30 October 2008

Royal hair

I didn't put Ella's hair up as usual yesterday. Nothing to do with wanting to make a fashion statement. She was so uncooperative that morning that - when she would not stand still to let me brush her hair - I refused to waste any more time on getting her ready to go.

As I was cooking dinner last night, Ella wandered into the kitchen and thoughtfully said:

Ella - Mum, I think I'm turning into a princess.
Me [trying not to laugh] - You think you're turning into a princess?!
Ella - Yes. Because my hair is growing so long. That's why I am going to be a princess.

Why oh why did I not make that hair dresser's apointment when she seemed happy to have her hair cut to shoulder lenght, like her best friend's? Now she seems convinced that her hair will be her ticket to becoming royalty, I have definitely missed that window of opportunity.

28 October 2008

Fairy lady beetles

On the bike riding home:

Ella - You know mum, I saw a lady beetle at daycare today!
Me - Oh wow.
Ella - And do you know what colour it was.
Me - I do know.
Ella - No, I'll tell you what colour it was. It was orange. With black spots.
Me - Yeah, most lady beetles are orange or red with black spots.
Ella - And there are some special beetles. They are purple and pink.
Me - Wow, purple and pink. I've never seen those.
Ella - No, that's because they are scared of people. They are special lady beetles and they only come when it's dark. And they have little torches. And the torches have littel wings and they can fly!
Ella - Only I know that, mum. Camilla doesn't know that. Because I thinked it in my head.

27 October 2008

Love is a hot topic at the moment

Ella - I love you more than the world… [Pause] And the furniture!

Glad to know that contents are included.

Self-esteem is not an issue

As I was carrying Ella to bed after a long day:

Ella - No one is as beautiful as me!
Me - Oh, I think there are kids that are as beautiful as you, Ella.
Ella - Na-ah!
Me - I'm sure there are kids that are as beautiful as you.
Ella - Na-ah! Because they don't have this pretty dress.
Me - There are other kids with the same dress, you know. They can buy it at the shop.
Ella - But then they won't know the right size!
Ella and me simultaneously - But they can try it on.
Ella - And then they have to make sure it is this long. [Gets up to show where the hem of the dress is]

I think it is going to take a little while longer for her to realise that she is not god.

22 October 2008

Rosemary and hair

I sent Ella outside with her scissors to go cut me a sprig of Rosemary. When she hadn't returned after what seemed like an awfully long time, I stuck my head out and asked what she was doing.

The answer was: "Cutting my hair."

So I rushed over to grab the scissors off her and walked away saying quite angrily that she was not allowed to use them anymore, which of course made her cry.

It only took me a minute to realise that a) she looked hilarious and b) my emotive reaction probably wasn't fair fair on her, so I asked her:

Me - Ella, did you know that you're not allowed to cut your own hair?
Ella - No.
Me - Well, you aren't. When we want our hair cut, we go to the hairdresser.
Ella - Why?
Me - Because they are really good at it. And we're not. You have to go to hairdressers school to learn how to properly cut hair.
Ella - Oh.

It made me again realise that it is impossible to spell out all the things that she is NOT allowed to do. When I hand her back the scissors tomorrow, I will instead try to provide her with an exclusive list of what she IS allowed to cut.

And I'll make a hairdressers appointment today. Though it will take a while before it has grown back to a length that will allow a decent cut.

21 October 2008

Sugar, anyone?

This morning when we were getting in the car, with Ella dressed like this for dress-up day:


Ella - I love you, mum! I love you too much!
Me - Too much?
Ella - Yes, coz I can't show you how much. I can't show you how much I love you.
Me - Oh sweetie, that's just so sweet of you to say that!
Ella - I love you mucher than the world! Do you love me mucher than the world too?
Me - I do. I do love you more than the world.
Ella - Aww!

20 October 2008

Musical tastes

We watched Gabrielle Cilmi sing on Idol last night.

Ella - I really like her. She sings beautiful.
[short pause]
Ella - Am I still your friend?*
Me - Of course you are still my friend! You are Ella and I am mama. We like different things and that's a good thing!
Ella - But when I am big… when I am a mama, I will not like this music.
Me - Maybe you will. When I was a kid I listened to different music. They made different music then than they do now. So you might still like this music when you're a grown up.

Then I suggested I'd buy her the cd. Groan.

*I swear, I have no idea where these kind of remarks come from. I didn't think I came across as that judgemental!

17 October 2008

Drawing

Ella has started drawing figures. Fairies mainly. When questioned why they didn't have arms she said they didn't need them. (They are fairies after all.) When asked why they had such big feet, she said "But mum! That's their shoes. And fairies have big shoes." I couldn't get an answer as to why they don't have bodies.

The second shape is their house. The little insect type thing is a baby fairy. The round thing at the first fairy's head is not a text balloon. It's her ball. When I asked how she was going to play with the ball when she didn't have arms I got a "The ball can play by itself" reply. Duh.

16 October 2008

Unconditional love

After dinner:

Ella - Can I have an ice cream for desert now?
Me - Oh, go on then.
Ella [walking out of the room] - I love you mum!
[Then quickly] - I don't just say that I love you because I can have an ice cream, you know.
Me - I'm so glad you said that, Ella.

Aspirations

Conversation in the car:

Ella - When I grow up I'm going to be a superhero, mum.*
Me - That'll be fun.
Ella - And then I'll be able to lift up really big stones by myself.
Me - That's handy. Then you can build a house for me.
Ella - Yeah!
[Pause]
Ella - Can I come live in your house too?
Me - Of course you can! You can live in my house whenever you want. (Will I regret recording this statement?)
Ella - Yay! I can't wait to be a superhero, mum!

* For those who did not know yet, Ella is currently a fairy and will be a superhero when she grows up. We decided that therefor fairies are really just superhero trainees.

13 October 2008

Economic policy for preschoolers

I got very angry this morning when I read about increasing the pensions and income support for poor families to "boost the economy". (I mean, the government thinks it's alright for the poor to struggle when the economy is healthy, but then we use them as economic fodder when things go pear shaped? Jeez!) I was so angry I got tears in my eyes. So Ella asked me why I was so upset.

I thought for a while and then came up with: "The bosses of the country only care about the poor people when they can make the rich people richer."

"Ah", she said and went back to watching ABC Kids.

12 October 2008

Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

Ella was sitting on the couch with me and 'new cat'.

Me - Ella, it is really time for bed now. It's very late already and we'll have to get up early tomorrow to go to daycare. And New Cat needs to go to bed too, because I can tell he's tired.
Ella - The cat says he don't want to go to bed.
Me - Now cat, you really have to go to bed now because it's very late and…
Ella - I want to say that!
Me - Ok.
Ella [looking sternly into new cat's eyes] - Cat, you still have to go to bed because it's very late.
[Carefully weighted pause]
Ella - Take a chance: naughty corner… or bed.

06 October 2008

Clever kids

At the coast on the weekend playing on the terrace railing:

Ella - I'm going to do something really dangerous. Something grown-ups can't do. Only kids can.
Me - Why can't grown-ups do it?
Ella - Because grown-ups aren't clever.

Have I ever mentioned she's a smartarse and a know-it-all? But I probably should do some work on improving her image of 'the adult'!

02 October 2008

Right and wrong

As I sent Ella off to bed, she asked me where "new cat" was.

Me - It's not here. It must be in your room.
Ella - It's not in my room.
Me - Look, it's not on my bed. Are you sure you had a good look in your room? Maybe it's under the blanket?
Ella (walking to the other side of the bed) - It is there! Look, it's on the floor!
Me - Well, I was wrong and you were right.
Ella - Why were you wrong?
Me - I can be wrong sometimes. Good, isn't it?
Ella (looking back at me from the doorway) - I'm never wrong.
Me - Yeah, I'd caught onto that.