My 4-year-old the Dentist

One of the things I really enjoy about my son's daycare/preschool is that they often bring in what I call "guest teachers" at least once a month. There's the library lady who reads new and exciting books, the music man who teaches them new fun songs, and the dental hygienist who makes sure they're brushing and flossing right.
Yes... flossing.

So my boy came home from school the other day with his dental "prize package." It was the same kind of bag he gets from the dentist twice a year. You know what I'm talking about... the one containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, a sticker, and that little sample of floss that just never seems to make it very far.

Usually, the floss samples get tossed into the travel items where they can be properly ignored until needed for some travel emergency like reattaching a button, hanging a wet swimsuit to dry, or tying a package together. It's not that I don't floss, but I'll admit that I don't floss every day.

But my precious boy with the beautiful, white smile was determined to use his floss.

That night, while getting ready for bed he informed me that he had to floss. And then with all the confidence of a well-trained and experienced dental hygienist, he proceeded to lecture me on the right way to floss.

"Mommy, you have to floss every day. But only once a day. You should floss at night."

"Oh, thank you for letting me know."

"And Mommy, you have to floss before you brush your teeth at night."

"Before?"

"Yes, before. You have to put the floss between your teeth and hug the teeth and then pull it."

Then he demonstrated the correct flossing technique that he had already become an expert at.

(By the way... he made sure I got a good picture of it. So he actually flossed several times until he was satisfied that I had taken a good picture!)

After flossing and brushing his teeth, I tucked him into bed. And then went into my bathroom and flossed!

Who says parent's always have to set the example? Sometimes it's the other way around!

Playdate with Destiny

It finally happened. My little boy had his first playdate!

Yesterday, we celebrated Memorial Day with Little Dude's best friend Lily and her mom at the zoo. Lily's mom and I had spent the last couple of weeks talking on the phone and letting Lily and Little Dude talk on the phone to each other (he had the biggest grin on his face during their brief phone conversations). Finally, we were able to find a day to get everyone together!

Little Dude was so excited about his playdate that he woke up at 4:30am asking, "Is the zoo open yet?" To which Daddy (I was barely conscious) replied, "No, go back to sleep." About 5:00am we heard a little voice at the edge of our bed, "Is the zoo open now?" "Not yet." Daddy was awake at this time (he's an early riser) and told our son to go ahead and lay down on our bed with me. After half hour of tiny feet messaging my spine like gentle, little jackhammers, I heard the same question: "Is the zoo open?" This went on every 15 minutes like a crazy alarm clock. "Is Lily at the zoo yet?"

Finally, we got to the zoo and waited out front for our guests to arrive. Little Dude watched the parking lot like a hawk. He inspected every car that drove through the park lot: "No, that's not Lily." He watched every kid that walked past: "Is Lily here yet?" He paced the sidewalk: "When's Lily going to get here?"

Finally, he spotted Lily. They ran to each other and hugged. It was as cute as a Disney movie!

A few days ago, we bought Little Dude red and pink Power Rangers, and he brought them to the zoo so he and Lily could play with them. (After all, their friendship started with playing Power Rangers at school!) He immediately gave the pink one to Lily. How sweet! What girl would ever want a bouquet of flowers when there are Power Ranger action figures to be had?

I was glad to finally meet Lily's mom face-to-face. I hope she liked us as much as we liked her. She's quite a few years young than I am so I was a little nervous that she would think I was too old to hang out with all day. But we had a good time chatting. Plus, it was mostly about getting our kids together.

The whole "playdate" thing is almost like co-dating with your kids. This is a whole new world of "dating" for me. (Playdates, romantic dates, couple dates, and then playdates again. Where does it end?) At least it went well. The kids had a great time.

Little Dude beckoned his friend over to the strange blue frog with a "Ribbit. Ribbit!"

The kids raced each other to different exhibits to see who could get there first. Then they tried to stay in front of each other and proclaim themselves "leader." Finally, we told them they could share and both be leaders. This led to some seriously cute hand-holding as they walked around. Lily's mom said, "Now they're really going to be BFFs at school!"

Just before they decided to be goofy, they were holding hands.

At least they have silliness in common!

Little Dude took his BFF to his favorite place in the zoo... the camel rides!

Then she took him to her favorite spot... the water park!

They stuck by each other's side from ape to zebra. And we all stayed a lot longer than we thought they would last. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

After we said our goodbyes and got in the car, a little voice in the backseat said, "I miss Lily." Then he drifted off to sleep.

Perfect playdate!

Here You Go, Mommy!

This morning, I was treated to a wonderful breakfast at my son's preschool. The kids made invitations for us Mommies earlier this week. And this morning, his class had a delicious buffet ready. Unfortunately, not all the moms were able to stay for the breakfast - we all have jobs to go to - but I was glad I was able to go to work late today, because it was totally worth it.

We walked in the room and saw the decorations and the tables covered with pink tablecloths. The teacher was calling all the kids to come sit at the tables, and I heard Little Dude say, "Mommy, come sit by me." He found two chairs for us at a private table. Of course, it didn't take long for his friends to ask if they could sit with us!

Since I was the first Mommy to arrive, the teacher asked Little Dude if he would like to go first and get some breakfast for me. Little Dude was all too happy to comply! He picked out plates for us and asked, "Mommy, what do you want to eat?" I told him to bring me something delicious.

It was pancake day so he put a pancake on the plate for me and then grabbed a slice of lemon bread. "Here you go, Mommy!" He delivered it and actually asked if I wanted syrup. Sweet! Then he got his own plate of food (pancakes and yogurt) and sat next to me to eat.

A few of the other moms started arriving and I watched as their kids asked them to get the food. When Little Dude went to get us both apple juice, one of the other moms commented on how Little Dude "got" Mother's Day!

Yep, I'm a proud Mommy!

Sadly, I did have to leave for work even though Little Dude wanted me to stay all day. He showered me with hugs and kisses while watching the clock (I told him I had to leave when the minute hand was at the 9).

Even if he doesn't do anything else this weekend, I'm super happy with this morning's breakfast and how proud he made me!

I love you, Little Dude!

The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

A few weeks ago, Little Dude made a new best friend at Preschool. And while I regarded this little vixen with great suspicion at first, she has finally won over my heart.

It all started early last week when Hubby was picking up our son from preschool. He called to tell me that he had met Lily and she and Little Dude were walking around holding hands. "It was so cute," he said.

The next morning as I was chatting with one of the teachers, the subject of best friends coincidentally came up. (And by "coincidentally" I mean I steered the conversation in a direction that naturally led to such a discussion, of course.) So I took the opportunity to ask about my boy's new best friend.

Miss Nikki told me that the two of them were "totally cute" together. She said that they probably liked each other because they were both smart and both were on the same level with their speech (advanced, talking clearly, using big words and long sentences). Then I found out that - gasp! - Lily's an older woman. Yes, she's 4. Oh, the scandal! I'm guessing that Little Dude must have met her on one of the rare occasions when he got to hang out in the 4-year-olds class. (That's a whole other story. The 4-year-olds teacher can't wait to have him in her class but the 3-year-olds teachers don't want him to go!)

Somehow Little Dude and Lily have managed to convince all the teachers to let her stay in the 3s class with him. They sit together. They play together. They eat together. They nap together. They play Power Rangers and Husband-and-Wife together. They have fun together.

Then last Friday I actually got to spend some time with the two of them together. The school was having their annual Easter party complete with a visit from the Easter Bunny. Since I have Good Friday off, I decided to spend a few hours in Little Dude's class.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted my little guy sitting at one of the tables with an adorable little brunette dressed up in a cute little sundress. As soon as she looked up at me and smile, my heart melted.

Little Dude wanted me to sit with him. Lily wanted me to sit with them. Little Dude said he wanted me to stay all day with him. Lily said she wanted me to stay all day with them. When I asked Lily why she wanted me to stay, she said, "Because he [Little Dude] wants you to stay and you're his mom." Wow. The girl knows how to win over a boy's mom.

Lily, Little Dude and Heather

We painted eggs and then it was time to meet the Easter bunny. When Lily saw I had my camera, she quickly put her arm around Little Dude, and they both smiled for the camera. Another point for Lily! After the Easter Bunny visit, we all headed outside for the Easter egg hunt. While all the other kids turned into little Tasmanian Devils and ran off in a hundred different directions (even through I was sure there were less than 20 kids), Little Dude and his best friend hunted for eggs together.

The kids all went back inside to decorate their eggs and I watched as my little guy raced to make sure he got a seat next to Lily. He got really upset when another kid tried to take his chair. Later, during recess, the best friends played with other kids, but they would still call to each other from across the yard: "Red Ranger! Red Ranger!" "Pink Ranger, over here!" (Little Dude has decided that he is the Red Power Ranger and Lily is the Pink Power Ranger.) Adorable. And another point for not excluding other kids!

Lining up to hunt Easter eggs. Notice that Little Dude and Lily are holding hands. Sweet!

When we went back inside for lunch, Lily waited for Little Dude to take his turn washing his hands so that they could sit next to each other at the lunch tables. Sweet! Another point for her thoughtfulness.

Ok, so Lovely Lily has won me over. What a sweetheart. I can see why my little guy thinks the world of her. I'm sure he'll have his heart broken when she leaves for Kindergarten next year while he's still in Pre-K. But that's still months away. In the meantime, he's enjoying his new best friend.

Of course, I wonder what her parents must think of all this?

Preschool Soap Opera

Monday night, as soon as I walked in the door returning home from another long day at the office, I heard my loving hubby say to my son, “Tell Mommy who you played with at school today.”

Hmm… since Little Dude seems to have a new “Best Friend” everyday, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Ryder? Jordan? Keegan? Jaada? Heather? Nope, none of those. He happily replied, “Lily.”

I only recently learned about “Lily” when I had to pick up Little Dude early from school one day. It was the end of nap time, and he was still curled up on his mat with his blanket. A cute little brunette next to him informed me that Little Dude was still sleeping. Then she proceeded to tell me how she and Little Dude had played “Power Rangers” all morning (clearly her idea since my son has never seen the show) and how she made sure that his nap mat was close to hers.

I thought it was sweet that our boy had found yet another friend to play with at school. And I really didn’t think about this fling with Lily again until that night as my husband kept the conversation rolling.

“Tell Mommy what you played,” he instructed.

“Husband and Wife.”

So now Lily was on my radar. Who was this girl really? Is it too early to have little boyfriends and girlfriends? What are the rules for dating in preschool? I managed to push aside all crazy thoughts and consoled myself with the knowledge that little kids play different games every day with different kids.

But that was before last night’s déjà vu when Little Dude informed me that once again he played “Husband and Wife” with this Lily kid. Two days in a row!

OK. Now I was a little concerned. As a woman, I was quite impressed with Lily’s girlish assertiveness. Somehow, she had gotten my wild child to forgo his normal rough and tumble play for the more mellow “husband and wife” role-play. But as a mother, I was a little weary of my sweet little boy falling prey to some potentially overbearing chick. Did she lure him in with superheroes (which he’s totally into right now) only to pull a bait and switch for her domestic agenda? Has she done this to other boys? Where will this all lead?

Yes, I realize that I have become that mother. All this time, I had teased me husband for being a self-proclaimed helicopter parent. But now I must acknowledge that I have become the hovering mom… at least where girls are involved.

There is still plenty of time before I really have to start worrying about girlfriends. Seriously, our little man is just a popular guy. So why wouldn’t Lily want to play with him too? And Little Dude is willing to play with anyone – boy or girl – as long as it’s fun. So he must be having fun if he’s willing to play “Husband and Wife” two days in a row. I'm sure he enjoys pretending to be just like his Daddy. He does like role-playing. After all, one of his friends used to be called “Buzz Lightyear” because he wore his Halloween costume everyday for a month straight. And Little Dude loved putting on a Superman cape or Batman mask and pretending to fight crime with him.

So I don’t need to get my panties in a bunch just because my precious little boy is playing “Husband and Wife” with his new friend. Who knows… maybe today they’ll go back to pretending to be Power Rangers. And if they don’t, that’s ok today. Of course, I never asked Little Dude if he was pretending to be the husband or the wife…