Raising My Girls

Every year we let the girls go shopping to buy gifts for their sisters.  All three of them end up buying 2 gifts and receiving two gifts.  I give them a $5 per person limit (since I’m paying for it) and let them shop.

It’s really funny to watch the girls shop for each other.  They choose items and then see something else, so they put the first back and get the next.  This goes on and on for at least thirty minutes before I finally make them finalize their decisions and move on.

 So, with all that said, we took the girls shopping this past Saturday.  It felt like we were roaming around the toy section of Walmart forever.  The oldest chose her two gifts first, so I sent her and their dad to the front to check out and put the gifts in the van.  Then I was going to send him off with the middle daughter as I took the youngest.

It didn’t quite work out that way though.

When Dad and the oldest returned both of the younger two were done and trying to hide the gifts from each other.  It was very funny to hear a 3 year old saying, “Don’t you look, sister!  It’s a secret!”

So we managed to check out with both of them at once and no one saw anything.

As soon as we got everyone into the van the older two were giving each other hints on what they’d purchased.  Doh!  I swear those two can’t keep a secret for anything.  LOL!

They have 17 days until Christmas, but I’ll guarantee that they will either have opened their gifts to each other, or at least know what they are before Christmas arrives!  Secret gifts don’t last long with three little girls in the house. 

Christmas gifts are running rampant under my Christmas tree.  I don’t think it looks like we have as many gifts as we usually have under there, but the truth is that there are just smaller, more expensive gifts under there.  With the exception of a couple of grown-up gifts for the hubby and myself.

This year I’ve been very secretive about the gifts I’ve gotten for the hubby.  I got him a new fleece robe and flannel pj pants.  He’d mentioned he wanted a fleece robe (currently he has an old flannel one) and I noticed that his favorite pj pants have a huge tear over one of the knees.  Not only that, but he’s been begging for an Xbox 360 for several months now.  I kept telling him no because who wants to spend that kind of money when there’s a perfectly god Playstation 2 sitting in our livingroom?  With great excitement in my heart I snuck out Friday and bought the Xbox 360. 

Now, come back to the fleece robe.  My 3 yr old was with me when I bought the robe.  Her daddy has been trying to get her to tell him what it is, but being the wonderful little Mommy’s Helper that she is, she tells him “No daddy! It’s a secret!”  We’ll all laugh and I’ll commend her on being such a good girl at keeping a Christmas secret.

Then one day my 8 yr old took the 3 yr old off in another room and got her to tell her about the robe.  The 8 yr old promptly returns to tell her daddy, “It’s something that you wrap around your body!”  To which the hubby deduces that it’s a fleece robe!  ACK! *Smacks forehead*

Let me tell you, I could have pulled my hair out when she said that.  Geez!!

Therefore, the hubby knows his one gift.  Then today he guesses the pj pants without anyone even saying anything about it.  Of course I told him that he was completely wrong.  LOL!

 Now we come to the Xbox 360.  This is the big gift.  The gift I want him to be uttery shocked and surprised at receiving.  This is the gift that will top all other gifts.  The gift that will cause me to stick my digital camera in his face to capture his elation for all eternity at receiving something he’s been begging for.

I have threateningly warned all three girls with fear of not receiving a single gift from me or Santa if anyone opens their mouth about daddy’s third gift.  The 8yr old in particular is under strict notice of pending giftlessness if she even hints, sniffs, or glances at the location of the third gift (hubby thinks all his gifts are in a single box and I’ve hidden the Xbox 360 behind the tree).

In the end, I don’t care about the robe or the pj pants, but these girls better keep their little mouths shut about that Xbox.  LOL!

The 3 yr old keeps saying, “I’m a good girl, Mommy.  I don’t tell Daddy nothing!”  LOL!  She’s right, she refuses to even entertain his pleads for hints.

Beware of expecting little girls to keep holiday secrets.  They ill let it slip everytime.  That is, unless you threaten them with not receiving gifts of their own.  LOL!

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the girls gift shopping for their sisters.  Doh!

Ah, the holidays are upon us.  It’s the time of year where millions parent out there attempt to figure out what their children would like as a gift.  You may beg for a wish list.  You may take the hint when your child points at a commercial for the newest Elmo doll.  You may even go to the toy store and take a wild guess.

 My children are quite unique when it comes to holiday shopping.  I start asking for a wish list around the beginning of October.  They’ll slowly add things to it until the first of November.  Then between Halloween and Christmas I’ll hear shouts of “I want that!” anytime they see something interesting on television, online, or in a magazine.  Or course I’m usually finished shopping by Thanksgiving, meaning all their desires after that are pointless.

My 3 year old wants everything she sees on television.  She doesn’t care it it’s a race track, a swimming dog, or a Tinkerbell dvd… she wants it.  What’s super funny is that her favorite character is Dora the Explorer, so anything Dora-related is just a given.  Then if you take her anywhere near the toy section of Wal-Mart you’ll hear shouts of glee and merriment as she discovers ponys, games, Barbies, and Spongebob toys.  Declarations of “I want that!” are heard throughout the store as her high squeals commence.

My 11 year old was asking for a guitar this year.  I told her that if she got one it would be the “main” gift from us and then she’d only get Santa gifts.  She was fine with that and I was set to buy a guitar.  Wellllll…..

One day the other week, she came home from school with a paper displaying the newest, holiday-related 4-H activities available.  Yep, you guessed it.  She wants to go on a trip to the theater to see A Christmas Carol and participate in the Fezziwig Family Feast.  The cost, $35.  So she and I had a conversation about money not growing on trees, especially during the holidays.  A compromise ensued and she traded the guitar for the trip to the theater.

Good deal, you’re probably thinking.  Well yeah, except now I feel bad that she won’t get anything from me for Christmas.  The hubby & I went out last night and bought her Christmas gifts, after I’d gone yesterday morning to sign her up for the trip.  LOL!

 My middle daughter is easy.  She made her list.  Is sticking by her list.  And I’ve already bought most of the things on her list.  We’re good on her.  LOL

Nevertheless, I love the holidays.  I only have three more gifts to buy and I’ll be fnished!  I’ll definitely be done by Thanksgiving!

Today something funny happened.  The girls decided that they wanted to carve their own Halloween pumpkins!

 When I was little we would carve a Halloween pumpkin every year.  So it seemed like the thing to do once I had kids of my own.  That is until they got just old enough to be completely grossed out by the pumpkin “guts.”  LOL!  After that we just went with those plug-in plastic pumpkins. 

Needless to say, I was surprised when they asked me to buy and let them carve their own pumpkins this year.  Today I did just that!  I let them each pick out a pumpkin of their own.  Then, after dinner they settled down at the kitchen table and went to work.

The older girls went right to cutting the “lid” off the top while I did it for the 3 year old.  Once inside the grossed out face of said 3 year old was hilarious.  Lots of “EWWWW” and “I’m not touching that” was repeated continuously.  I got her a measuring scoop and let her get to work.  It was too funny not to watch.

She instructed me on what kind of face her pumpkin should have, “Triangle eyes, a little nose, and a mouth!”  I cut the face out for her and let her continue her cleaning efforts.

Finally, after 30 minutes of “cleaning,” I finished it up and she had a jack-o-latern all her own!

The older girls… well, they’re still working on their pumpkins…. an hour later!  LOL!!!  Who knows what they’ll end up with?  LOL

My girls love music.  They come by it naturally as I too love music.  My house almost always has music playing at any given time throughout the day. Daytime shows don’t appeal to me, so my television stays on the “Hit List” digital music channel until about 7-8pm each night.

Music helps me write.  Music keeps me focused.  Music is fun to clean by, exercise to, goof off with. 

The girls love it when we all just crowd into the livingroom and dance.  Their daddy doesn’t dance with us, but we outnumber him anyway.  LOL!  It’s so much fun to watch them shake their booties and twirl around until they’re dizzy.  The youngest will squeal with laughter while the older two bump into each other during a “routine.”  I show them moves from my early days in dance class during high school and they try to copy.

It really is true about music soothing the savage beast.  My girls can be in the worst moods, fighting with each other, and just being downright ugly, but if I get them up and dancing their moods instantly brighten!  It’s always been that way, even from as young as 1. 

I love that the girls will sing along with a song, at the top of their lungs, with me. 

The older two girls have a boombox, personal cd players, mp3 players, numerous cds, and are always asking for me.  Now the 3 year old has started asking for her own “purple cd player.”  I’ve looked and looked, but I just can’t seem to find a purple cd player.  Maybe I’ll run across one before Christmas.  She’d be tickled pink if Santa brought her a purple cd player.  LOL!

Girls and music…  What a wonderful combination!!

When they’re little they tend to overlook the clothing that you put on them.  As they grow into their own and become more independent they start showing interest in picking out their own clothes.  Then you hit early puberty and the clothing goes flying across the bedroom every single morning.

My youngest doesn’t really care what I put on her.  She has a few favorites that she enjoys, but if those aren’t the ones I choose then so be it.  She is happy in a dress or jeans. 

My middle daughter is starting to create her own “style” when it comes to clothing.  Some things she puts together makes me cringe, but she’s the one who has to wear it and I try to bite my tongue.  LOL  And don’t get me started on her ideas of a good hairstyle.

Now, my oldest daughter, she’s in a group all her own.  She has reached the point where she does have some nice style and always looks good in what she puts together.  Her biggest problem is trying on numerous outfits before she’s ever ready to go anywhere.  She also has this routine of roaming around the house looking for clothing.  She’ll check the dryer, she’ll check the laundry basket, and if she finds nothing there she’ll finally go through her own closet.  What’s really funny is that she’ll do all of this even if every stitch of her clothing is clean and in her room.

Sometimes the older girls’ bedroom looks like a hurricane hit it.  Clothes are strewn throughout, flung on the floor, spread across beds, and sticking out of dresser drawers.  It’s craziness, but I know the feeling because I use to do the same thing.  LOL!  You can never find that perfect outfit, even if what you have on WAS the perfect outfit last week.

Girls and clothes, what can ya do! 

It’s funny how women enjoy trying out new hairstyles all the time.  Most men might go through three different styles in their entire life.  But women start from a young age and continue until their last day trying on new and different styles.

With that said, this morning I just tossed my hair up into a trusty ponytail and took the big girl to school.  Two hours later, my 3 year old comes to me and says, “You really need to fix your hair, Mommy.  It’s VERY fuzzy!”  LOL!

Considering that I don’t plan on leaving the house until it’s pick-up time at school, I refused and assured her that I would “fix” it later.  LOL!

Over the years I’ve watched these girls go throgh hairstyle after hairstyle.  They’ll fix each others hair, they’ll fix their own hair, heck, they’ll even attempt to do something with my mop of curls.  One day my 8 year old came out of the bathroom with braids all over her head, in no particular order.  And it was time to leave for school!  Thank goodness it only takes me a matter of seconds to reduce a headful of braids to nice, soft waves, cause she was not going to school looking like that!

Oh, and lets not forget about all of those braiding, beading, coloring kits on television that are marketed toward young girls.  I swear, if I hear one more time about how much the older two want a hair braiding kit, I might just scream.  Seriously?  Since when should it cost you to braid your hair when your own fingers can do it for free?

 My naturally brown hair, has been a lovely shade of red for a year now (thanks to Garnier Nutrisse!).  Before that I would go blonde.  From the age of about 17 my brown hair has been hidden.  Now my oldest is saying that when she’s old enough she wants to color her hair too.  I’m all fine and dandy with that… when she’s older!  Then she tells me about these other 11 year old girls in her grade who seem to come in with a different color every week.  ACK!  Too young people! Too young!

This has even gotten to the point that the elementary school they are in has it written into their school “rules” that children can not come to school with distracting hair colors.  LOL  No green, purple, blue, orange hair is allowed.

Anyway, girls and hairstyles go hand in hand.  It doesn’t matter if they’re 3 or 93. 

Okay, so my youngest can be quite comical at times… as all three year olds can be.  However, today has been even funnier than usual.  This could be that she’s coming off of a mysterious illness (she ran a high fever Monday that was gone Tuesday).  Or it could be that she’s just in a very good mood. 

Either way, today she explained that she now has “moves.”  When questioned about said moves, she carefully explains that her moves come from sugar and powder and lemonade.  Not only that but she has “super fast” moves that can be done “all the way over to my ball there.”  And we can’t forget that her baby doll is highly appreciative of said moves while she’s being swung around and thrown across the room.

So what are these “moves” I’m speaking of?

First, you start on hands and knees, while pretending to be a dog.  Next, you shout to the crowd that you have “super, super, SUPER MOVES!”  Then, you proceed to spin and jump around in circles while still on hands and knees. 

The next part is optional, but if not done it may take away from the power of your moves.

Next, you raise up on your knees and DEMAND that your mommy watches you perform your “super, super, super FAST MOVES!”  When mommy looks, you declare, “Wait, I have to shake myself up first” and then you shake your whole body before spinning and jumping around in circles yet again.

Once mommy is paying attention, your game is over and you should announce that you’re now going to go watch Dora the Explorer.  Proceed to the nearest television with your show on while leaving mommy laughing and determined to blog about your “super moves.”

Voila!  You are now a 3 year old girl with super moves and a worldwide audience!  Be happy, have some juice, and go watch Dora!

 :-)

Hannah Montana has been on the scene for quite some time now.  She’s been around long enough for my oldest to be absolutely enthralled with her at one point, and become totally uninterested the next.  The older the child is, the more likely she will have heard all o he things being said about, said by, and the things that being done by Miley Cyrus.

Just over the weekend, I was surprised to find out that the 15 year old Miley Cyrus (who will be 16 in November) is dating a 20 year old MAN.  And apparently her father has no problem with it.  What’s up with that?

My husband has issues with even the thought of our daughters dating ONE OF THESE DAYS.  He’d be irate at the thought of his 15 year ol dating someone almost legal drinking age.  We actually knew a 15 year old girl who got pregnant by a 20 year old man when Tim & I were dating.

Anyway, I’ve gone off topic here…

The point I was aiming to make is that it’s funny how a couple of months can change a little girl’s idea of wonderful.

My oldest loved Hannah Montana when it first started.  She had to watch all the shows and wanted all the music.  Then as my middle daughter’s interested started leaning in this same direction, the oldest shot out of that world like a bullet from a gun.  She now thinks Hannah Montana is for “kids” and none of her friends like it, blah, blah, blah.  She torments the middle daughter with teasing and jest about her enjoyment of the show.  I’m always having to remind the oldest that she too once loved Hannah Montana, and if she doesn’t leave her sister alone about it, I’m going to buy her a Hannah Montana bookbag and make her carry it to school for a week with the words “I Love Hannah Montana” written across is in black permanent marker.  She usually stops abruptly after that. 

The youngest is still too young to care for anything other than Dora and Spongebob, but she still knows who Hannah Montana is.  LOL!

Life is nuts with a house full of girls.  Their likes can be so similar one moment and then the complete polar opposites the next.  Hannah Montana or no Hannah Montana… who knows what tomorrow will bring?  But I do know that there will always be arguments and teasing between the three of them.  Maybe I won’t pull my hair out before their grown.  Just maybe…

The phone has become a popular feature in our home lately.  The preteen discovered the use of it to keep in touch with her friends a few years ago.  Now she’s on it all the time.  Kind of reminds me of my teenage years when my parents got so tired of me tying up their phoneline that they opted to get me a line of my own.  That was fun.

Now my 8yr old has decided that she wants to start using the phone as much asher big sister does.  Unfortunately at her age, most of the kids aren’t allowed to use the phone yet.  She has one little friend that calls alllllllll the time.  She called the other morning at 6:50am.  It was a school day, and we were about to leave to take the girls to school, but no one wants their phone ringing that early.  UGH!  I made sure to make a point that it better not happen again. 

Anyway, the 8yr old’s friend is quite the annoyance.  Once she starts calling, she’ll be calling all day long. Therefore, I have a tendency to not let the 8yr old use the phone as often, cause I don’t want to hear it ringing all the time.

 Now the 3yr old has started asking if shean call her “friend” too.  Her friend is an imaginary boy named Drew.  He likes to hold her hand and she likes to swing him around in circles.  So why would she need to call him?  Because her sisters do it!

The other day she kept asking to call her friend, so I just dialed up the local recording for time & temp and let her listen to him.  LOL!  She listened as intently as if the life of her dear Drew depended on it.  And then we hung up.  Now anytime she wants to call her friend, we just dial time & temp.  LOL

Girls and phones seem to go together as seamlessly as jello and cool whip.  Why is that?  You don’t catch many guys on the phone the amount of time that girls do it.  I was a phone girl too, but there was only me using at that time (my little sister was too young to care).

Ah well, girls and phones, a mystery that may never be solved!