Gratitude Day #7

Today I'm grateful for Emma. She's such a good little girl, and sometimes I'm not so patient with her, which gives me a huge guilty complex. I'm working on it! I got off the phone a little bit ago with her teacher-we weren't in town for parent/teacher conferences, so we just did it over the phone. She began by saying that this wouldn't take long because they don't have any problems with her! She quickly went through her list of all the assessments they do and she excels in all of them. And while I'm glad that she knows her letters and shapes and math, I'm mostly glad that her teacher told me that she does such a great job socially-she is polite, she accepts discipline (though they have rarely had to use it), she solves problems with her classmates, and her classmates all love her. She communicates well with everyone and just is a pleasure to have in their class!

I think I'm hard on her because she has always talked so well that I assume she's older than she is. It's hard to remember that she's only 4! Sometimes she seems like such an old soul in that little body. But when I expect too much from her is when we both get frustrated. So we're both working on that, and I think it's going well! I'm learning that I need to give her more clear, specific instructions on things, and she's learning that whining isn't okay :)

She loves to be a helper, which is hard for me since I'm such a control freak. But I've learned that she actually does a good job when she helps and I'm learning to let go of some things. She definitely "mothers" most things around her-Bree, her dolls and stuffed animals, other kids, her food (when she plays with it). I can tell how I've been disciplining by listening to her. She has used the phrases, "Mom, look at my eyes" or "Are you listening to my words?" when she's trying to get my attention. That makes me laugh.

One of my most favorite times of the day is when Dave is home, Bree is in bed, Emma is in her jammies, and she's hanging out with me and Dave on our bed. All Dave has to do is ask one innocent question about some silly thing and we get a great story or explanation from her about it. From there she just talks and talks and talks. Even though she appears more reserved and quiet, she's actually pretty chatty...I don't know where she gets that from :) And I love how Dave likes to explain "life" things to Emma. She has been very interested in Elizabeth's recently missing tooth. Last night Dave told her that when she was a baby and she was sleeping, the Tooth Fairy came to her and planted little tooth seeds in her mouth. Then her teeth grew in. And when they get too old they will fall out and Emma will put the tooth under her pillow, the Tooth Fairy will come and take the tooth, leave some money, and plant a new tooth seed in it's place so she can have big Mommy and Daddy teeth. From her expression I think she was a little concerned at the thought of someone crawling in her mouth and putting something in there. But she accepted it! Dave has all sorts of explanations for "life" things. She thinks there are bunnies in her tummy, mice in her toes, and frogs in her throat. The best is when she gives Dave's explanations to someone else. She's also really into fairies and princesses. Quite a few times I've caught her moping and asked what's wrong, only to hear a cry of "I'm not a fairy princess yet! Look, there aren't ANY sparklies on my arms!" And the other day she put her wings on, then proceeded to flap her arms up and down, then fall to the ground in dramatic despair because "I can't fly! It just WON'T WORK!"

I love this sweet little girl and I know there are wonderful things in store for her. She's a quietly stubborn little thing, but I know it's because Heavenly Father needs His children to be strong and have conviction. I'm so grateful to be her mommy!

this is Dave being artistic :)