The problem with building a loft for your kid is that sometimes she decides she's not getting out of bed AND THEN WHAT? Do you seriously expect me to climb up there and force the issue when it's Way Too Early O'Clock?
Alexis has been calling my bluff lately. I say I'm going to drag her out of bed and she says, "FINE." Then she sits up there, one eyebrow raised, knowing full well that I'm too tired and old to climb a ladder that early in the day. By the time I muster the level of consciousness required, she has usually finished her book, held a tea party with her stuffed animals, and written out Pi to 58 digits.
What? You thought she was trying to sleep in? IF ONLY.
When Alexis finally makes up her mind to spread her sparkle all around the house, it's with a sense of urgency. You can tell me that threatening to make her go to camp in her pajamas is a bad idea, but IT IS NOT. She is seriously worried that I'm going to do it one of these days. Which I will. I guess it's not so much a threat as it is a promise.
ANYWAY.
She rushes around all over the house, throwing on clothes, combing her hair, shoving her toothbrush under some running water for a second, returning to the bathroom to actually brush her teeth this time because OMG I AM SO MEAN and make her do that every single day. and she fixes her lunch.
By herself.
It's marvelous. I don't check her work because I'm very committed to the concept of not criticizing how someone does their job unless I'm willing to do it for them in the future. You can bet all of your money that I won't be making anybody's lunch anytime soon. If she wants to eat peanut butter and jelly every day, OH WELL. That's her choice. I don't need to monitor her.
I can be hands-off about this whole thing in no small part because the kid is a health food freak. She consistently packs fresh fruit and vegetables without being told because that's what kids who like healthy food do. They eat fruits and vegetables without being told. She's a food nerd.
It was probably a week ago that it happened.
Alexis wanted to take blueberries in her lunch. No big deal -- she knows to rinse them and put them in a small bowl with a lid. It's the sort of thing she manages to do by herself all of the time. I very rarely see the process in action, but she manages. By herself.
For some reason, I was downstairs early. For some reason, I turned towards the kitchen and watched as Alexis FINALLY listened to my constant nagging about climbing on the counters. She climbs on a counter to use the microwave and heat her frozen waffles. She climbs on a counter to reach her cups. She climbs on a counter to get to the bowls. She does a lot of climbing in the morning.
But not that morning.
That morning she was rushing around. She had the just-rinsed blueberries in one hand, and she was looking for a bowl to place in the other. As Alexis realized the bowls were all put away, she walked towards the cabinets. I waited for her to climb up on the kitchen counter like she ALWAYS does, but this time she didn't.
This time she reached up and opened the cabinet while standing on her tippy toes.
She can reach the kitchen cabinets.
When we moved into this house four years ago, Alexis couldn't reach the light switches. Now she can reach the kitchen cabinets.
Man, I hate it when I blink and years pass by in a millisecond.
