Little Sis, Big Sis

So, Madeleine was just lying on her tummy on the dining room floor, happily coloring in her "Create-A-Face" book, when Julia came in and asked if she could join in.  In the typical manner of an older sister, Julia quickly took total control of the coloring situation, and even came up with a lame ploy to make Madeleine feel included without actually allowing Madeleine to draw any of the face.

JULIA: Okay, Madeleine, YOU draw little ice cream cones all along the bottom of the page, and I'll do her. (pointing at the blank face.)

I actually thought Madeleine was going to protest, and when she began speaking, it sounded like she was about to point out the inequity of the situation.  Turns out, she was actually gullible enough to fall for Julia's masterminding.

MADELEINE:  Well, Julia, if we're doing this TOGETHER, then I'm gonna COMPLETELY do this.  Uh, Julia, what comes NEXT in her ice cream cone?

Yes, Madeleine devoted herself whole-heartedly to the drawing of an ice cream cone, while Julia covered the face with all sorts of crazy details, from freckles to pimples to tears.  Behold, the finished product (complete with ice cream cone at the bottom of the page):

Happily, perhaps out of reward for her loyalty during the Looloo picture, Julia has now accepted Madeleine's help as a true collaborator, and they got down to work on Beebee together.  Julia even allowed Madeleine to make frog freckles on Beebee's face with their stamp-shape markers:

In other Madeleine-being-included news, yesterday we had a play-date with one of Julia's friends from kindergarten.  As always, when we have Julia's friends over, I have to walk a fine line between making sure Madeleine gets included somewhat, while also allowing the older kids ample time alone.  To start, I tried to keep Madeleine downstairs with me while Julia and her friend went to play upstairs in Julia's room.  Madeleine was initially content to play with the Barbie dollhouse with me, until I opened my big fat mouth and asked her the name of one of the Barbie dolls.

ME: Is this the one named Lizzy?
MADELEINE: (studying the Barbie doll) Uh, Mama?  I just have to go upstairs and ask Julia if her name is Lizzy.
ME: Oh, no, you don't have to go ask Julia.  We can just call her Lizzy for now if we want to.
MADELEINE: (scampering towards the stairs) Uh, well, Mama, I just need to go ask Julia what her name is.
ME: Oh, no, don't go upstairs!  I'll be too lonely down here playing by myself!
MADELEINE: Well, Mama, I'm just gonna go upstairs to ask Julia what her name is, then I promise, I'll be RIGHT BACK to play with you.

So I allowed her to go up.

Turns out that when Madeleine said she was going to ask Julia the name of the Barbie doll, what Madeleine really meant was that she was going upstairs to hold up her hands like claws and roar ferociously at Julia and friend.  Cue the manic screaming and the thunderous sound of three kids running downstairs, one of them trailing behind and roaring.

Anyway, after Julia and her friend got some alone time, we all sat down at the dining room table together to do arts and crafts.  I put on Julia's new Fresh Beat Band CD from Nana, and before I knew it, the girls were all dancing around in the living room to the music.  Julia and her friend got into a deep discussion about their "stage names"; apparently, in kindergarten, the teacher allowed every child to assign him or herself a stage name, and Julia and her friend were inspired to come up with new stage names so they could dub themselves after the Fresh Beat Band girls.  Madeleine delightedly announced that she was going to be Phoebe (who is not in the Fresh Beat Band, or any band, that I know of.) Julia and friend explained that since Madeleine is not in their class at school, she doesn't need a stage name.  Next thing I knew, Madeleine ran to me, eyes welling with tears and chin quivering, lamenting, "Mommy, the big girls said my name can't be (bursting into tears) PHOEEEEBEEEE!"

Thankfully, Julia's friend is also a big sister, so the girls were able to come to a quick resolution: Madeleine was allowed to be Phoebe at home while they were all playing together, even if she's not in their kindergarten class.

Phew.  What a relief for Madeleine.  Not having a stage name is like not having an identity, after all.  I mean, if Julia wasn't Marina or Kiki from the Fresh Beat Band, I'm not sure I would even know WHO my daughter is!