Father/Daughters Dance

It’s not often I can get my two older girls to get dressed up. Last night was an exception for the annual father/daughter dance at their elementary school. Since Erin is in kindergarten, this was a first for her.

Erin wears a dress maybe two or three times a year, and went we went shopping for the dance, we let the girls pick their outfits.

We were shocked when Erin picked a fancy flower number, complete with white tights and a sweater, but as you can see she look quite proud of her pick. Olivia loved her outfit too, which came from the god awful ‘tween store, Justice. As much as I dislike the store, (I think I’m getting hives right now just thinking about it) the long skirt with the tie-dyed tank top and crochet sweater suits her bohemian style.

As has been tradition in the past, there was dinner before the dance at a restaurant. This year, however, the girls and their dad joined a group of other dads and their daughters at a Japanese steakhouse. It must have been quite the site, and I wish I could have been there.

Instead, I had bigger plans with a certain almost four-year old.

Carrie and I had a girls’ night out at her favorite restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I hate it, but she loves it, and I have a pretty hard time saying no to this face. Of course, she had to wear plenty of accessories for her outing. My personal favorite is the tweety bird purse.

But back to the big dance. As we figured, Olivia pretty much hung out with her friends, and Erin hung onto her dad. We remember Olivia doing the same thing when she was that age. It’s amazing to see the transformation from just a few years ago.

Looking at this photo, maybe they both were a little nervous.

Two years from now, it will be a whole other story, with Dad bringing all three of his daughters to the big dance.

I can wait. They’re already growing up way too fast.

Toy Story on Ice: Marketing to the Young Masses

For the last month, I’ve heard begging and pleading from my kids to take them to Toy Story on Ice. Clearly, they watch way too much TV because they would have never heard about it if not for the constant commercials on The Disney Channel. I pretended to ignore them, but little did they know I had plans to take them to the live show, courtesy of the free tickets I got from work.

The night of the show arrived, and I still hadn’t told them about the show. They were getting a little jiggy in the car so I told them I had a surprise for them, but only if they stopped fighting. I’ve never been above bribing my kids into behaving, especially if it gives me a little quiet on the drive to school.

When I picked them up from school, they hadn’t forgotten about the surprise, and out of the blue Erin asked if the surprise was Toy Story on Ice. Nothing gets past that kid, plus I’m a horrible liar. The squeals of delight coming from the back of the car were so loud, I’m surprised the windows didn’t shatter.

I can appreciate their excitement. As a kid, I loved going to the Ice Capades with my Grandma Ida. It was an annual tradition. She would take me and my brothers on the bus to the old St. Paul Civic Center to see the show. Grandma Ida would also indulge us and buy cotton candy, smiling at us as we squeezed the spun sugar into little balls and stuffing them in our mouths leaving behind a sticky mess. She was way more patient than I was, or at least that’s how I remember it 30 plus years later.

I too indulged the kids with cotton candy, but I did it begrudgingly. It’s not so much that I didn’t want them to eat the cotton candy. I did because it would mean I could also eat it. I’m just cheap and one bag of cotton candy cost twelve stinkin’ bucks!

Yep, twelve dollars! How does Disney justify cost? They throw in an awful plastic foam alien hat with it.

Only a Kid Can Make an Alien Hat Look Cute

The girls also asked for snow cones which cost ten bucks each. I said no to that and cheap mom that I am, forked over four dollars for a bottle of water for the four of us to share.

So the show, what about the show itself? I have to admit, it was cute, but the second half was definitely better than first. The Barbie and Ken scene was really well done, and I’m not just saying that because I have a Barbie obsessed almost four-year old. But it was a LONG show, especially one that started at 7:30 p.m. It lasted almost exactly 2 hours, so we didn’t get out of the HP Pavillion and back into our car until 9:45. All three kids were passed out within five minutes of hitting the road. It meant for a nice and quiet ride home, but getting them out of the car and into their beds proved challenging. I was flying solo that night, so when I pulled into the driveway and woke up the kids, there were tears. Lots of tears. I somehow got them into bed without breaking down into sobs myself.

So to recap: free Toy Story 3 tickets + $12 cotton candy + 3 exhausted kids + 1 exhausted mom = 1 semi-successful night which we won’t be doing again for at least another year.

Fundraising Mission

I did it as a kid, and now my two older daughters are doing it too. They’ve become pseudo door-to-door sales girls, not selling girl scout cookies, but Sees Candies for their school fundraiser. When they pulled the crumpled forms from their backpacks, they immediately asked if they could try selling the candy to our neighbors. I let out a resigned sigh, and begrudgingly said yes. I had no desire to walk through our neighborhood with my kids while they gave their sales pitch. My girls however, they were beyond excited to pound the pavement.

So on Saturday we did just that. No one answered the door at the first house. The second house either. In hindsight, we probably should have gone on a non-holiday weekend, but my girls could not be deterred. They were determined to get a sale, and at the third house: success!  With a kind smile, our neighbor patiently listened as Olivia spewed out her pitch in a rapid fire speech. Once she finished, she took a quick breath and then held her breath waiting for our neighbor to respond. When she said she’d buy a box, Olivia flashed a huge grin and I visibly saw the look of relief on her face. Behind me, Erin pumped her arm in celebration even though she did not make the sale. We had decided ahead of time the girls would take turns so the neighbors wouldn’t feel pressured to buy from both kids. Erin wanted Olivia to go first so she could learn the tricks of the sales trade from her big sister.  As we walked to the next house, I quizzed Erin on what she would say. She giggled and shrugged her shoulders. The cuteness factor worked in her favor because she got a pretty big sale on her first try. Beginner’s luck I think not.

In all, the girls secured sales from five houses. Not bad for their first outing. I know plenty of parents who bring the fundraising forms to work, guilting co-workers into buying the candy, gift wrapping, or candles, which they neither want or need. I don’t want to become one of those parents. I’m pretty sure I already annoy my co-workers enough with photos and videos and stories about my kids.

So I gave up part of my lovely Saturday afternoon traipsing through my neighborhood with my kids. While I didn’t want to do it, there were a couple of benefits.  It gave me a chance to catch up with the neighbors who were home and who answered their doors, and I got the goods on the latest neighborhood gossip. I also scored major points with Olivia and Erin. And for that I may even chaperone them again while they try to raise money for their school, one house at a time.

“Mom, Do You Ever Feel Left Out?”

The title of this post came from the mouth of my 6-year old. She asked that question last week and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. As soon as she asked the question, my heart sunk to what felt like a new low, knowing that my sweet, funny, quirky kid had her feelings hurt on the playground.  It breaks my heart right now, just writing this. As bad as I feel about this, I can only imagine how it made her feel. I went straight into Lion Mom mode (notice I didn’t say Tiger Mom), wanting to protect my cub from the harsh, harsh world of the kindergarten playground. And you know it can be harsh. Little girls, even cute five and six years olds can be mean and tell other girls they don’t want to play with them.

So what did I do? Well, first I emailed the teacher to see if she knew exactly what was going on. She didn’t, but said she would keep an extra eye on her during recess. With 30 kids in her class, that’s far from an easy task. Second, I contacted an elementary school teacher friend who eased my concerns. Third, I’m taking one of her suggestions and am trying to set up even more playdates.

I’ve mentioned before that Erin isn’t a typical six-year-old girl.  She’d much rather build Legos or play medieval castle than play Barbies or dress-up. When it comes to Erin, I will never need to read a book like Peggy Orenstein’s “Cinderella Ate My Daughter“. I may need it for Carrie, who is a poster child for everything pink and girly-girl, but never for Erin or Olivia for that matter. I’m proud that I have independent and free-spirited daughters, but those fantastic characteristics can at times make navigating the perils of elementary school even more challenging. This is one of those times.

At sharing day last week, she brought her Lego Cars she got for her birthday. I think she was hoping it would win over some of the girls. It didn’t. She did however get a ton of attention from the boys. Unwanted attention, according to Erin. She said she didn’t like that all the boys were crowding around her. For now, she has no interest in boys. She thinks they’re gross. I told her they may be gross, but they do like a lot of the same things she does, so she may want to consider becoming buddies with the boys. Girls, boys, I don’t care who she plays with. I just want her to find a friend who can appreciate her winning personality and share her interests.

I have no doubt it will happen soon. It might be a boy. It might be a girl. Heck, knowing Erin, she’ll have a whole posse of both genders hanging out with her. She’s a great kid, and it’s only a matter of time before her classmates see this too.