Pre-K Ethics

Eve spiked a fever yesterday- when it got to 103.4 F I decided it was time for a little ibuprofen. Today the fever was gone, but in it's place was the classic "viral rash" that we've seen a few times before. If I had to guess, I'd say she is just getting used to school and being around other kids all day. Her immune system had the summer off, chilling with Grandma & Papa.

As if being sick wasn't bad enough, she missed two much-anticipated events today.

1) Evan (her boyfriend, he said so himself, and Eve didn't deny it) had his birthday party at Pump It Up today.
2) Dave's company picnic, complete with Eve's good buddy Delia, was today.

She seemed to being feeling spunky enough, but she accepted the truthful explanations we offered- that if she went, it might make the other kids sick, and that the heat outside (100+) would be bad for her since she just got her body cooled down. She took it pretty well, actually. We did promise to take her to Pump It Up sometime soon. But Eve doesn't have my neurotic drive to leave the house at least once each day. She can hang around just playing ALL DAY without the slightest sign of ennui.

She was still rashy at bedtime, so at least I have the consolation of knowing I did the right thing for everyone.

At the end of her Wild Animal Baby magazines, there's always an idea for a craft project. She's never noticed before, but today she asked about it. The project under consideration was to make a turtle out of one cell of an egg carton. We decided to give it a try, as we actually had enough of the required materials on hand. It involved green paint. Lots of green paint. Initially on the egg carton "shell", as intended, then on hands, feet, legs, and any people she noticed on the newspapers I had spread on the floor. Then, we had a quick bath.

She was wearing her frog towel upstairs, and said it was time for it to go to bed, so I let her tuck it into Dave's place in bed.

Later in the evening, after her regular bath, we used her monkey towel, as the frog one was elsewhere. She said, "Where's the frog? Oh, I put the frog in Daddy's bed." And because of my upbringing, this prompted me to break into song... but I should have known better. I sang "I'm getting nothing for Christmas" because it has a line in it that goes, "I put a frog in Sister's bed." I was singing as I was messing around with her floss and fluoride, so I didn't notice the expression on her face until I finished the last line, "I'm getting nothing for Christmas, 'cause I ain't been nothing but bad." Oh my goodness. Tears welled up, her mouth stretched down, and she sobbed, "Mommy, don't sing that song!" She was more crushed about that than about missing out on all the fun events today.

I spent some time explaining that it was just a silly song, and that parents give their children presents because of love, not based on behavior. And I PROMISED never to sing that song again.