growing up

There's a strange tension to be felt as children grow older.  On the one hand, there's a part of me wishes I could keep them little just a bit longer--preserve that sweetness and innocence and cuteness.  But I have to admit there are moments where I'm just so proud of how they're maturing that I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yesterday I had started some laundry, but I'll confess to forgetting to shift it over to the dryer when it was finished.  My allergies are acting up this week, so I feel lousy, I got busy with the baby, and I just plain forgot.  

The girls headed downstairs to brush teeth.  I was feeding and diapering the little one, but I realized that they were taking an awfully long time.  What on earth were they doing?

Natalie finally wandered up the stairs.  I asked her about the delay, and she proudly told me, "We were doing laundry!"  Sure enough, I could hear the dryer going.  They had taken it upon themselves to switch the laundry over for me.  C'mon now, all together:  awwwwwwww....

As a funny side note to the whole growing up thing: Sarah is definitely a child of the modern era.  She happens to love the Beach Boys' music.  The other day, she was listening to the song "Kokomo."  Nelson and I reminisced on it being popular when we were in elementary school.  Sarah then chirped, "So this is what everyone had for their ring tones on their phones?"

Um, suuuuure...

a horse is a horse of course of course

It started with My Little Pony.  We don't have cable, but the girls know how to rock YouTube.  They watched the modern-day "Friendship Is Magic" MLP.  They watched the 1980s G1 MLP that I grew up with.  They watched two incarnations of the show I never even knew existed.  They watched them all--over and over again.  

They started collecting MLP toys at birthdays and Christmas and other such things.  I felt like I was living in My Little Pony world.

Somewhere along the way, though, it shifted.  Suddenly it wasn't just these cartoon ponies captivating the girls--it was horses in general.  They are enthralled with all things equine.  They get horse books from the library (non-fiction ones, no less)--every time we go.  They love spotting horses when we're out driving.  Natalie does a pretty spot-on neighing sound.  They have added some really realistic-looking horse figurines to their toy collection.  They love them.  

Reading the library books with them has taught me a thing or two I didn't know (I can't say I was ever much of a horse fan, so it's not hard).  I think we might kick off the school year with a horse unit study I have--both girls will enjoy that, and it might help us ease back into the school routine.  Might as well leverage their obsession while I can, right?