Valentine's Day Party

Julia was thrilled to attend a Valentine's Day party today at the home of one of her friends from school.  In attendance were several other girls from her class, as well as a girl from the next-door first grade classroom.  They got to do Valentine crafts and decorate cupcakes (two of which Julia took home for a dessert to share with Madeleine.)

When I arrived to pick Julia up from the party, the host's mother told me that when the girls had all gone down to play in the basement, there had been some drama surrounding a pretend play game the host had initiated.  Apparently, one of the guests at the party had gotten really upset and was in tears because her contributions to the game were rejected.  The host's mother told me that Julia had been the peace-broker downstairs, working with all the girls to find some sense of harmony amongst everyone. 

This pacificistic, harmony-loving mama sure was proud!

When we got to the car, I asked Julia more about what had happened, and what she had done to help the girl who had gotten upset.

JULIA: Well, I told her that I care about the power of the tiger, because she thought that nobody even cared about the power of the tiger. 

WOAH.  This sounds like an EPIC battle that went down between the girls.  I tried to understand why nobody seemed to care about the power of the tiger.

JULIA: Well, in the game we were all supposed to be dogs, but she wanted to be a cat who had the power of the tiger, and they all said she couldn't be a cat but she could be a DOG with the power of a tiger, but then she started crying because she said that a tiger is in the CAT family so she couldn't be a DOG with the power of a tiger.

This sounds like a really major fight!  How do you even counter that argument?  Good thing Julia was there to smooth things over!  I asked her what she did to comfort her crying friend.

JULIA: Well, I told her that when someone I care about is crying, then *I* feel like I want to cry too because I feel so bad for them. 

(I asked Julia if she had given her friend a hug, to which she nodded uncertainly.  Apparently the weight of her guilt over nodding a non-truth was bogging her down this evening, because she came downstairs out of bed to tell me, "Mommy?  Actually, I don't think she was really WANTING anyone to give her a hug.")

It turns out that while the power of the tiger crying was going on, the host of the party herself started crying because nobody was following the rules of her game.  Julia was stuck with the weight of the world on her shoulders: how do you calm down TWO crying friends??  Julia explained to me why she didn't immediately rush to the side of her crying host.

JULIA: Well, I wanted to help take care of her when she was crying, but, like, I just felt like I should help take care of one person at a time.

At any rate, peace was soon restored, and the host's mother was quite in awe of Julia for her compassion and her attempts to help all the friends get along.  Way to go, Julia!  I guess all that "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" has really paid off! 

I'm really proud of how well Julia handled things; now, if only she could remember to be half so compassionate and empathetic with her sister!

Madeleine, for her part, enjoyed some alone time home with Mommy and Daddy while Julia was at the party, including playing a few rounds of Wii Bowling during which she kicked Dad's butt.

MADELEINE: Mom?  Did you know that the FIRST game I beated Daddy, and I even got a RECORD??


Oh, poor Daddy, beated by a four-year-old.

Madeleine also got some chatterbox time with Mommy tonight, as we snuggled in bed after I sang her lullaby.  She was full of random comments and questions, like the following:

MADELEINE: Mom? I wonder why I got "RUSSELL" stuck in my head.

Yeah, I wonder too, honey.  Now go to bed.

And:

MADELEINE: Mom?  I wonder why I call you "Mommy."
ME: Instead of what?
MADELEINE: Instead of Courtney Elf ROWE!

And:

MADELEINE: Mom?  Have you ever heard of "battery-charged blue?"

(That happens to be the label on one of her neon markers.  Yes, that's right, she is laying in bed thinking - and TALKING - about marker colors.  Go to bed!!)

Thankfully, once I removed myself from the room and limited her choices for babbling to a) talking to herself or b) talking to her stuffed Jesus, she pretty readily conked right out. 

Night-night, Madeleine!  Wishing you sweet dreams full of Russell, Courtney Elf Rowe, and battery-charged blue hues!