Maeve has given herself permission to have one dummy in her mouth and one in her hand during the day.
‘We’re playing babies,’ she tells me when I remind her that dummies are (strictly) for bed. She quickly crawls across the lounge room floor towards Elsie and says, ‘Wah, wah.’
‘You’re a big girl, Maeve,’ I tell her again in preparation for the get-rid-of-the-dummy-from-the-two-year-old day. ‘Dummies are actually for babies.’
‘Well I’m a big girl and I have a dummy,’ she replied.
Right.
This week she came out of the bedroom with a dummy in her hand and one in her mouth. Guilty. Elsie’s at school; there is no game of babies going on.
‘What are you doing with a dummy in your mouth?’
‘I was just cleaning it.’
Cleaning it? If you’re old enough to think on your feet, you’re definitely too old for a dummy. We’ll see if getting rid of Maeve’s dummy is as easy a process as it was for Elsie.
After school today, Elsie saw this bird mobile I’d finished as a custom order to match the bed linen that’s also pictured:
She asked if I’d make her a bird and off she went, returning with a piece of paper and a texta.
‘Here’s the design,’ she said.
So I made a pattern from her drawing and she chose the felt colours she wanted. She sat at my knee while I sewed one pupil onto one eyeball. Then she asked if I’d let her know when it was finished as she was going to watch TV.
And when it was finished, I took it to her. And she held it while she watched TV. And I congratulated myself.
School is still a big hit for Elsie. Some days she still squeals when she sees the bus coming. I’m pretty sure that will stop at some point over the next 13 years.
And today, I cried again as I looked up at the bus window to see Elsie standing at her seat, smiling and waving like crazy to Maeve and me. I’m hoping that will stop at some point over the next 13 years.
Writing by Larissa Patton 
Yes Larissa…I still get tears in my eyes when I wave my girls off!!! Lol….Crazy hey? Sometimes I just miss them and yet they are so close…I don’t see Rani for a week or so at a time, and Tara I see any day I want, but when I say goodbye sometimes I just want to keep them here….must be getting old hey? You know what I think I just miss the cuddles from them, and sometimes it is just the one on one time together…they are women now, and we are close, but it is different! I remember one of the holidays I spent back in Aussie when we were living in NZ. I was visiting my Mum in Cairns, and she was sick with emphysema and asthma, and she was having an afternoon nap. I walked into the room and she was laying there awake, so I laid down beside her and cuddled her, and she said quietly as she stared at the wall, “Ah I have missed that Bev”. It was lovely and we just stayed there and chatted for a bit. Yeah, they are the things we miss when our kids become adults and the busy-ness of life takes over for them.And now I better get to bed!!! Hey say hello to Anthony, and tell him I am eating lentils!!!! I am on a “change of lifestyle cruise” on-line..lol. Not sure what brand I need to get to help support you guys!!! You better tell me so I get the “right” ones hey? hehe…Night love…xx
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You’ll be supporting a farmer somewhere! Good luck with it. Thanks for your comment, Bev.
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What a cool Mum you are – the bird looks great. (I can see some wonderful “show and share” items coming into Elsie’s school in the near future!!) The good old dummy dilemnas – I never made an issue of when and where the boys could have their dummies but as soon as they turned 2 it was cold turkey for them. They never saw their dummies again – until much later when the dog found one under the veranda and came out chewing on it about 3 years after the dummy’s disapperance!!! Am a HUGE fan of dummies and all 3 of the boys had one plus a snuggly of some decription – Tom had an old nappy which was replaced by a soft dog called Fred, Daniel has a fluffy yellow duck called Ducky (we are full of originality at our house) and Alex has a gorgeous hand made taggie backed in the most luxurious minkie fabric – hasn’t got a name yet – I just call it his snuggly!
Christine
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And do you have spare ‘snuglies’ in the cupboard? Maeve’s snugly happens to be my teddy from when I was young. Hoping it doesn’t get left behind in a shopping centre or supermarket trolley as there’s no spare!
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Well not curently for Alex but have requested another – which reminds me I must send off off a reminder email. That was the beauty of Tom’s cloth nappy snuggly – always plenty in the cupboard. Then he graduated to the puppy and we have actually have gone through a couple of them – started with a little black and white dalmation (called Spot!) but lost that in a park somewhere and then there was Fred which has survived!! (It’s a bit like our farm dogs – seem to go through them pretty radomly as well – 6 in 10 years!!!) How precious that your daughter has YOUR teddy from when you were young – an heirloom!! That’s the difference with girls and boys – girls tend to look after things better (in preparation for motherhood maybe!!) and boys – well, boys just wreck everything. My boys anyway – demolition monsters!!!! (in prepartions for their future wives home renovations maybe??)
Christine
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