Charlyn’s Web

Usage:

“Us girls don’t like that!”

“Us girls want to go there.”

A united front of girls.

You will need to click to enlarge the thumbnail to see that the Farmer is wearing her brother’s boots. We found the hats at a thrift store and they’ve been wearing them ever since.

“Well, gee, Miss Pixie, think it might rain?”

Miss Pixie

Farmer Sunshine holding Baby Jonathan.

We ate at McDonald’s after church today because we had another thing going on in town later in the afternoon. We had enough time after we ate for the kids to play a little bit. It’s been awhile since they have been able to play there.

When we were driving off, Pixie announced that she had a new boyfriend.

Oh?

“One of the boys that was at the play area.”

I see, what was his name?

“I don’t remember, he told me once but that was all.”

Uh huh. Well, you’ll have to tell the boy you are going to marry.

She looks at me funny, like she doesn’t really understand why she would have to do this.

“No.”

We may have had a breakdown in communication there- I was thinking of the serious meaning of “boyfriend” and she may have been thinking that he was a boy and is now a friend. But this hadn’t clicked with me yet so I asked Aren’t you going to marry the boy you’ve been saying you were going to marry?

She sighs, “I don’t know who I am going to marry.”

Into this introspective moment Miss Sunshines pops in with:

“I don’t know WHAT I’m going to marry!”

The door knobs in our house have never been stellar and now they are falling by the wayside quickly. They get to the point where they refuse to turn and operate anymore. Stubborn things.

The knob to the Girl’s room was getting worse and worse. It took quite a bit of effort if the door was shut to get it open again. One morning, the door was shut and it took me trying quite awhile before Pixie got it open from the inside. I told them to not shut it completely until their father could look at it.

That advice was followed for an hour or two and then the door was shut. Pixie on the inside of the room. Sunshine decided she wanted in and couldn’t get the knob to turn. I gave it a try, and tried again, and again. I had Pixie try from the inside. No luck, still stuck.

I tried getting a credit card like item to slide in and work the latch back but couldn’t get it in there. The screws for the knob were on the inside as were the door hinges. The door opens in. I called The Col. to get advice as to what to do. He was stumped too. The window is hard to open from the outside and too heavy for Pixie to open from the inside. He asked if she was upset.

No, she was drawing on her bed so no need to hurry.

He finally decided to try slipping a screwdriver under the door to her and coaching her on how to get the screws out. He said to remember that she was opposite of me when telling her which way to turn the screws. He knows my failings.

I slipped the screwdriver under the door to her and chanted to myself “lefty loosey, righty tighty” then remembered to reverse that and told her to turn the screw towards the living room wall. She decided that the screwdriver was too big.

I told her, mainly in jest, not to worry, that we would slip food under the door to her. She seemed pleased with that prospect.

I got another screwdriver and slipped it under to her and repeated my instructions.

She was able to get the screws out. Whew!

Ok so the knob was apart. Now what? I tried pushing on various parts of the mechinisim that was still there. Nothing did anything. So I called The Col back. What do I push on? He couldn’t really tell me but did suggest that I take the knob on my side, that luckily had more of the workings on it, and use it to see how the door worked. I put it in, turned it a few times while I watched it and the latch snapped back!

As I let Pixie out she grumped that she was unhappy as she wanted to get her food pushed under the door to her. Can’t please some people.

I was in the nursery at church during Sunday School. Normally, I am not there during that time but one of the helpers was gone so I was conscripted. I had to work on the Church’s bills and therefore wasn’t much help, per say, just another adult in the room. One has to be so careful these days. Sigh.

Anyway, I was busy working on things, trying to keep my papers from being stepped on and scattered about when I tuned into a conversation.

Pixie is addressing her future husband: “Please put the seat up when you go pee because if you don’t it gets wet and then I might sit in it.”

Oh my. The nagging begins.

Happy Birthday Pixie!

The Local Homeschool group is having a weekly sports time. Right now they are learning how to play soccer. This is for the older kids and The Boy just squeaks in. He has been enjoying it very much and it’s great for him to learn about various sports.

It’s at a local park and The Girls can play on the play structure with the other young children. Last week another Mom, Mrs. J, decided to take the younger ones- from about 5 up- and show them how to play too. Pixie decided she didn’t want to do that and played with the real young children. She likes to “mother” all the toddlers.

On the way home, Pixie asked-“Do the kids learning how to play soccer with Mrs. J have to wear the green thingys?”

Hmmm, green thingys? Oh yes, the green jerseys the kids on one team wear to distinguish the teams from each other.

No, the little kids don’t have to wear those.

“Oh, good! Then next week, I’ll go play with them!”

That’s my girl! Always got fashion on her mind.

A new boy has moved into our circle of friends.

Miss Sunshine calls him “My Friend”. She hardly ever uses his name.

“I want to sit by My Friend!” she proclaims at Sunday School.

“I am making this for My Friend.” she declares.

She is going to marry him.

The problem is that her sister also wants to marry him.

At least we are keeping it in the family.

Pixie calls him by his name and they are picking out houses together.

The Girls get into arguments about who is going to marry whom.

“I’m going to marry him!”

“No! I am going to marry him!”

Sigh.

I tell them that we’ll decide this in about 20 plus years. The longer the better.

The Brother, at dinner today, just to stir the pot, asked The Sisters if they loved this boy.

“I gave my heart in his heart.” Sunshine poetically proclaimed.

My heart sinks. What is a mother to do? I have been warned that he had a girl he was going to marry when he lived back East but now he has thrown her over because she is too far away.

I don’t know. A fickle, boy from the East. What could be worse??? What is a mother to do?

Well, we aren’t picking out wedding dresses yet but I’m keeping my eye on that boy.

I was asked a question in the comments on this post and I thought I’d answer it in a blog post since it was going to be a fairly long, drawn out affair. I am good at making short stories long.

The question was:

“I’m curious… when Pixie refuses to wear the clothes she has vowed to wear, do you return them knowing that she will never cave in, or do you hang them in the closet to be “stashed” until you pass them on to someone else? I have often wondered the fate of Pixie’s rejects.”

I don’t take them back usually because it’s been too long before I realize that she has “issues” with it, or I’ve washed it first, or it was bought at a store far, far away in a another galaxy. In the case of the jeans, I had washed them in an attempt to set color and keep them from fading as quickly. I bought two skort outfits at the beginning of the summer that she swore she would wear- she’s worn one once or twice and the other not at all. I hope her sister likes them- which is usually my back up plan. There is also the chance, which does happen- see below story about the jeans, that she will change her mind.

Pixie just gets strange ideas in her head about things. She doesn’t want to wear some shirts because they are too long and cover up the waist band of her pants/skirt. I don’t want her having short shirts and flashing her belly ring to the world. (Just seeing if you are awake.) She finally wore her new jeans on Saturday, which is a long, drawn out story in itself but I am sure you are tired of hearing all the angst, she wanted them rolled up even though they are a great length. I don’t know what it is with her and short things- preparing for the flood that is bound to come, I guess. I refused and she some how managed to get through the day and now declares that she likes her jeans and has worn them everyday since. Heavy, heavy sigh.

Anyway, what should I do with the things she will not wear? One suggestion was to make her buy the clothes with her own money and return on her own what she doesn’t want. She is only 5- would that be a good idea? She tends to be very visual and I know we will have to work with her about “wanting” everything and blowing her money on all things pink. So would putting her on a clothing budget at this age be a good idea? Also, I often go alone to the great Mart here in town and pick things out of season from the sales rack at great discounts- she’d have to be with me on those occasions to help pick and pay for those items. Although, one could argue that even if bought very cheap, if she will not wear it then it’s of no value. There is a beautiful pink polka dot dress hanging in the closet that is just such an example.

What other suggestions do you have? Give her two choices daily of what she can wear instead of letting her pick? I’m open to suggestions.

I am getting tired of the whining and upset about what she is going to wear. I’m also getting sick of seeing her in her favorite outfit.

Even if she is pretty cute.