't know how to drive a car.
Me: But you will learn how to drive a car when you get older.
Elise: Even if I go to car school, I still won't know how to do it.  I won't know how to get to different places.
Bryant: That is what the phone is for!  You can use it to tell you how to get to places.
Elise: But even if I have a phone, I won't understand what she is saying and then I won't know how to go somewhere.
Me: You will learn all of those things as you grow up.
Elise: No, I won't.  I don't know if I should go this way or that way.  Even if I go to car school and even if I have a phone, I won't know how to do it.
Me: (sensing that this is really stressing her out)-- it's OK, you can just take the train.
Elise: But I can't take the train anywhere.  I can't take it to church.
Me: You can just use Uber.  You don't have to drive.  If you do Uber, someone else will drive for you.
Elise: I never, ever want to drive a car.  I need to always be with mommy or daddy so that I don't have to drive.  I'm worried I won't know which way to go.  Like if you tell me to go to Guppy House, and even if I learn at car school how to drive to Guppy House, I'm worried that I still won't know where Guppy House is.  And then I'll miss it."

Another conversation that happened today while Elise was taking a bath:

Elise: I don't want to grow up to be a mommy.
Bryant: Why?
Elise: Because I don't want to brush (shave) my legs because it's owie.
Bryant: You don't have to shave your legs.  You don't even have hair.
Elise:  But I do, I have little tiny hairs.
Bryant: You don't need to shave your legs.  You can just leave it the way it is.
Elise: OK!  (happy)



So fascinating to see what goes on in the mind of a 3-year old!!!  I remember I used to have nightmares about driving when I was young since I was also anxious about driving at a very young age.  I was amazed that my parents seemed to know exactly where to go all the time and I couldn't figure it out.  So interesting to see it come up with Elise!

Sensitive Elise

Elise went to a birthday party on Sunday and there were several families there that we knew.  I came late and saw her on the playground equipment looking sad.  She came up to me and said, "Nobody will play with me."  I asked her what she meant and she said, "It's so weird, I know all the kids here.  I know Trinity, Kiara, Caselyn, Maddie, and Sophie but they won't play with me."  I saw that all those girls were busy playing and I think Elise really wanted to click with someone and "play together" but there were so many fun things going on (playground, water slide, petting zoo) that I don't think a lot of kids were playing together like the way that she is used to.  She definitely wasn't being excluded in any way but she still felt lonely.  I know it's not a big deal but as a mom, this breaks my heart!

Equal rights

On the way to preschool, we saw a man jogging only wearing shorts.  Our convo:

Elise: Why can boys wear no shirt but girls have to wear shirts?
Me: Because girls have to cover their neh-nehs.  
Elise: But I don't have neh-neh, so why do I have to wear a shirt but boys can only wear shorts when they go swimming?
Me: Oh wow, look at that billboard!!

Glow stick

We brought home glow sticks from a wedding and Elise was intrigued by them.  When I explained to her what they were (since they had lost their glow) she said, "I'm going to plug it in and then it will glow".