Best Friends Day!

Don't read this if you are opposed to make up on 2 1/2 year olds, junkfood for dinner, downright spoiling kids rotten, and movies at bedtime.  Move along....nothing to see here.


I declared today Best Friends Day.  So, I celebrated with favorite girl.  Erik took B for the evening and Jilly and I had a girls' night.  Lately, Jilly's been really insecure.  Crying when I leave her with a sitter, in the nursery, at Jazzercise.  Wanting to follow me to the bathroom, to the garage, to the back yard.  She hasn't been wanting to sleep in her bed or by herself.  And she's been a little, well, naughty.  All of this has had me baffled until the other night when she was being especially trying. We had a pretty rough evening, Jilly and I.  The next day, it was weighing on my heart.  I was talking to God about it.  Funny, I was asking Him to help Jilly behave when I was the one who needed to change.  God opened my eyes and showed me that she needs more affirmation.  She needs us to tell her why we love her.  She needs extra one on one attention.  She needs us not to say she's naughty even though we've done it in a teasing, playful manner.  She takes things to heart.  She's sensitive.  She's a girl.  Now there's an epiphany!  My younger siblings are all male.  Erik's siblings are male.  B is a boy.  So why did it never occur to me that girls are a little different?  Aren't I a girl?  Don't I need more affirmation?  Don't I need extra affection and undivided attention?  Don't I take every that's said to heart?  (Just ask Erik, ha!)

We started off the evening by me whispering to Jilly, "Do you want to go bye-bye with mommy and have a best friends' night?  Just you and me?"  Her eyes lit up.  She let out a Jilly giggle, "Yes!"  We went to her closet to pick out her clothes.  She wanted a blue shirt just like mommy.  I went to put on my make-up.  She wanted lip gloss just like mommy.  We put a sheer gloss on.  She spent the entire first part of the evening making this face: Clamp your teeth together.  Now, without smiling, open your lips.  Now grab a mirror and laugh at the silliness.  She told everyone we saw, "I got lip gloss."  Which sounded like "I got it osh." consider she was talking while making the gloss face.

First, we went to the Dairy Queen.  It may have been her first ever trip to DQ.  I asked her what kind of ice cream she wanted...Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, in a dish, in a cone, with a straw.  She said, "Pink!"  We sat at the table.  Jilly was super excited!  In between slurps and spoonfuls, she would say, "BEST FRIENDS!" and giggle her Jilly giggle.

After the ice cream, we went to Target to buy popcorn and  browse the toys.  She's had a gift card to use since November.  She picked out a cat piano, a miniature pillow pet, a microphone, a small rubber ball, a barbie, 3 dolls, Rex from Toy Story, a vacuum.....well, the entire toy department really.  I let her get the first 4 items, considering 2 of the 4 were two dollars.  Then we went to the beauty section for mini nail polish to do "Piggy Toes" as Jilly likes to say.  Jilly sang random songs all the way home.

When we got home, Jilly played a song for me on her piano.  It went like this, "Mommy, my mommy all day.  I love her."  Then we painted our Piggy Toes.  I was brave and let Jilly do her own.  I'm thinking brave maybe wasn't a good idea.  But she is very proud of her work.  After our tootsies were polished and had pretty decals, we shared a sandwich and put on her jammies.  Then we watched Up on my bed while we snuggled.

I am so thankful God blessed me with this sweet, funny, delightful, happy, beautiful little girl.  What a joy she is to us!  I truly believe God matches us perfectly with our children.  I love that he twined her heart to mine.