The Saturday Tradition

Sometime over the course of the summer, Madeleine decided that she needed a Saturday tradition.  It started with a hairstyle, one she calls "bunny ears."  This requires me to make two high pigtails as close to the top of her head as I can.  If I slip up, she is quick to point out my errors to others. 

MADELEINE: Uh, Auntie Shannon, can you make my bunny ears high, because lately Mommy has been making them a bit LOW.

Saturday bunny ears became a firmly established tradition in the Rowe household, to the point that, if I tried to convince her of a different hairstyle if we were short on time, she would respond, "Uh, Mommy?  Today's Saturday, and on Saturday I wear BUNNY EARS."

The bunny ears have recently been replaced with a Saturday outfit.  If you've seen us recently on a Saturday, you've seen the outfit.  Madeleine's Saturday outfit is a magenta sundress, which by now has a hole worn into it.  Now get this: the Saturday outfit includes Saturday underwear.  I hadn't known about the Saturday underwear until I totally and completely blew it.

MADELEINE: (in the midst of getting dressed on a school day) UGH!  MOMMY!  You picked out my SATURDAY underwear for today!

Seriously.  What kind of a mother am I?  A total LOSER, that's what I am. 

I guess I have redeemed myself in Madeleine's eyes, however, as this morning she came running out of her bedroom after taking off her pajamas.

MADELEINE: (in delight) Mommy!  You're picking out my underwear in EXACTLY the right order!!

Don't worry, though.  I still had a chance to regain Madeleine's scorn.  She decided, as she got dressed, to shout questions to me about her media books.  Of course, I tried to guess incorrectly so that she could surprise me with the right answers.

MADELEINE: Mommy!  Guess if I'm finished reading "Ruby the Red Fairy!"
ME: Uh, no, not yet.
MADELEINE: Si!
ME: Wow! You're finished?

I mean, I knew that's what the answer was going to be, but let's make Madeleine feel amazing for finishing her book so quickly, right?

MADELEINE: And Mommy!  Guess if I started reading "Chloe the Topaz Fairy" yet?
ME: Uh, no, not yet.
MADELEINE: Si!
ME: Oh my gosh, you already started a new one?  You're such a reader!

Yeah, I'm fluffing her right up.  What a great mom, right?


MADELEINE: (shouting from her bedroom) Wow, Mommy, you're getting a LOT of them UNCORRECT!


Sheesh.  I guess instead of making her feel amazing for reading faster than I pretend to think she's capable of, I instead just made her think her mom is a big dunderhead.

At least I'm winning in the underwear order, though. I've still got that.