When I got home from work last night, Madeleine had an important announcement.
MADELEINE: Mama! I took SUCH good care of my baby sister! And...I gave BIRTH to her and she came out of my TUMMY!
Who is the lucky sister that she took care of? Why, our old buddy Baby Dashiell, who hasn't seen much use lately now that Julia abandoned her in favor of American Girls and Barbie dolls. Never fear, for Baby Dashiell now appears to have a new mommy, who also happens to be her big sister.
Madeleine ran around gathering things from the pretend diaper bag we have, filling plastic baby cups and bottles with invisible drinks.
Then I guess the appeal of the invisible drinks got to be too enticing for her, because the game of Mommy/Sister and Baby took a wild turn.
MADELEINE: (play-sipping out of the baby cup) Mama! I tried my POISON IVY potion, and...it made me DEFEAT! And...it made me have BUBBLES in my heart!
Good old Madeleine, always totally predictable in what she's going to say. No random associations AT ALL.
She still had her potion game on the brain this morning, as she woke up in her bedroom and began frantically shrieking "Mama! MAMA! MAAAMAAAA!" I went running in to see what was the matter, and was greeted with cheerful pleasantness.
MADELEINE: (delighted) Mama! I made your POTION! It's your POISON IVY potion for your NOSE!
ME: Oh. Great, thanks.
MADELEINE: (touching my nose) There! I got your POTION! (brightly) Hey Mama! Let's sing the EASTER SONG!
So we launched right into "Christos Anesti" together, because, as I said above, Madeleine doesn't random associate or anything.
Later on in the morning, as we were driving to school, Madeleine had a bone to pick with my choice of hairstyle. If I haven't yet had a chance to dry my hair after showering, I usually slick my hair into a wet bun, because I don't like to have it wet and dripping down on my shoulders. Madeleine, for whatever reason, is *really* not a fan of my hair being in a bun.
MADELEINE: Mama? Why is your hair in a BUN?
ME: Because it's wet, honey.
MADELEINE: But after you dry your hair, are you going to put it DOWN?
ME: Yes. I'll dry my hair after I drop you off at school, and then it will be down.
MADELEINE: Well Mama. I don't want you to be EMBARRASSED, because someone might say "Courtney, your hair looks REALLY WEIRD like that."
ME: Oh, so you think I might be embarrassed because people will think my bun looks weird?
MADELEINE: Yeah. Because...it's really WEIRD.
So. My THREE-AND-A-HALF year old daughter is already sure that my uncool hairstyle is going to make me an embarrassment. Ohhhh, it starts so early...
Well, at least she seems to finally know that my real name is Courtney.
She didn't like my hair in a bun either. I can see why she'd be concerned about our being embarrassed about our hairstyles outside the confines of our homes, since Madeleine herself is the epitome of propriety in public.
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