My daughter is a very "in-the-moment" kind of girl. I liken her to a little butterfly flitting and floating about. She's very happy-go-lucky with intense quicksilver emotions. The only problem is that the objects in her world are very loosely attached to her too. If it's not needed in-the-moment, off it goes - flung off carelessly into the stratosphere - never to be thought of again until the next time it occurs to her to look.
This morning, it was her backpack. Unlike days gone by where it was a child's choice whether or not to carry one, now it is required by the school. When we got to the bus stop this morning, there she stood - 3 little ponies and a stuffed cat in hand - innocently asking "Mommy, where's my backpack?" Me, I hadn't noticed it wasn't there, as I had grabbed both kids' umbrellas in case the gray skies actually opened up on us.
Sigh - of course the *right* thing to do is send her back for it. Except, she won't learn the lesson, and I'd be stuck driving her to school. Meanwhile, Chris's bus is due any moment. I tell him to hand his stuffed tiger to his sister when it arrives. Off to get the backpack. I get halfway down the block to see his bus pull up. After making sure he got on, I continue on toward home for the backpack. (Incidentally, she was waiting with her best friend and best friend's mom). I get back and ask her if Chris gave her the tiger. Well - Responsible Son didn't want to leave it in the wrong place, so he took it with him. Turns out the bus driver is holding it for him. Thank you, Considerate Bus Driver - you must have kids too.
Yesterday I had made the mistake of sending her to school in layered shirts. It was picture day, and I'd grabbed a cute, inexpensive shirt at Walmart because it was a pretty color on her. Like many of the current fashions it was actually two pieces layered together. Because of picture day, I forgot that this is always a bad idea. I'd braided her long hair into pigtails as well, in hopes of keeping it looking nice for the picture - along with a stern warning to Leave Them Alone until afterwards. As she got off the bus her hair was flying loose, she handed me the hair elastics, and the top shirt was flying free, left dangling by the little plastic hang tag joining it to the shoulder of the shirt underneath. My wee little snake, constantly shedding her "skin" everywhere.
My mother loves to buy my kids these cute 3 piece outfits - pants, shirt, warm-up jacket - or pants, shirt, vest, etc. Yeah, not a good idea for Little Miss. It took me a while to catch on, but after numerous calls, emails and notes to teachers to "please send Charlotte's sweater/jacket/gloves/hat home again" I've come up with a system. All her school jackets have hoods, all her school gloves are dollar store cheapies, and in winter (when Little Miss is cold all the time) she wears a strappy camisole under the appropriate weight shirt or sweater - she's not allowed to run around school in that so she can't take her shirt off.
Now if I can just fasten her backpack to her coat I'll be all set...
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