August 13, 2006
Officially Declaring Her Independence
I like my mornings. I like waking up slowly, barely opening my eyes, wiggling my toes, then ankles, and verrrry slowly easing my body and mind out of bed and into a new day. Two days ago, I came desperately close to achieving this rare state when I noticed, mid-ankle roll, how quiet the house had suddenly become. A few minutes ago, there were the sounds of Maddie chasing the animals throughout the house. Now, quiet. A very loud and scary quiet.
I knew where she was before I even got my bathrobe on, and was already swearing at her under my breath. Nevertheless, I considered the possibility of Greg's suggestion: that she was simply in the backyard.
Nope.
After circling the perimeter of the house once, yelling her name, I ran back into the bedroom to pull on some actual clothing before marching across the street to the park. I wasn't even fully off the front porch when I saw her being led back across the street toward our house by Anthony, our next door neighbor, and his 10 year old daughter.
Needless to say, we had a talk. And then another talk, which was interrupted by Greg having a talk before stepping aside to let us resume more of the talk.
Last night, Ryan brought Maddie to Greg's and my place of employment to drop her off after a wedding. Cutely clad in her brand new dress, she paraded up the sidewalk to the patio where I was clearing tables, then noticed the owner of our establishment having a beverage at one of the tables.
"Mo - RIP!"
Breaks the handholding with Dad, runs straight to Rip and says,
"I heard you moved upstairs into Greg's old apartment!"
Like, hey! Good to see you! Can I get you a pint? I'm five going on thirty!
Once I get her inside the building, she begins scanning the bar for Greg. I'm talking to her, and her face is saying to me, "Are you speaking? 'Cause your mouth is moving but all I hear is BLAH BLAH BLAH."
In the middle of my asking her how the wedding was, she breaks away AGAIN and runs straight to Greg K., a friend of ours who was having dinner. Across the restaurant. Through a crowd of people who were pleasantly enjoying their meals before their attention was diverted by a running, yelling, unaccompanied five-year-old who promptly pulls up a chair at Greg K.'s table, has a seat, and says, "Greg! I didn't know you were here!"
When Ryan had picked her up from our house on Thursday evening, post-park trip, Maddie asked me,
"Will I be coming home in the morning or not for another day?"
I told her, "In the morning. Unless, of course, you decide to go to the movies or out for a pint by yourself."
She replied, rolling her eyes for emphasis, "MOOO-oom, I can't go to the MOVIES. I can't DRIVE!"
Because, yes, the fact that she is not yet fully confident enough to steal my vehicle is indeed the ONLY reason she hasn't yet picked up Juliana to take her to the movies.
Side note: We're probably keeping the dog, if only for the crate, which I will henceforth be reassigning to Maddie.
