The Secret Garden

Well, I guess it's not so secret...

On Thursday, Anna and I hit up the Michigan State Children's Garden with Alexia and Cedella. And while this little corner of MSU may be open to the public, for a couple of hours it belonged to two little girls smelling flowers, navigating through tree mazes, and plucking off ogling over green tomatoes.

It was on the ground. I swear.

From one of my favorite books as a kid.

Boop!

Sorry, Mike - Anna is the best kisser I know.

How sweet are these girls?

It was a beautiful morning, although chilly, a definite reminder that fall is on its way. And a definite reminder that our little girls are just that - girls. Gone are the babies we strapped to our chests when Alexia and I first met about a year ago on a mom's group hike, and I couldn't help but recall our first meeting as we were chasing Anna and Cedella around that garden. There is no denying it now: I am the mother to a toddler. Sigh.

Here is something to make you chuckle: Last Sunday evening, Mike and I decided to take Anna and the dogs out for a stroll. As we were making small talk about the week ahead, we somehow got on the topic of Anna and her age and her behavior. Me: "You know, I think that Anna pretty much understands everything we say to her. And I think that she's not really going to have too many tantrums, because I can just calmly explain to her what's going on, she'll understand, and we'll move on." Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, right? (I'm pretty sure I can hear you laughing right now. Go ahead, laugh. I don't blame you.)

Fast forward to the very next day, and you will see me trying to explain to Anna why I have to buckle her into her car seat ("Mama is going running. We are going to the park. You can go on the swings!") and then you will see Anna throwing a tantrum of the grandest proportions, throwing my smugness right back in my face.

Toddler: One. Silly Mama: Zero.

When I was teaching, one of the most poignant moments in my short career came when a group of my students were driving me up a wall, as most seventh graders seem pretty capable of doing. And in a moment of frustration, I threw my hands in the air, rolled my eyeballs for the millionth time, and said, "Ugh, what are you, twelve?" I will never forget the look on one girl's face as she smiled back at me. "Yeah! I am twelve! But I'll be thirteen next month!"

Oh. Right.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I should get used to the fact that Anna is going to probably tell me "No!" a hundred times a day, and there will be moments I think I will absolutely not be able to handle one more reading of "Elmo's Potty Book", and some days, she will have tantrums, no matter how calmly I explain to her what's going on.

Luckily, we have days like Thursday to make it all worth it.

Happy Monday!

Special thanks to Alexia for exposing me to the awesome photo-editing tricks from the Pioneer Woman! As you can tell, I am now having a little too much fun trying to make all the pictures I take look extra fancy.