My Wish

Ba da bom bom-bom ... I'm Lovin' It!

Recognize that little jingle? Believe it or not, I DO let my kid clog her arteries with their food sometimes. Tonight though, the golden arches brought a taste that is bittersweet.

Macy was worn out from a swimming-filled, park-played, library-visited day and looked like she was on the verge of collapse when I picked her up from my in-law's. As we neared our home, she asked "Mom, do you think we could just go to McDonald's? I'm really tired. I just wanna' eat and lay down and watch TV." ... THIS is highly unusual for Macy Walker but I could tell she was worn slicker than hot pair of bald tires so I obliged on one condition; mind you I never thought in a million years she'd comply with my conditional McDonald's visit.

There's a Wal-Mart near our home that has a McDonald's just inside the door. I thought to myself, I'll agree to get her McDonald's if she'll go in there on her own while I wait in the car near the door. Keep in mind, that would require her barely seven-year old soul to carry money into the store alone, order her food correctly alone and get her drink ... ALONE! Here's what the conversation sounded like:

A: "If you'll go in there on your own while I wait right here, then I'll stop."

M: "Okay (shrugs) that's no big deal. You'll wait right here, right?"

A: "Yes. I'll wait right here for you. Can you do that on your own???"

M: "Yeah, it's fine. But I want apples so what do I say? Can I have chicken nuggets with apples?"

A: (still not really believing she'll carry out her "own" McDonald's experience) "Yep. That's all

you say."

M: " ... and for the drink, I just tell 'em I want a fountain drink, right?"

A: (I hand her a $5 bill) "You got it, a fountain drink."

About this time, I pull up at the doorway to the Wal-Mart. Now before any of you other parents wanna' police me for putting my child in stranger danger, I could see her from the glass door outside the Wal-Mart and I could see the entry to McDonald's so no child grabber would'a made out of there alive with my kid, mmkay?

A couple minutes pass & here comes my big, very proud little girl carrying her McDonald's sack, her fountain drink-of which she got herself too, and the change! I know all the other momma's out there with graying hair have been in my shoes but it's hard to believe my barely 7 year old baby doesn't need me anymore.

Remember When .... $1 Paid for a Movie, Drink AND Popcorn

At some point in our lives, most of us have heard from either our grandparents or our own parents stories of "remember when". They've told us about walking uphill in the snow-barefoot, they've told us about working long hard hours when a day's pay was only $3.00 and they've told us there was a time when you could take your sweetie to the movies, buy popcorn & a coke all for a buck. Don't take this the wrong way my friendly readers but c'mon now, just how much is a buck gonna get'ya in 2010? Mmhmm, that's what I thought. So did Macy Walker.


Yesterday was her 7th birthday party and lemme tell'ya, she is one loved little girl! She got more presents than you could shake a stick at. Although she did get a few duplications, she absolutely loved every cotton-pickin' gift she got! No worries though, I took her bright & early this morning to exchange them.


I wanted to use the whole exchange process as not only a math lesson ... you know adding up how much the return items would be compared to how much she could spend with the returns but also as a life lesson on how to return things to the store. As we prepared to leave, I counseled Macy on the process. Just as we began to walk out the door, she screeched "WAIT! I think I wanna' take my Wal Mart Giftcard I got too.", "Is that okay? Can I go get it real quick?" I replied, "Sure. Hurry up. I'll wait here.", as I stood in the doorway I watched her make a mad dash over to the cabinet where her mound of birthday gift cards lain. She rifled through them to find the one that said "Waaallll Mart" (that's what I heard her sound out as she got to just the right card). Just as she snatched that one out of the pile, she flipped it over to see what was on the back. That my friends is when all tradgedy of the dollar-days-no-more broke loose.



"TEN DOLLARS??", I heard Macy yelp as tears started to come to her eyes. "Mom! I can't buy ANYthing for ten dollars!" Before I could even get a word out, she marched over to the drawer where I keep pens. As she opened the drawer retrieving a Sharpie she proclaimed, "I'm just gonna write this for more money!"

Chocolate Brown?

Those whom have studied child development, have kiddos of your own or have been around little ones will know that somewhere around the preschool ages of 3-4 yrs. old, they start to recognize what is "like me" and what isn't like me. They ask questions and by gollee, they expect an explanation!

Macy's always been a talker, infact I wish her toddler teacher could read this blog to attest the fact the child stood in a crib at 9 1/2 months old shouting her name, "Macy Waaka, Macy Waaka, Macy Waaka" until someone came over to talk to her. She probably talks so much because we explain EVERYthing to her. We try to use every question she has as an opportunity for education. It shouldn't be a surprise when just barely 2 yrs. old she would ask "Why like this?", or state "This not me" when noticing someone different from her in a book or in public. Of course we wanted her to know not everyone is the same but it's also our responsibility to respect and appreciate diversity.

Not only do we talk & explain aLOT, we read aLOT. Everytime there's been a question, we buy a stinkin' book or two or five about whatever subject; so when she wanted to know why one of these things is not like the other (sing it like Sesame Street), off to the bookstore it was. One of the books we've had since 2005 is called "The Colors of Us" by Karen Katz. Macy absolutely looooves this book. She can read it without looking now (I think I might cry ... j/k) but from time to time she will ask me to read it to her. When I oblige, she'll say "Mom, mom, that's your hand!" as she points to Isabella and CRAcks up laughing.

Hmm .. I think ... should I be concerned or appreciate her humor?

P.S. The picture above is the cover of the book. Isabella is the person on the far right.

The Object of Her Affection

Tuesday, Macy has her class photo for 1st Grade. Me being the Mom-of-the-Year thought it'd be a grand idea to get some new threads & some new paw covers so she'd look half way decent for the pic. Yeah, who was I kidding?!? See, I THOUGHT I took a 6 year old with me but the girl who walked into the fitting room was 16! "This is ugly. I don't like this. This is too tight. This looks stupid. You always wanna' dress me faaaannncccyy like a girly girl. I'm a girl but I don't like that fancy stuff. Jewelry and dresses and hair things ... I don't like those!", "Why can't I just wear this sweater and a shirt and some jeans?" (P.S. The sweater DID have some jewels near the collar hahaha). "Wow, Really? Is this child REALLY telling me how she wants to dress? Since when does she have an opinion?!?", I thought.

She's right though. Just cause I'm all foofy foof, she doesn't have to be. So we left the store without buying anything & I was perfectly okay with that. I WILL however go tomorrow, with her "parameters" in mind when I try to find something for her at a different store.

Not only did I run into a 16 year old in a 6 year old's body while clothes shopping but she carted herself back to my car too! Miss Macy Walker asked if we could rock Radio Disney, I complied. I mean hey, I like some of that stuff! haha I even learned what the 16 year old ... er um, I mean SIX year old was going to do when she grows up!

"You know what I'm going to do when I grow up? Marry Nick Jonas. He's hot!" -- Macy Walker.

Just a Small Resolution

In our home, we don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions or anything of that sort. Our philosophy is you don't need a new year to make a change. I'm gathering that as the new year rang in at Mustang Elementary, her class most likely discussed personal goals (which we DO believe in) for twenty-ten. How sweet is this??

"In 2010 I will work hard to obay my mom and dad be cuz thay do nice thangs for me." -- Macy Walker, January 2010.

Conflict Resolution by a Six Year Old

This afternoon I came home to a very sullen Macy Walker perched on the couch watching SpongeBob. Typically I would walk through the door being met with a "Hi Mom! How was your day?", followed with hugs and kisses and exclaiming "Look at my papers!" Not today though. A much different side awaited me. Noticing her different demeanor, I sat on the couch next to her, turned down the TV and began to ask if everything was ok ... you know, because she's still at the age where she'll discuss her day & not say the rehearsed boring line of, "nothing".





Immediately, tears filled her eyes as she looked at me. Me, being the parent who tries to see BOTH sides to a story thought for a second, 'Oh great, what happened? She got in trouble." I softly said, "It's okay, you don't have to be upset, just tell me what happened and we can talk about it." She promptly said in a rather brisk, elevated voice "Oh NO, I'm not sad. I'M ANGRY!", "Zack, he took my umbrella out of my backpack on the bus and when I tried to get it back from him, he pulled harder and harder and it broke! Right down the middle! I AM MAD!!" I asked her if Zack lived near us, she quickly replied "Yes, he lives over there! And they have a yellow truck and it has writing on the side!" I was in a rush to get to the gym for an aerobics class so I told her we could discuss it more when I got back then she could accompany her Dad & me over to Zack's house so that she could air her grievance. Then I left for the gym.



It takes approximately 10 minutes for me to get to the gym from my house. I was nearly there when I got a text that said, and I quote "She is still ranting about the umbrella lol. She said 'I don't like him. He is a failure. He does bad things and says bad things too." I diiiiied laughing because well for one, I was alone in my car and my child who was looking for guidance wasn't there (haha)and two, I was sort of shocked that this little six year old was just really standing her ground.




I presumed when I got home from the gym, she would've cooled off a little... ya' know, been less angry. Oh no, Momma was el wrongo. A little less anger met me but still very adamant about addressing the issue. As I placed dinner in the oven, she said "Can we go talk to Zack's family now?" I gotta' just be honest & say I really didn't think the umbrella was THAT big of a deal, I mean it was probably 5 or 10 bucks at Wal-Mart, for cryin' out loud it wasn't Burberry or anything! And I thought that she'd just let it go, that it was just a little tiff on the bus she had with some kid, eh no big deal. In her small, innocent 6 year old mind though ... it was a BIG deal! He broke her stinkin' umbrella for no good reason! I advised her that her Dad & I would go talk to his parents after dinner. That idea was met with objection. She said "But Mom, after dinner I take a bath, I brush my teeth and then I have to go to bed! I'll be asleep and I want to tell them now, I want to get this over with!"



How could I deny that?!? How could I effectively teach my 6 year old how to handle conflict if I was asking her to brush off something that was uber significant to her?!? So I squatted down to her level, looked her in the eye and said "Macy. If I take you over to Zack's, are YOU going to tell his parents? Are YOU going to tell him how that makes you feel? Because I don't want to go over there if you're just gonna be shy and talk to the ground. You have to look at them straight in the face and TELL them how it makes you feel and tell them what you expect!" Macy said, "Mom. I want to go RIGHT now. I want to get this over with. Iiiiii'm going to tell them." I was still unsure so I said "YOU'RE going to? His parents?" "YES MOM!", she replied. So off we went.



I was still going over in my mind the thought that she prooobably wasn't going to say much and if she did it would be a muffled, looking at the ground type conversation. Oh contrere, was I wrrrong! I knocked on the door, she stood right next to me (I thought she'd shy behind me). When the mom answered the door, I asked if this was Zack's house, she said yes. I explained who my daughter & I were and where we lived. I wanted to give Macy the opportunity to explain the "altercation" and do HER best so I only said, "I believe Macy and Zack had a confrontation on the bus today where some things happened she'd like to address. Is it alright if we come in for just a second?" The mother graciously agreed and allowed us in her home. Macy waited for her que to speak, I said "Okay, say what you feel like you need to say." The thoughts rushed into my mind ... "On no! What is she going to say?!? Is she going to explain it how she explained it to me? Is she going to just mutter out a few words?!? Is she going to call this families' child a failure?!?! Oh noooo, please Macy, please choose the right words. GOD, please help this child!"



Here's the part where I gotta' just puff my proud Mommy chest out because this brave little girl stood straight up and told it like it was. To a parent ... of another child. In their home. This is what she said, completely uncoached by me (oh, and also in a much less frantically angry voice than how it was earlier explained to me),

"Today on the bus, Zack took my umbrella out of my backpack and when I tried to
get it back he kept pulling harder and harder and he broke it right in half.
(she showed them the broken umbrella then) It made me sad because that is MY
umbrella and he just took it out of my backback and broke it."

Zack's parents of course had him come over & apologize. Macy said, "Thank you." Woah! Again, I was suprised by that because I've told her before when people apologize for things they've done wrong, you don't reply with a shrugging response of "that's okay" because it's NOT okay, if there's a reason for an apology then it WASN'T just "okay". Totally could not believe she just carried out what she'd learned. Macy didn't have to state her expectations (a new umbrella) because the mother very apologetically said Zack would be buying a new one w/ his own money

Lo & behold, 30 minutes later Zack and his mom showed up on our doorstep with a very teary-eyed Zack, a new umbrella AND an apology letter. Zack again apologized and expressed he would not do it again. As a parent, my heart just broke for the saddened little boy but at the same time I was SUPER proud of Macy Renee Walker for standing her ground, for not letting someone bully her and taking it upon herself to fix it.



Oh, by the way ... did I mention this kid is in THIRD grade?!?