High heeled babies and thoughts on being Mom

The other day I turned the corner and saw this and then ran to get a camera. I rarely wear heals, only when dressing up. Why is it that when trying to be "grownup" both my girls put on my heels and walk around proudly doing "adult" things as uncomfortably as possible? Probably for the same reason they love to wear dresses, especially princess dresses. Like one of Jackie's favorite literary characters, Nancy, they like to be fancy! I also like how Bridget has dishes, food and a book in the basket and then cars and trucks in the bottom. She's well-rounded in her interests!

Still, it's endearing that they seem to want to be like their mom. One of Jackie's favorite games to play with friends is Family and she and her friends fight for the role of Mom. I'm kind of surprised when I watch, because in the wide world out there it seems many find the role of Mom less glamorous than, well, anything that pays more. Still, just as I found my low-paying writing positions immensely rewarding, so do I find these moments I get with my girls. I was surprised when I had children at how rewarding, intellectually stimulating and demanding in a fun, creative kind of way, I found parenting. Of course, I was terrified of parenthood, half convinced it would ruin my life. I'm happy to report it hasn't, yet. There's a new rhythm to learn, though, with joy to be found.

A bedtime moment

It's 8:18 p.m., which means it's 18 minutes past my three-year-old's bedtime. She's sitting on our green, red and gold plaid couch cushion on the floor of our Ann Arbor townhouse, ready to jump on her make-shift trampoline, even though she's not supposed to jump on cushions. Mommy's feeding little sis' and tells Daddy to put the three-year-old, who didn't take her nap, to bed. Life in our new home here is good, but both adults are already looking forward to rest.

"Go to bed, Jackie," Daddy says.

"No, I want to do my jumping," she says.

Renn looks at his iPad a while longer, while Mommy feeds Bridget and types, then Daddy tries to encourage Jackie to go to bed. Finally, Jackie issues these words of wisdom:

"I'm too tired to go to bed."

That remark prompted me to finally update my blog. Meanwhile, Renn gets Jackie to go upstairs and a few minutes later, Bridget and I go up and see this:

After writing this blog, Bridget and I went to check on Jackie and found her and her daddy sound asleep.