The Smart Group

Tonight's bedtime conversation:

MADELEINE: Mommy?  At school, I always loved it when our teacher would call the "Smart Group" over to the table-
ME: Wait.  Your teacher called something the "Smart Group?"
MADELEINE: Uh, no: that's just what *I* call it.  I don't really know what it's called.  It wasn't really called anything.  She just called our names over and it was always the same people.
ME: Okay.  And it was because you're smart?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  Like, it was the people who would get to do math for longer and go farther in our books, or, like, we always finished our Writing Workshop first and the rest of the class was still working so we would get to start on another subject.
ME: Okay.  So you liked getting to do that?
MADELEINE: Yeah.  And, like, the REST of the class...well, I liked to call them...I thought of them as the "Sweet Little Cute Ones," because we could always hear the teacher helping them and talking to them about what they were working on.


HUGE sigh of relief on my part.  I got really worried that Madeleine had dubbed the rest of the class the "Stupid Group."  PHEW.

Update

UPDATE: 

Julia still cannot get down the dinky slide.

The Rowe News Magazine

For Ethan's birthday, Madeleine made him a magazine.  "The Rowe News Magazine," to be exact.  It contains a series of interviews that Madeleine conducted with members and guests of the Rowe household.  Basically, Madeleine took a play microphone and asked questions of her sister, as well as of Yiayia, her aunties, and cousin Owen.  Then she wrote everything down verbatim and presented this news magazine to Ethan.

Here are some highlights:


Yiayia, Caitlyn, and a Baby

Madeleine: So.  How do you think it will go with Owee and Clara and everyone else?
Yiayia: I think that by trial and error, that they will learn to co-exist.
Madeleine: Got anything else to say?
Yiayia: Uh, no, I think I said it all.
Madeleine: Caitlyn, how do you think it will go with Owee and Clara??
Caitlyn: Terribly!
Madeleine: How do you think it will go?
Caitlyn: Clara will bite Owen, Ollie will bite Clara-
Madeleine: Ollie's coming?
Caitlyn: Wait.  What?  No.  I thought you meant in N.C.
Madeleine: No.  I meant here.  Uh.  Uh.  Let's do that again.  Caitlyn, how do you think it will go with Owee and Clara and everybody else?
Caitlyn: Nothing.  Everything will be perfectly fine.
Madeleine: But before you said "terribly!"
Caitlyn: I thought you meant in N.C.
Madeleine: Oh.  Uh.  Oh.  Uh.  Owen how do you think it will go?
Owen: (tries to suck on the microphone)



Lost in Hair

Madeleine: So.  How do you feel about your braces?
Julia: Stop interviewing me.
Madeleine: (wisper) It's for Daddy's birthday.
Julia: I don't like them.  Thanks for asking.
Madeleine: It's an interview.  You need to say more.
Julia: They're bad.
Madeleine: And one last question for the amazing Julia Rowe.
Julia: What?
Madeleine: Do you want them off soon?
Julia: Yes.
Madeleine: Wait!  I've got one more.  Um, m,m, um, m.  When are they coming off.
Julia: July 20.
Madeleine: (outside, outside)  And Julia Rowe said all this while being lost in hair.


I think this birthday present was a HIT.  That is a lot of RIVETING news for Ethan to read about, don't you think?

Kids Math

MADELEINE: Mommy!  I just came up with an idea for a toddler video that can help teach MATH!




Madeleine plans to call this Kids Math.  Patent pending.

The Dinky Slide

The girls and I have spent a lot of time at the Boston Sports Club pool over the past week.  Julia and Madeleine have been doing swim workouts, keeping in shape during the break between the Y swim season and the start of the town's summer league.  After lap swimming, we enjoy some play time in the various pools, and the girls are especially fond of the water slides.  The water slide area has one big twisty tube slide as well as a smaller tunnel slide.  In addition, it has a dinky little gentle, low impact slide in the shallow area.  Here's Madeleine making her way down:





For some reason, however, Julia CANNOT get down the dinky slide.  No matter how much momentum she pushes off with, her body just comes to a complete stop somewhere between halfway and three quarters of the way down.  Enjoy some of her various attempts:


FAIL. 



Closer!  But still.  FAIL.



Womp, womp.



Oh, boy.  She's regressing.


Julia is determined to make it down that darn slide before the summer ends, so I'll keep you updated on her progress!

Baby Toys

Cousin Owen is here for a visit and the Rowe girls are loving it!  He is entranced by his cousins and can't help from breaking into a smile or a giggle upon seeing their faces.  I guess it's because the girls are truly still babies at heart.  In preparation for Owen's upcoming visit, I suggested we wash all our old Little People paraphernalia, so Owen can play with them.  These toys have been sitting in our basement for the past few years, untouched.  Auntie Shannon took to the task of cleaning, and the kids decided to help her out.  Of course, once the toys were clean for a baby, my 11.5 and 8.5 year old re-discovered their love of all things Little People:

ME: Okay, girls, should we go to the pool?
JULIA: Uh, not right now, we're playing.

Good thing we washed these things for Owen.

Madeleine also decided she wanted to take a trip down memory lane and try hanging out in the pack 'n play:

The girls are finding baby life all kinds of fascinating.  Today we took Owen to the Children's Section of the town library, and I remarked nostalgically that the girls and I used to go there all the time, but they've outgrown it at this point.  Quick to prove me wrong, Madeleine got engaged in putting on a puppet show for an audience of zero, while Julia happily moved beads around on a baby bead maze:

After awhile, Madeleine wanted to go look at the library's antique dollhouse.  Julia had moved onto the BRIO train and was fully engaged in building tracks.

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Can we go look at the dollhouse?
ME: Uh, sure, you can go.
MADELEINE: But can you come with me?
ME: I can't right now, honey.  I'm watching Owen.
MADELEINE: But I don't want to go by myself.
ME: Okay, let's ask Julia.  Hey Julia, can you go with Madeleine to see the dollhouse?
JULIA: Um, not right now.  First I have to finish my train tracks.


I guess I should be giving these kids baby toys more often.  Apparently after a many years'-long break, the girls find these toys are just way more exciting than any of their own age-appropriate gadgets.

A Lot of Crying

Well, now that school has officially ended and the graduation from elementary has really sunk in for Julia, we've had a lot of emotions running rampant.  Well, perhaps not a lot of emotions, but instead, lots of ONE emotion: sadness. 

Here is a list of the things Julia has hysterically sobbed about in the past 24 hours:

-Elementary school is over.  It's gone.  She'll never be in elementary school again
-One of her friends will be at sleep-away camp for the whole summer and EVERYONE IS LEAVING
-Another of her friends will be in Maine for half the summer and EVERYONE IS LEAVING
-Another of her friends will be in Hawaii for a few weeks this summer and EVERYONE IS LEAVING
-Two of her friends from swim team are moving to India and she'll never talk to them again and EVERYONE IS LEAVING
-Auntie Shannon will be LEAVING us when she takes her job in Chicago next year and EVERYONE IS LEAVING
-She misses her fifth grade teacher.  She doesn't WANT new teachers in middle school
-She was too hot sitting in Auntie Shannon's rental car and she was afraid she was going to die and then to make things more histrionic, she set the car alarm off, so then she was REALLY sure of her own doom


(Because we know there had to be at least ONE irrational thing to sob about on that list, right?)


It ain't easy being a rising middle-schooler.  My heart hurts for Julia, but I also know that she really is going to be okay.  I wonder if Lilly Mintz can give her a few pointers on entering middle school, since Lilly Mintz is basically Julia, just four years older and wiser!

Postcards from Scotland

Oh, kids these days, raised in the digital age...

Apparently the idea of literal mail is unheard of in the era of email and texting.  Yesterday, I retrieved this literal mail out of our literal mailbox and, upon flipping through envelopes, discovered two postcards that had just arrived from Nana and Gramps.  These postcards were sent last month from Scotland, and one was addressed to Julia and one to Madeleine.  I put each girl's postcard on her bed for her to find after school.

Madeleine came across hers last night and brought it out to the dining room to read while she ate dessert.

MADELEINE: (to herself) They went to a castle?  (loudly) This is so cool!  Daddy!  Did you know your parents went to a CASTLE?  *TODAY*!?!
ETHAN: They- (stopping himself) Yeah, that's really cool, huh?

Snail mail is not a thing of the past yet, but clearly comprehension of it must be!  How cool is it that Nana and Gramps were able to magically get that postcard from Scotland to our mailbox the VERY DAY they visited that castle??

End of School!

The school year is over!  Julia is officially finished with elementary school.  (*sniff, sniff*)

I had thought the copious amount of schoolwork taken home at the end of last week was the end of it, but it turns out that both girls had backpacks full of yet more papers and notebooks today.  I am still trying to figure out what to do with all these papers, and am slowly making my way through the piles to see what needs keeping and what can be recycled. 

Today's piles of paper included writing by both girls about swimming. 

Madeleine kept hers short and sweet, in poem form:

Swimming

By Madeleine Rowe

Swimming makes me feel joyus.  

I love how the warm, cool, hot, cold, water brushes you with every move.

I love the speed - I love it all.

Just that clear-blue water.

Julia had a more detailed true-life account of a swimming experience:

Julia Rowe New England Swimming

    Even though the pool deck was warm, I was shivering.  Even though I was confident in myself, I was shaking.
    I watched as the kids swimming the 9 and 10 butterfly started their race.  I was still 10, but my coaches were having me swim up as an 11 and 12.
    "Come on, Julia.  You can do this." I thought.  "You can make New Englands."*
    I glanced up as the swimmers brought their arms around their heads and slapped the wall with both hands to finish.
    "Good luck, Julia," one of my swim coaches, Bob, told me.
    "Thanks," I replied, as I slapped his hand for a high five.
    Then, I stepped up to the lane my  mom was timing.  I put my goggles over my eyes.
    "Girls 11 and 12, 50 yard butterfly," the announcer said.  "Swimmers, step up."
    I stepped up onto the block and satred down at the still, blue pool.  I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
    "Swimmer,s take your mark," the announcer said.  Then he raised the whistle to his lips and blew out a shrill blast.
    I exploded off of the diving block and felt the icy cold water close in around me.  My body surged with power as I used my legs to dolphin kick. I reached the surface of the water.  Now was my chance to make New Englands.  My head emerged, and I began swimming butterfly with all of my might.  I sprinted ahead, pushing the water behind me.  AsI lifted my head up to breathe, I could hear the crowd cheering for me.
    "They all believe in me," I thought.  "And I do, too!"
    I thrust my arms forward even more, pushing myself to go faster.  I felt my hands slap the hard wall, and I dropped my arm and brought the other over my head for an open turn.
    All I had left was one more lap.  I sprinted forward in confidence, until I hit the wall.  I stopped, panting.
    My mom's face glowed as she beamed down at me.  Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she held a stopwatch in one hand.
    "You did it, Julia," she exclaimed.  "You made New Englands."
    "I did?!" I cried, grinning from ear to ear.  "What was my time?"
    "38.9," my mom replied.
    I hopped out of the pool for the next race.  "I need to go tell my friends!" I exclaimed, ecstatic.
    I speed-walked back to the room where the swimmers had to wait.  I felt like I was walking on a cloud, with a smile on my face that was a bright as the sun.

*New Englands was a swimming championship with teams from all over New England. I was so close to making the time in the 50 butterfly, and I had a feeling this would be the meet where I would make it.




Bravo to both girls on some wonderfully descriptive writing!  Now I return to delve deep back into the piles and piles of papers...

Weekend Journal

Madeleine took home a box of classwork today, including her weekend journal.  I got a chance to see what she really thinks of our weekends, especially those including extended family.  She had lots to say about lots of relatives, including the Swoffords:

"Over the weekend, I finished the Charlie Brown puzzle.  Shannon should have finished it, but she left some for me.  It was so sweet!  Me and Julia have a new cousin!  He was born yesterday (I think unnexpectidley.)  I think his name is Owen.  He's soooooooo adorable!"

First of all, Caitlyn's loooooong hospital stay and arduous labor were definitely not unexpected, although perhaps Madeleine is referring to the fact that her cousin (whose name she thinks is Owen) was born earlier than his due date.  Second of all, how is the information about a puzzle the FIRST thing she wrote about, rather than her new cousin!??


Up next, she has more to say about Owen, but apparently Auntie Caitlyn's dog is the real star of the show:

"Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went to Charlotte, NC (North Carolina.)  We met Owen for the first time!  I got a brand new best friend.  He's my aunty's and uncle's dog.  Ollie!  We call him Ol Pol.  The day after we got back, we got our Christmas tree!  I was determined to get the first tree we liked.  It was so beautiful!  We got that tree and some new ornaments to."

Good thing she clarified what NC means.  I'm not sure the "Charlotte" part would have most people certain that NC stands for North Carolina.


Speaking of the Swoffords from NC, they came up to our house for Easter, and Madeleine was quick to reveal Uncle Chad's pet name, given him by Auntie Caitlyn:
                                                
Yep.  Now Madeleine's teacher knows that Auntie Caitlyn calls Uncle Chad "Noodle."  Because why not share family intimacies like that?


Madeleine has some things to say about coming to hear Ethan and I sing with our quartet, as well.

"Sunday was awesome!  I went to my mom and dad's Vermillion concert.  But it was'nt any old concert - Louisa came!  (Or as I call her, 'Lousy.')  We had a wonderful time.  Lousy and I sang the songs with them that were in English. (because most of them were in Latin.)  It was great."

So Lousy makes an appearance in the journals!  Another memorable Vermillion performance was one she attended with Nana and Gramps:

                                               
"This weekend was AWESOMELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!  Nana and Gramps (from Vermont) came over for 2 days.  We watched Moana and Wonder.  We had tons of fun!  Nana, Gramps,  Julia and I all went to Mommy's and Daddy's Vermillion concert.  It was the best one yet!  I might even start actually paying attention at the upcoming concerts!"

Oh, how flattering!  She might actually start paying attention to us.  Instead of playing "Happy Jump" on Auntie Shannon's phone the whole time.

Another fun Nana and Gramps weekend was when they came to her swim "meat":


                                               
"Friday through Sunday my grandparents (Nana and Gramps) came to our house.  They watched us at mine and Julia's swimmeat.  It was fun!  Nana and Gramps came for an early Christmas.  The early presents I got were two books.  Owls in the Family and How to Spank a Porcupine?  Me and Julia got one big present to share.  It was the game Klask!  Everyone loves it."


And then there are the visits from Yiayia:

"I loved vacation.  My greek grandmother (who we call Yiayia and is Mommy's mom) came for Christmas.  We had a lot of fun.  But Yiayia had scabes so we had to air hug each other.  We all had so much fun on Christmas and at Christmastide.  I love the holidays!"

Well, now not only does Madeleine's teacher know that Chad is "Noodle," but also the deeply personal fact that Yiayia had scabies.  That's something definitely appropriate to share in a school journal.

Finally, speaking of Greek, Madeleine wrote a journal entry about figuring out some of the Greek words, written in the Greek alphabet, in our church choir book:

"I pretty much just stayed home and relaxed over the weekend.  It was the normal routine: relaxe on Saturday, church, relaxe, then swim on Sunday.  But church was special!  A few weeks ago, I read this Greek word: ἡμῶν . (EE-mone.)  I don't remember what it means, and I don't remember how to write it.  I just did my best!  Every Sunday I read a new Greek word.  Actually, many more!  Now I'm sounding  out big words!  Non-random words!  I LOVE reading Greek words!  I started getting a cold.  I'm feeling pretty queezy today, but Mommy and Daddy said I don't have a fever.  So I might, just might have to go home early today."

For the record, ἡμῶν means "our."  And I love how Madeleine kind of threw Ethan and I under the bus a little bit by saying that she felt horrible but we made her go to school since she didn't have a fever.  I do know for a fact that she did not go home early that day, though, so I guess she started feeling a little less queezy.

There is so much more shared throughout her weekend journal and I sure hope Madeleine's teacher enjoyed getting a very intimate glimpse into the lives of the Rowes and their extended relatives!

Loose Tooth

Conversation with Madeleine at bedtime:

MADELEINE: I have a loose tooth.
ME: Another one?!?
MADELEINE: (smiling proudly) Mmm-hmm!
ME: Where's this one?
MADELEINE: (opening her mouth and wiggling one of her top molars)
ME: Sheesh.  You're just losing teeth left and right lately!
MADELEINE: Mmm-hmm.  Well...*morely* up and down.  But...a little bit left and right.  Like, this tooth is in almost the EXACT same place as the one I just lost, only it's on TOP instead of on the BOTTOM.


The Tooth Fairy is gonna get poor fast if Madeleine keeps losing teeth up and down, for sure!

VIP Presentation and Jump-Up Day

Today was an exciting day for both girls!

For Julia, it was the 5th grade VIP Living History Museum.  Each 5th grader had chosen a character from history spent the past month or so researching that person.  Today, in culmination of the research, the students dressed as their character and stood in chronological order around the performance center.  Each character was surrounded by five props, and as an adult or student approached, the 5th grader would recite facts about his or her historical person.

Julia was renowned the under-acknowledged virtuosic pianist and composer Clara Schumann:

Her props included two concert programs, a miniature piano, sheet music of Clara Schumann's piano compositions, a passport, and a love letter from Robert Schumann to Clara:

(By the way, that love letter, OMG...she made a hand-written copy of one of the authentic love letters that she found on google, and it took FOREVER.  I can say first hand how much time and effort she put into that one because I witnessed the struggle, and the writer's cramp that came from it...)


Parents were invited to the museum first thing in the morning, and throughout the day, other grades got to come in and check out the historical re-enactments.  After school, I asked Madeleine if she'd had a chance to see Julia as Clara.

MADELEINE: Yup.  I just immediately marched right over to Julia and gave her a hug.
ME: (feeling sentimental) It's gonna be hard when you're not at the same school anymore.
MADELEINE: (with cheerful optimism) Yup.  You just gotta get all the hugs you CAN, until you CAN'T.

Madeleine, meanwhile, had Jump-Up Day, in which the 2nd grade visited the 3rd grade classrooms and met all the teachers, in preparation for next school year.  Madeleine had (mostly) an extremely positive impression.

MADELEINE: Mommy, we had Jump-Up Day, and third grade seems SOOOOO fun!  And I really liked the teachers, except...one teacher was really ANNOYING, because she was like, (with exaggerated exuberance) HIIII, GUUUUYS!

How dare she.

That one ANNOYING teacher didn't deter Madeleine's overall enthusiasm for 3rd grade, though.


MADELEINE: I just want it to be the end of school and the end of summer so that it can be third grade!  Mommy.  I was so EXCITED that...I nearly fell OVER!

Wow.  What a day for both kids.  Julia got to go BACK in time to the 1800s while Madeleine got to go forward in time to 3rd grade.  Fun for all!

End of School Year Events

There have been a LOT of end-of-year events going on in Julia's life lately, and no doubt her sentimentally is getting an extra charge.  Last week was the end of school year picnic, which doesn't literally happen at the end of the school year, but a few weeks before:

The day after the concert were the final band and chorus concerts of the year, which, for a 5th grader, means the last time working under the directorship of their beloved music and band teacher.  Who other than an elementary music teacher is going to have kids on stage letting loose with body movements like these?:

Over the weekend, both girls went to the end-of-year pool and pizza party for the Y swim team.  Julia came home especially sentimental, telling me within ten minutes of the party ending, "I miss the Y!"  I'm used to this end-of-season melancholy nostalgia when mid-August hits, as Julia only swims with the Suburban Swim League in the summer, so she has a long wait between seasons.  However, she is now equally bereft now that the Y season has ended, despite the fact that she will be right back there in less than 3 months.

Today was the 5th grade "Appreciation Ceremony," during which 5th graders reflected on all they had learned this year and then individually thanked a particular teacher whose teaching had an impact on them over the past 6 years.  Here's Julia, bowing her head in order to reach the mike, which was set at the height of the more middle-sized, less statuesque 5th graders' height:

Julia thanked her beloved 1st grade teacher, who remains her very favorite of any she's had while in elementary school.

After the Appreciation Ceremony, the 5th graders were treated to a day outside, playing games, having relay races, and enjoying a big barbeque in their honor.  They even got to have a big sheet cake with a picture of their entire 5th grade student body printed on it:

I guess all the build-up of sentiment gave Julia an extra big appetite.  I asked her about what she had ordered at the barbeque.  Turns out she opted for not one, but TWO cheeseburgers.

ME: Did you eat both cheeseburgers for lunch?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: And you had cake?
JULIA: Yeah.
ME: Did you eat anything else?
JULIA: I had two bags of chips (bursting into sheepish laughter.)  I was still HUNGRY!


Eat up, Jules, because we've still got a few more sentimental ceremonies to go before the school year ends!

Julia's Cure for Insomnia

The other night, the girls were both in their beds, doing some bedtime reading before going to sleep.  When Madeleine finished up, she came and asked for her customary good-night hug and snuggle.  I climbed into Madeleine's bed, only to be interrupted within seconds by the bedroom door opening.

JULIA: Mommy?
ME: Yes?  What's up?  Madeleine's about to go to sleep.
JULIA: (with mild desperation) Can I *gallop* for a few minutes?  I have TOO much energy right now.
ME: Umm...go ask Daddy what he says.


Ethan's answer to Julia was that she could gallop on two conditions: 1) That she do it quietly, downstairs in the play basement, and 2) that she limit her Gallop Time to 5 minutes.

Julia dutifully went downstairs and called into Auntie Shannon's bedroom.

JULIA: Can you tell me when it's been five minutes?  That's how long I'm allowed to gallop for!

Five minutes later, Julia was back in her bed, reading peacefully.  It seemed the Gallop Time worked its magic.

Here's what I'm so curious about: what on earth did Julia read that made her suddenly and urgently need to go think about the Mintz for five minutes before being able to move on with her reading?!?

Bedroom Arrangements

Madeleine made herself a desk.  I think it's going to function really well.

She has also gotten REALLY specific about how her bed needs to be arrayed.  I'm not allowed to touch a thing after she's made it in the morning:

As you can see, Julia has no such ambitions:

To each her own!

Swim Clinics

The girls are attending a 2-day Fitter and Faster swim clinic this weekend, run by former Olympic swimmer Clark Burckle.  Yesterday's clinic was in Boston and today's happens to be at our town's YMCA.

The girls in Boston, with Olympian Burckle in the background.

Yesterday's clinic focused on breast stroke, which happens to be Burckle's signature stroke.  Much of the clinic worked on technique, so the swimmers spent a lot of time isolating elements of the stroke; for example, just the frog kick.  However, at the end of the day, each swimmer got a chance to race Burckle in a 25 meter breast stroke, with him giving the swimmers a head start.

No one beat Burckle, unsurprisingly.  Julia was proud of her effort, though: "I *almost* beat him!" she boasted.

Madeleine, on the other hand, was not so charitable.  I watched her swim her little heart out, then glance over to check who had won upon touching the wall.  I figured she would not find it that hard to fathom that a male, adult Olympic swimmer beat an 8-year-old, even with a head start.  But NUH.  UH.  Madeleine was NOT having it.  She decided that the appropriate reaction to his win was to start making hissing animal sounds at him, then scowling while extending only one finger when he congratulated her on her effort and reached out to shake hands. 

Sportswoman of the year over here, folks.

When yesterday's clinic had ended, the swimmers got a chance to get an autograph from Burckle.  Julia was eager to get in line and begged me to buy her one of the advertised Fitter & Faster tee-shirts so she could have him sign it.  I bought a shirt for both kids, and went into the lobby to find Julia in line with Madeleine standing in the sidelines.

ME: Madeleine, I got you a shirt, so you can have Clark Burckle sign it.
MADELEINE: Um, I want the shirt, but I don't want an autograph.
ME: Why not?? 
MADELEINE: Because he BEAT us.
ME: Honey, don't you think an Olympic swimmer SHOULD be able to beat a bunch of kids?
MADELEINE: No.  He didn't even give us enough of a head start!  He should have-
ME: Why don't you just get in line and get an autograph with your sister?
MADELEINE: (glowering and shaking her head no.)

I decided to walk away and let her make her own choice, and fortunately, Madeleine did decide to get an autograph.  Let me tell you, though; upon reading the autograph, Madeleine was NOT.  IMPRESSED.

MADELEINE: (scathingly) Mommy, an Olympic swimmer doesn't even know what YEAR it is?!?!?

Man, what a dope.  Come on, Clark Burckle, you're five years off!


Today's clinic will focus on race starts and Madeleine has had several stern reminders about being a good sport, so hopefully she will be less of a pill to her generous clinic leader.  Julia, meanwhile, is treasuring her signed swag, planning to wear her autographed shirt to school tomorrow, because she pretty much never wears swimming shirts to school.  Oh.  Wait.  By never wears, I mean always wears.  Not to mention she obsessively reads heat sheets from previous meets and looks up stats on swimmers from other teams all the time.  Yeah.  Julia is not obsessed with swimming at all. 

Adventures in Being Madeleine

Madeleine is SUCH a smart kid, but she definitely lives on another planet sometimes.  Yesterday was especially full of Madeleine-isms.

1.) Sharing some embarrassing information without blinking an eye

Madeleine had a friend over yesterday who had never been to our house.  During Madeleine's grand tour, she decided to over-share when showing her friend the marital bedroom.

MADELEINE: And this is my mom and dad's room.  Actually, I should say it's JUST my mom's room, because she kicked my dad out and he sleeps on the couch.

Erm.  Yeah, that's technically true.  But Madeleine failed to include the parts about how I'm a lifelong terrible sleeper who can't block out even the tiniest bit of background noise, so when Ethan is snoring, and I'm waking HIM up all night tossing and turning because I can't tune out the snoring, it gives us both a better night sleep if he just goes on the couch. 


2.) Somehow missing something totally obvious

When Madeleine's friend's mom came to pick her daughter up, Madeleine and her friend were outside in the backyard.  I went out back to tell them the mom was here, and Madeleine exclaimed, "Awww!  I don't want you to go!" to her friend as I led her inside.  For some reason, Madeleine decided to stay outside rather than come in to formally say good-bye to her friend.

Fifteen minutes later, Madeleine came inside to find me.

MADELEINE: Mommy?  Where's Maeve?
ME: She went home, honey.  Remember?
MADELEINE: (looking crest-fallen) She did??
ME: Honey.  What part about me saying her mom was here and you saying you didn't want her to go didn't you understand??



3.) Doing something this dumb

Last night, after Ethan and I got home from a rehearsal, Auntie Shannon told us Madeleine was upset because she was reading about diseases that humans can get from dogs.  I went into Madeleine's bedroom to give her a snuggle.

ME: What's making you worry about dog diseases?
MADELEINE: Well, I said I was thirsty, and Auntie Shannon told me to drink Clara's water.
ME: Wait.  You drank from the dog bowl?
MADELEINE: (sheepishly) Mmm-hmm.
ME: Honey.  Please don't do dopey things like that again.
MADELEINE: BWAAAAAAA! (bursting into hysterical tears) But Shannon TOOOOOLD me toooooo!*
ME: Okay, honey, you don't need to cry, you just need to use your brain in the future.  If you're thinking of doing something you think I would say is not a good idea, then DON'T DO IT.
MADELEINE: (continuing to sob) I don't wanna DIIIIIIEEE!
ME: You're not going to die from drinking from the dog bowl.  Just don't do things like that from now on.
MADELEINE: (inconsolable)



*After conversing with Auntie Shannon, I found out this is what really happened.

MADELEINE: You love Clara more than me.  I'm just gonna turn into a DOG so you'll love me too.
(crawling on all fours over to Clara's food and water bowl)
AUNTIE SHANNON: So you're gonna drink out of a dog bowl now?
MADELEINE: (doing it.)