Potty Break!

Kat: "Isabella, it's time for a potty break. If you can go pee and stinky, we can have a treat!"

Isabella goes in and sits on the toilet. After a minute or so, I go in to check on her. She is still sitting on the toilet.

Isabella: "Great news! I went pee!"

Kat: "Can you go stinky, too?"

Isabella: "No stinky now."

Kat: "Can you just wait a minute and see if you can go?"

Isabella: "I already asked my belly and he said, (she puts on a deep voice) 'Not now, kid!' "

The clubhouse decorated for the party

Birthday Girl 2

Birthday Girl 1

The Toast

The fairies sat down to a lovely tea party with crackers and flower-shaped cheeses, apples and caramel (you know how those fairies love their caramel), pumpkin and banana muffins. They chose between juices and lemonade and all ate daintily at their places. One sweet fairy decided to propose a toast to the birthday girl, so after making sure all fairies had full glasses, they had a toast to Maddie. Maddie the fairy was in her glory.

Birthday girl with her crown

The Birth Day Begins...

They've come a long way from that bathtub in Barberton!

The birthday morning began at school. John and I were invited in to watch Maddie's "Walk around the Sun." She carried a globe (representing the earth, of course) and walked around the circle with a candle in the middle (representing... anyone? That's right, the sun...) At the end of each walk around, we discussed what Maddie did when she was one, two, three, all the way to six. She beamed proudly and walked tall around the circle. We sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she passed out the snack we brought to her friends. It was lovely, and as usual, I was teary-eyed through the whole thing. What a nice beginning to her day.

Jella?

Everyone takes turns telling about their day at dinner. Today, Isabella was very eager for her turn, despite the fact that she didn't have school today.

Isabella: "At school, we have snacks at the carpet. We have muffins and pretzels. And we have jella!"(she slurps her tongue across her top lip)

Johnny: "You have Jell-O?"

Isabella: "No. Jell-LOVE. It's taste-tay!"

Isn't she a little young to know that song?

Grandpa Ken and Grandma Dot are in town for the weekend. They arrived today around 1 pm and we went to lunch. It was just Isabella - Liam and Maddie were at school. On the drive to the restaurant, Isabella began singing a song. Perhaps you'll recognize it.

Isabella: "Grandpa and Grandma, sittin' in a tree. K-M-F-S-Y-N-G. First comes marriage, then comes... marriage. And a baby in a ba-by carriage. Ummmm... I don't remember the rest of the words. I learned that from Katie." (the 10 year old neighbor two houses down.)

The Liam and Maddie Show

Liam had soccer practice last night. Johnny says he's looking better and better each time he plays. On the way home, he wanted to stop and get a "treat" because the first night he had practice, Johnny stopped and got him a Gatorade, so he thinks he should have a treat every time. Johnny didn't want to stop and his practice ends pretty late, so they just came home. Johnny told Liam that if he really wanted a treat, he could have a popcicle at home.

When they came in the house and Liam discovered that there weren't any popcicles, he had a major meltdown in the middle of the kitchen. Once I translated "I-I-I wanedtoged a-a-a treatbudaddywouldntget a-a-a treatantherrrsssnopopcicles..."sniff...sniff.... I tried to be helpful. I explained why Daddy was in a hurry to get home. I explained why he didn't need to have a treat right before bed every week after soccer. It didn't work.

He was being unreasonable and I was ready to put him in bed- he was obviously overtired. Maddie, always the peacemaker and doer of good, remembers the half of a broken popcicle left in the freezer. She offers it to him kindly and he growls at her. She goes to get it for him and sweetly says, "Here, Liam. You can have this treat." He scowls at her and sticks his tongue out. I look at him, amazed that he would do that to her when she was trying so hard to help. I get angry and send him to his room for disrespecting her and generally being an unresonable pain.

Maddie starts yelling at me. "Why did you send him to his room? Why won't you let him have the popcicle?"

Kat: "Maddie, I'm not going to let him be rude when you were trying to help."
Maddie: "But, Mom! Can't you give him another chance?"
Kat: "Mad, I already gave him two chances. He doesn't want the popcicle, anyway."
Maddie: "Can't you give him three chances? Because there's three of us kids?"
Kat: "Maddie, if he wants to say he's sorry and eat the popcicle, he can."

She storms upstairs and I go up a few minutes later to see if Liam's in the tub. He's arguing with John about the bathtub, his treat and anything else that ever pissed him off in the history of his existence. I go into Maddie's room and I am surprise to find her sitting on the bed, crying.

Kat: "Maddie, what's wrong?"
Maddie: "I just wanted to help Liam and he didn't want the popcicle and (sob, sob) I really wanted to make him happy and (sob, sob) you wouldn't let him have a treat and now he's yelling because he doesn't want to take a bath."
Kat: "Maddie. Liam is very tired. Sometimes people just want to be mad about anything and nothing you can do will make them happy. We can not please Liam right now. But it's very sweet that you tried."
Maddie cries softly. It's tough being an empath.