Ellis, the Sweetie
Our little Ellis is such a sweet kid. We have endless little stories of her sweetness. But I am only going to share a few.
1) Ellis told me that there was another girl (Leena) in her after care who wasn't being nice to her. When Ellis came to sit by her, she would move away. And she said mean things. My first reaction was to teach Ellis to be mean right back but -- before you get disgusted with me! -- I didn't do that. I talked about walking away and going to the teacher for help if Leena wouldn't leave her alone. But Ellis' solution was to invite Leena over "for a play date and show her how to be nice."
2) When Mike picked Ellis up from school today, she told him that she didn't want to grow up and she wanted to live with us forever because we are really nice people.
3) We went to play with Alastair this weekend at the park. As we left, Alastair chased us down to tell us that we had to have a sleepover play date. Ellis' response was, "Yes, and you can stay for five days!"
4) When we were reading "The Secret Garden," there was a section where the maid, Martha, admits that she thought Mary might be a native of India. Mary is furious about the whole thing. The section is full with racial issues that we couldn't just gloss over. So we talked about their attitudes and about how we know people who look different from us. Ellis loves my assistant Krystyna (who is black), so we talked about how she looks different from us but how she is smart and nice and pretty. Ellis said, "Krystyna is pretty, and she is pretty on inside. And *I* am pretty on the inside. And *you* are pretty on the inside. And Daddy is pretty on the inside too. We are all the same!"
5) I was giving Ellis a hug, and that girl gives some pretty spectacular hugs. Before I leave her at school, she runs to me, saying "I forgot to give you a hug and a kiss." She says this even if she has already given me a hug and a kiss. I do not protest. One day, when I was getting a particularly wonderful hug, I told her that I hoped she would always give me hugs, even when she was a teenager and even when she was a grownup. She answered, "Mommy, I will give you big hugs even when I am a mommy. I will always give you hugs."
There are a million stories like these. She is just the sweetest kid.
1) Ellis told me that there was another girl (Leena) in her after care who wasn't being nice to her. When Ellis came to sit by her, she would move away. And she said mean things. My first reaction was to teach Ellis to be mean right back but -- before you get disgusted with me! -- I didn't do that. I talked about walking away and going to the teacher for help if Leena wouldn't leave her alone. But Ellis' solution was to invite Leena over "for a play date and show her how to be nice."
3) We went to play with Alastair this weekend at the park. As we left, Alastair chased us down to tell us that we had to have a sleepover play date. Ellis' response was, "Yes, and you can stay for five days!"
4) When we were reading "The Secret Garden," there was a section where the maid, Martha, admits that she thought Mary might be a native of India. Mary is furious about the whole thing. The section is full with racial issues that we couldn't just gloss over. So we talked about their attitudes and about how we know people who look different from us. Ellis loves my assistant Krystyna (who is black), so we talked about how she looks different from us but how she is smart and nice and pretty. Ellis said, "Krystyna is pretty, and she is pretty on inside. And *I* am pretty on the inside. And *you* are pretty on the inside. And Daddy is pretty on the inside too. We are all the same!"
5) I was giving Ellis a hug, and that girl gives some pretty spectacular hugs. Before I leave her at school, she runs to me, saying "I forgot to give you a hug and a kiss." She says this even if she has already given me a hug and a kiss. I do not protest. One day, when I was getting a particularly wonderful hug, I told her that I hoped she would always give me hugs, even when she was a teenager and even when she was a grownup. She answered, "Mommy, I will give you big hugs even when I am a mommy. I will always give you hugs."
There are a million stories like these. She is just the sweetest kid.
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