In a little while...

Creating flower fairies at midnight by glow of computer light while motorcycle parts flash across the screen and a Lego XBox game fills the living room with those bizarre outter space sounds. These are the things I am grateful for.
Dom and I visited the ever popular local hangout, yes, you guessed it Wal-Mart last night, originally in a search of long jump ropes. Of course we found none. Where does one purchase these?

Anyhow, we did purchase all sorts of fun dollar items to drag to my sister's house today. My sister purchased an above ground pool for her new house and fun in the summer sun! I am unbelievably excited. I think it is because my sister has her own home now and when we were little, and summer came around, we always wished we had an in ground pool. Thankfully we didn't, we would have had more crazy shenanigan's while the parents were off to work! I have not let the kids in on the new pool purchase yet. I thought it would be fun to surprise them. Dom woke me up early and I have been thinking about that pool ever since I got out of the shower.
Mady mentioned she was bored yesterday, something she hasn't mentioned in a distinctly long amount of time, for Mady that is. I let her know we have stocked our home with at least 1,000 fun, interesting, entertaining things to learn and occupy ones self. If the books were counted in that list there would surely be over 2,000 fun, interesting, entertaining things. She wasn't interested and said I was a boring adult. Once we brought somethings home to make flower fairies I was no longer boring. Niki and I listened to some John Mayer and made flower fairies and laughed while Mady tried to repair the "Turtle" necklace she purchased last summer on our exploration of Texas swimming holes. Mady was upset when I suggested she restring all the pieces on a new jewelry wire. She said the necklace wouldn't be the same. I told her it would still remind her of all the wonderful memories we made that summer if she let it and it was perfectly logical to restring the necklace so it would be stronger and not break again. While I understood her emotional attachment to the necklace remaining in exactly the same state in which she purchased it, I think it would be easier to restring the necklace. This is how many people would see it I suppose. I don't want Mady to be upset if the necklace breaks and the pieces scatter to the four corners in some store or restaurant but Mady remains attached to keeping the necklace in the exact state she needs it. I educated her on some of the possible outcomes from not restringing the necklace and told her the logical course of action for most people. Ultimately it is her choice, her joy or her pain which affects me if I allow it. I could have restrung the necklace myself after she fell asleep, I could have purposely knocked the necklace off the table in effort to prove my truth but that would only have upset us all. This seems like an opportunity for Mady to learn and grow. My truth is that Mady, and all our children, will learn all they need to know to thrive in a world from these small opportunities to learn and grow and discussion about them.

In a little while we will be sipping tastey drinks in the summer sun while floating peacfully in the cool of the pool with my sister. I'm sure there will be some crazy splashing episodes as well ;-)