A very professional portrait taken by a 4 year old in Kelly’s class.  Kids have mad skills these days.

With laundry falling off every surface of the house, Kelly’s leaf project owning the dining room, and piles upon piles of mail, school papers, boxes, and WHAT IS ALL THIS CRAP? lying around, just awaiting my attention…I decided to um, well, what IS a nice way to say this?  I said, Suck It.  Sort of.  I said the other thing, but just in my head, so it doesn’t count.

I joined 3 wonderful women to plan a year of Daisy Scout meetings, proving that Scouting can be loads of fun.  We’re easy going without being lax.  We are attentive without going overboard controlling crazy.  We get patches, but not on a break neck agenda.  And with 4 women to 16 girls, you can divide up the work and just have a ball doing it.  Afterwards I decided that not only did I miss Kelly, but I’ve been missing her for weeks.  To my the corners of my soul, I miss her.  I made a long list in my head of things needing my attention at home, and then I pulled the minivan into her school parking lot, marched into the cafeteria, and stole her.

After all, she’s in PreK.  This is it.  This is the end of the steal-your-own-child line.  Buy your tickets now folks, because once they are in real school, the clock moves fast, and you can’t do a darned thing about it.  Plus, the look on her face when I grabbed her from behind and hugged her was worth every single project sitting on ice.

We took off for the Zoo because all too soon the snow will be flying here.  (I know…let’s all cringe at the same time…CRINGE!)  We took in every last exhibit.  I love watching Kelly with the Meerkats, as they have some kind of communal bond.  We went to the Dolphin Show.  We didn’t stay for the whole thing, because yesterday, we made our own rules.  I told her the story about my Gibbon puppet named Maggie, and how we had matching dresses.  I went to school wearing the same dress as my Gibbon Puppet.  Wow.  I think we discovered my Alpha Day in Dork Kingdom.  We squealed at the new Tiger exhibit where he can walk right up to you against glass, and I got down on my knees so it looked like my head was in his jaws.  OH MY GOSH WAS THAT AWESOME.  We found ourselves alone in the Shark Petting Exhibit.  Seriously, that will never happen again, as long as we both shall live, Amen.  We fed the baby giraffe.  We giggled at the baby elephant.  We shared overpriced snacks at the Commons.  We discussed the veritable kindness of brown bears vs. black bears.  We talked and talked and talked.  Then we talked some more.  Then we watched the bats pee and stretch their wings, because honestly, that might be the best thing going right now at the Zoo. It was just a day of Kelly with Mommy’s undivided attention.  It was my idea of a perfect day.

Had I not snatched Kelly, I would have never had this conversation with her, and the words below are classic Kelly:

Mommy: Kelly, what would you do if you lost me here at the Zoo today?

Kelly: I would come and find you.

Mommy: What if you couldn’t find me?

Kelly: You are a grown up.  How did you get lost?

Mommy: Let’s say YOU got lost.

Kelly: Now I’m a little bit scared.  Do you know where we are now?

Mommy: Kelly, I’ve been coming to this Zoo since I was 8.  I know every inch of this Zoo.  I can’t get lost.  But what if we got separated.  Who would you ask for help?

Kelly: Well, I’d like to ask you, but I guess I can’t see you.

Mommy: That’s right.

Kelly: I don’t know.

Mommy: You should ask a person who works here for help, and if you can’t find someone with a name tag, you should find a Mommy.

Kelly: Oh good, that’s easy.  If I can’t find you, I’ll find Molly’s Mommy.

Mommy: Kelly, what if Molly isn’t here?

Kelly: But she’s my best friend!  Is she lost too?  Wait.  Is her Mommy lost?

Mommy: No!  Let’s pretend Molly is at dance class and she and her Mommy aren’t here.  Then who would you ask?

Kelly: Let’s pretend you are DEAD.  Because then I would DEFINITELY have to go find Molly’s Mommy and tell her you had DIED.

Mommy: KELLY!!!

Kelly: OH.  You are right.  That doesn’t sound nice.  OK.  Let’s pretend you are stuck in a tree.  And then I would have to go find Molly’s Mommy and ask her for a ladder so we could help you get out of the tree.

Mommy: That’s much better than my own death…being stuck in a tree.

Kelly: How did you get up in that tree anyway?

So to my hilariously unpredictable Kelly,

I love you Kelly.  I love you with every ounce of my being.  Even when Sara is sick.  Even when therapy runs long.  Even when I push you to do things that scare you.  Even when I’m wrong.  Even when I lose my patience with your whining and demanding.  Even when we are giggling together (as you know we do girl….so much of the giggling).  Even even.  Always always.  With all my heart, Mommy